'Passion' inspires early morning showings

[kramadas]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/25/gibson.passion/index.html

'Passion' inspires early morning showings

Local businessman donates $42,000 in tickets

By Thom Patterson

CNN

Wednesday, February 25, 2004 Posted: 11:33 AM EST (1633 GMT)

Moviegoers file in to see an early showing of "The Passion of the Christ" at a theater in Plano, Texas, on Wednesday.

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CNN's Beth Nissen reports on the historical accuracy of 'The Passion of the Christ.'

(CNN) -- Thousands of moviegoers in Plano, Texas, spent the morning of Ash Wednesday viewing Mel Gibson's controversial "The Passion of the Christ," courtesy of a local businessman.

Three early-morning showings of the movie about the crucifixion of Jesus began at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, after Arch Bonnema bought thousands of tickets for $42,000, according to a spokeswoman at his church.

"It was his passion," said Pat Spackey of the Prestonwood Baptist Church. "He was just so moved by the movie that he wanted everyone to be able to see it."

Spackey would only describe Bonnema as a businessman who isn't "all that wealthy. I think he just felt like this would be a good place to make a meaningful contribution."

Local reports described people leaving the theater in tears after viewing the movie.

"The Passion of the Christ" -- reportedly funded by $25 million of Gibson's own money -- reflects the Oscar-winning "Braveheart" director's interpretation of the Gospels.

But it has sparked controversy, with concerns about the film's graphic violence and whether it will inflame anti-Semitism.

Some who have seen it say the movie blames the Jews for Jesus' crucifixion.

"We were troubled ... that it portrayed the Jews, the Jewish community, in a manner that we have experienced historically," said Anti-Defamation League Executive Director Abraham Foxman. "Seeing passion plays [dramatizations of Jesus' last days] used to incite not only a passion of love in terms of Christianity, but at the same time, to instill and incite a hatred of the Jews because of deicide."

In a statement, Cardinal Edward Egan, the Archbishop of New York, wrote: "In the light of so much that is good and holy, I have no doubt that the Catholic and Jewish communities of New York will handle with grace and wisdom any and all upset that might result" from the film.

Gibson told ABC News that the R-rated film is not anti-Semitic and that he is not an anti-Semite.

An avowed "Traditionalist Catholic," a splinter movement that believes in celebrating Mass in Latin and rejects changes in the church made by the Second Vatican Council, Gibson has said the film is intended "to inspire, not offend," according to a statement he released in June.

Gibson said he wanted "to create a lasting work of art and engender serious thought among audiences of diverse faith backgrounds (or none) who have varying familiarity with this story."

Initial reviews by filmgoers and professional critics have been mixed.

Brother Chad, a member of the St. John Cantius Society of Chicago -- "a Roman Catholic religious community of men dedicated to a restoration of the sacred in the context of parish ministry," according to its Web site -- told Reuters "The Passion" was a very powerful movie, adding that "Gibson portrays everything very well. He's done a great service to the world."

One man who saw the film Tuesday in Columbia, South Carolina, was unimpressed. "I wanted to leave," he said. "I didn't want to dissect this movie and dissect my faith."

Gibson said he wanted "to create a lasting work of art and engender serious thought among audiences of diverse faith backgrounds (or none) who have varying familiarity with this story."

A woman in the Columbia audience commented on the amount of blood and violence in the film.

"I think it is, in a way, Hollywood's interpretation of something," she said. "And I'm not quite sure of the ultimate purpose, because I do feel it is extremely graphic and somewhat biased."

Film critic Michael Medved believes the bloody beating scenes and the crucifixion itself made the film better than a more restrained version might have been.

"Look, this is not a movie for kids," Medved said. "It is a movie that does put that violence in context and it shows the idea of sacrifice, and it emphasizes -- in a way that I think a lot of people don't expect -- that this sacrifice, this death, this suffering was chosen by Jesus, at least according to the Gospels account."

Not one word of English is spoken in "Passion"; the entire film is in Latin and Aramaic with English subtitles.

"The subtitles work very well and what it creates is a feeling of authenticity which is extremely unusual in any sort of biblical account," said Medved.

Other critics focused on the movie's violence. Time magazine (a unit of Time Warner, as is CNN) headlined Richard Corliss' review "The Goriest Story Ever Told"; The New Yorker magazine's David Denby said the violence overwhelmed the film. "One of the cruelest movies in the history of cinema," he wrote, calling "Passion" "a sickening death trip."

The Chicago Sun-Times movie critic duo of Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper gave "The Passion" "two thumbs up" on their television show, "Ebert & Roeper and the Movies."

"Mel Gibson is a masterful storyteller, and this is the work of his lifetime," Roeper said.

The movie, which is opening on more than 2,500 screens, is expected to do well at the box office in its opening days, thanks to church bookings and heavy viewer interest.

Already, merchandise associated with the film is on shelves and moving swiftly. A companion book to the film was at No. 11 on Amazon.com's list as of Tuesday afternoon, and movie tie-ins range from replica crucifixion nails to Sunday morning sermons.

[kramadas]

really want to check this movie out.

[jamiroguy1]

Originally posted by raver_mania

really want to check this movie out.

Me too.

[mrmatas2277]

me three...

[g420]

Originally posted by raver_mania

really want to check this movie out.

of course you would, anything that may be anti-Jew draws you

[bigpoppanils]

Originally posted by g420

of course you would, anything that may be anti-Jew draws you

you actually think this movie is anti-semetic?

