Wow is all I can say.  I can't help but wonder if we didn't know what the
titles said wouldn't we get the picture anyway?

Lelia


----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2004 11:25 PM
Subject: A News Anchor's Perspective on "The Passion of the Christ"


>   A News Anchor's Perspective on "The Passion of the Christ"
> Jody Dean Dallas/Ft. Worth anchor, CBS News
>
> There have been tons of e-mails and forwards floating around
> recently from those who have had the privilege of seeing Mel
> Gibson's The Passion Of The Christ prior to its actual release. I
> thought I'd give you my reaction after seeing it last [week.] The
> screening was on the first night of "Elevate!  a weekend-long
> seminar for young people at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano.
> There were about 2,000 people there, and the movie was shown after
> several speakers had taken the podium. It started around 9:00 and
> finished around 11:00 about two hours in length. Frankly, I lost
> complete track of time - so I can't be sure.  I want you to know
> that I started in broadcasting when I was 13 years old. I have
> been in the business of writing, performing, production and
> broadcasting for a long time. I have been a part of movies, radio,
> television, stage and other productions - so I know how things are
> done. I know about soundtracks and special effects and make-up and
> screenplays. I think I have seen just about every kind of movie or
> TV show ever made - from extremely inspirational to extremely
> gory. I read a lot - and have covered stories and scenes that
> still make me wince. I also have a vivid imagination, and have the
> ability to picture things as they must have happened - or to
> anticipate things as they will be portrayed. I have also seen an
> enormous amount of footage from Gibson's film, so I thought I knew
> what was coming.  But there is nothing in my existence - nothing I
> could have read, seen, heard, thought or known - that could have
> prepared me for what I saw on screen last night.  This is not a
> movie that anyone will "like". I don't think it's a movie anyone
> will "love". It certainly doesn't "entertain". There isn't even
> the sense that one has just watched a movie. What it is: a
> experience - on a level of primary emotion that is scarcely
> comprehensible. Every shred of human preconception or
> predisposition is utterly stripped away. No one will eat popcorn
> during this film. Some may not eat for days after they've seen it.
> Quite honestly, I wanted to vomit. It hits that hard.  I can see
> why some people are worried about how the film portrays the Jews.
> They should be worried. No, it's not anti-Semitic. What it is, is
> entirely shattering. There are no "winners". No one comes off
> looking "good" - except Jesus. Even His own mother hesitates. As
> depicted, the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day merely do what any of
> us would have done - and still do. They protected their perceived
> "place" - their sense of safety and security, and the
> satisfaction of their own "rightness". But everyone falters.
> Caiphus judges. Peter denies. Judas betrays. Simon the Cyrene
> balks. Mark runs away. Pilate equivocates. The crowd mocks. The
> soldiers laugh. Longinus still stabs with his pilus. The
> centurion still carries out his orders. And as Jesus fixes them
> all with a glance, they still turn away. The Jews, the Romans,
> Jesus' friends - they all fall. Everyone, except the Principal
> Figure. Heaven sheds a single, mighty tear - and as blood and
> water spew from His side, the complacency of all creation is
> eternally shattered. The film grabs you in the first five
> seconds, and never lets go. The brutality, humiliation, and gore
> are almost inconceivable - and still probably does not go far
> enough. The scourging alone seems to never end, and you cringe at
> the sound and splatter of every blow - no matter how steely your
> nerves. Even those who have known combat or prison will have
> trouble, no matter their experience - because this Man was not
> conscripted. He went willingly, laying down His entirety for all.
> It is one thing for a soldier to die for his countrymen. It's
> something else entirely to think of even a common man dying for
> those who hate and wish to kill him. But this is no common man.
> This is the King of the Universe. The idea that anyone could or
> would have gone through such punishment is unthinkable - but this
> Man was completely innocent, completely holy - and paying the
> price for others. He screams as He is laid upon the cross,
> "Father, they don't know. They don't know..." What Gibson has
> done is to use all of his considerable skill to portray the most
> dramatic moment of the most dramatic events since the dawn of
> time. There is no escape. It's a punch to the gut that puts you on
> the canvas, and you don't get up. You are simply confronted by
> the horror of what was done - what had to be done - and why.
> Throughout the entire film, I found myself apologizing. What
> you've heard about how audiences have reacted is true. There was
> no sound after the film's conclusion. No noise at all. No one got
> up. No one moved. The only sound one could hear was sobbing. In
> all my years of public life, I have never heard anything like
> that. I told many of you that Gibson had reportedly re-shot the
> ending to include more "hope" through the Resurrection? That's
> not true. The Resurrection scene is perhaps the shortest in the
> entire movie - and yet it packs a punch that can't be quantified.
> It is perfect. There is no way to negotiate the meaning out of it.
> It simply asks, "Now, what will you do?" I'll leave the details to
> you, in the hope that you will see the film - but one thing above
> all stands out, and I have to tell you about it. It comes from the
> end of Jesus' temptations in the wilderness - where the Bible says
> Satan left him "until a more opportune time." I imagine Satan
> never quit tempting Christ, but this film captures beyond words
> the most opportune time. At every step of the way, Satan is there
> at Jesus' side - imploring Him to quit, reasoning with Him to give
> up, and seducing Him to surrender. For the first time, one gets a
> heart-stopping idea of the sense of madness that must have
> enveloped Jesus - a sense of the evil that was at His very elbow.
> The physical punishment is relentless - but it's the sense of
> psychological torture that is most overwhelming. He should have
> quit. He should have opened His mouth. He should have called
> 10,000 angels. No one would have blamed Him. What we deserve is
> obvious. But He couldn't do that. He wouldn't do that. He didn't
> do that. He doesn't do that. It was not and is not His character.
> He was obedient, all the way to the cross - and you feel the real
> meaning of that phrase in a place the human heart usually doesn't
> dare to go. You understand that we are called to that same level
> of obedience. With Jesus' humanity so irresistibly on display, you
> understand that we have no excuse. There is no place to hide. The
> truth is this: Is it just a "movie?" In a way, yes. But it goes
> far beyond that, in a fashion I've never felt - in any forum. We
> may think we "know". We know nothing. We've gone 2,000 years -
> used to the idea of a pleasant story, and a sanitized Christ. We
> expect the ending, because we've heard it so many times. God
> forgive us. This film tears that all away. It's is as close as any
> of us will ever get to knowing, until we fully know. Paul
> understood. "Be urgent, in and out of season." Luke wrote that
> Jesus reveals Himself in the breaking of the bread. Exactly. The
> Passion Of The Christ shows that Bread being broken.  Go see this
> movie.
> Jody Dean is the Dallas/Ft. Worth anchor for CBS News.
>