Wishful thinking is always an enemy of truth. So I'm not sure what to think about this recent discovery involving the Shroud of Turin (Hat tip: Captain Ed). But it does, at least, give me an opportunity to discuss my much-delayed viewing of The Passion. I really had high hopes for the movie, given its social impact and buzz, and I think religious Christians have been given short shrift in our insincere and insecure society. Sorry to say I found the movie not only singularly unimpressive, but a reinforcement of the values of that insincere society that religious people decry.
I don't think I've ever seen a movie that was so over-acted, and that includes some elementary school plays where the actors were still too young to have relaxed vocal chords. I know a lot of people are insulted by the portrayal of violence but I felt that the histrionics of the beatings and violence actually reminded me of the kind of dramas I and my grade school pals used to engage in during our private reenactments of WWII movies, where we'd ham up being shot on the battlefield and writhe around in feigned agony as a prepubescent attempt to defeat summer boredom. It wasn't insulting so much as funny. "You have to be kidding?" was my first thought.
The portrayals of the high priests were caricatures without humanity or realism. Totally insincere puppetry. Heck, they weren't even good caricatures. The same goes for the ahistorical portrayal of Pilate, whose motivations were not only incomprehensible but completely inconsistent with his actions. Why would not the self-reflection cause him to doubt whether or not he could really "wash his hands" of the decision to crucify, simply because the crowds demanded it? Isn't this just drivel?
I got no sense whatsoever that this movie actually provides any insight into the meaning and import of "the Passion of the Christ," which would, to me, require underplaying the drama in order to allow the real significance to shine through. The Shroud is really the epitome of this underplay. It's literally an ephemeral after-image of such extraordinary subtlety that the very fact of it's existence is more dramatic than any dramatization could possibly be.
I thought Mel Gibson's film was on par with a cartoon, or a "B" movie. On second thought that's too generous. It was a rip off. I forgot it almost as soon as I had exited the theater, and had the news about the Shroud investigation not jogged my memory, I probably wouldn't have even brought it up.
Posted by Demosophist at April 16, 2004 03:05 PM | TrackBack