:laugh: :laugh:

[kramadas]

Originally posted by bigpoppanils

you actually think this movie is anti-semetic?

:laugh: :laugh:

Its useless - thats why I don't even acknowledge this retard, g420, anymore. Its like you're walking down the street and some crazy bum approaches you screaming about jesus and how the aliens are taking over the world...you don't try discuss things with that person, you just ingore them and keep going!

[howardstone]

saw the movie last night. ewwwwwwwww...... not for the faint of heart, some parts were damm funny though:laugh: I guess I'm just well adjusted to all violence already in movies. Go Jesus, it's your Birthday, were gona party like it's your birthday:D

[g420]

Originally posted by bigpoppanils

you actually think this movie is anti-semetic?

:laugh: :laugh:

Jews being depicted as big nosed christ killers would qualify as such....

[howardstone]

Originally posted by g420

Jews being depicted as big nosed christ killers would qualify as such....

Jews do have big noses though:confused:

[djxeno]

I saw this movie last night and have to say I was dissappointed. The violence was too excessive.

I don't think it was put together well and all it was just 2 hours of them beating up Christ.

[g420]

Originally posted by howardstone

Jews do have big noses though:confused:

first off all, not all jews do, you half witted degenerate & if you want to get technical a lot of romans did as well as the camel jockeys

[jamiroguy1]

Originally posted by djxeno

I saw this movie last night and have to say I was dissappointed. The violence was too excessive.

I don't think it was put together well and all it was just 2 hours of them beating up Christ.

Given what you've said, do you think that if they showed the life of Jesus, performing miracles and all that, it would still be considered anti-semitic?

[djxeno]

Originally posted by jamiroguy1

Given what you've said, do you think that if they showed the life of Jesus, performing miracles and all that, it would still be considered anti-semitic?

I don't think its anti-semitic in the first place. I think if they showed that stuff it would have been a better movie.

but i know he said he was gonna make it just of the last twelve hours of his life, but that doesnt make for a good movie....at least not how it was put together.

[pattbateman]

if you think about it they didnt fuck around back then so im sure this is as true to fact then anyother sanatized version we have seen before.

i think the jews have a huge agenda out for not having jesus in anypart of anything nowadays

i recently read an article in the jewish run and operated NYT saying mel gibson should never work in hollywood again blah blah blah...

i believe the jews were trying to blackmail him, but once they see how much money this film makes (imsure over 200 million worldwide) they will change their mind!!

[djxeno]

Originally posted by pattbateman

if you think about it they didnt fuck around back then so im sure this is as true to fact then anyother sanatized version we have seen before.

i think the jews have a huge agenda out for not having jesus in anypart of anything nowadays

i recently read an article in the jewish run and operated NYT saying mel gibson should never work in hollywood again blah blah blah...

i believe the jews were trying to blackmail him, but once they see how much money this film makes (imsure over 200 million worldwide) they will change their mind!!

I heard it was banned in Israel.

[howardstone]

Mel Gibson's father is INSANE, Howard Stern said he did it just so his dad would love him. Did you hear the comments Gibson'd Dad has said over the years? He played some of them on his show today, omg:confused: he is crazy.

[djxeno]

yeah i think he was disputing how many jews actually died in the holocaust. i dont know what other comments he made

[pattbateman]

i love howard, but he really pissed me off today bashing that movie

i mean he kept saying "these crazy religious people going to see the movie with ashes on their head"

fuck i mean how disrespectful is that? it was ash wed.

if anyone said that about jews there would be a fuckin uproar

i lost a little respect for him today for being a hypocrit

and i believe gibsons dad is not mel gibson

i believe that his quotes were outta context, the interview was given by a sticktly religious jewish man, who obviously would have a vendetta against gibson. doing anything he can to woo a answer he wanted

i think gibsons dad just said the holocaust has been exaggerated

which i also believe is true. (not to, in any way, say it didnt happen. and millions didnt die, which i know they did) ((so dont give me shit))

i believe that the jewish media now will try and blacklist mel gibson. i believe if they do there will be no uproar about it,

no one will care and it will drift away cause the jews run the media and hold the power

[marksimons]

well they don't actually know how many jews died, there are only estemates, pretty good estemates, I can't remember them off the top of my head, but, well, it was a good attempt at the systematic elimination of the jews from europe...

I think the estemates range from 2 to 6 million dead.

the civilian deaths in vietnam are between 1 and 3 million dead, but I'll have to look for the estemates for the whole region.

now. morally. is there a difference between gassing millions of people in specially built chambers or napalming them with specially built bombs...

Top Ten McDonald's tie-ins for Mel's The Passion:

#10-McDonald Land characters Passion re-creation set, the Hamburglar as Pontius Pilate, Ronald as Jesus, etc...

#9-Collectable glasses featuring different Biblical torture devices

#8-Miniature Biblical torture devices inside Happy Meals

#7-Monopoly-inspired/ticket collection game based on the stations of the cross

#6-A free meal for anyone carrying a cross thru the drive-thru

#5-Free feet washing with purchase of a salad

#4-"Body of Christ" Egg McMuffins

#3-"Blood of Christ" flavored milk shakes (colored red of course)

#2-Ronald McDonald statues will now be mounted on crosses

...and the Number One McDonald's tie-in for The Passion movie:

Free Happy Meal for any child under 5 with the stigmata