Orchard Press Online Mystery Magazine
April 9, 2004
 |
CRIME BEAT
by Paul Davis |
Copyright © 2004 Paul Davis. All rights reserved.
The Greatest Crime: Deicide and The Passion of Christ
In this column, I’ve covered terrorism, organized crime,
murder and child abuse. But the greatest crime in history, in my view, was the
crime of Deicide - the putting to death of Jesus Christ.
I recently saw Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.
The film is powerful. I can’t think of another film that has so affected
me. Gibson’s film is true to the Gospels and history and offers Gibson’s
artistic symbolism as well.
Biblical movies were a part of my growing up in the 1950s
and 60s, as were westerns, comedies, horror and crime films. Raised Catholic,
the biblical films, from Ben-Hur to The Greatest Story Ever Told, provided
me far better depictions than the dry readings I was taught at catechism.
I would go on to discuss religion in university classrooms
as well as barrooms, and I read theology, philosophy, history, novels and the
original source material - The Bible. The old movies, however, left an indelible
mark on my mind and my soul. Film is a powerful medium and Gibson’ film will
no doubt be with me all of my life.
As widely reported, Gibson sunk $25 million of his own
money into his pet project, the portrayal of the last hours of Jesus. Gibson
wanted to realistically show the brutal torture and murder of Jesus Christ. With
the bloody violence and dialogue spoken in the original languages of Latin and
Aramaic with subtitles, Gibson took a huge chance.
His gamble - or one might say, his faith - appears to have
paid off. The film, which no one in Hollywood originally wanted to touch, was
number one at the box office for three weeks running. To date, the film has made
$315 million and with Good Friday and Easter coming up, the film is expected to
earn much more. The film is expected to become one of the highest grossing films
ever.
“This is a
story about love, hope, faith and forgiveness,” Gibson told reporters.
“Jesus died for all mankind, suffered for all of us. Its time to get back to
that basic message.”
Adding that he thought the world was going “nuts”,
Gibson noted that we could all use a little more love, faith, hope and
forgiveness. In a time of lessening morals, family ties and personal
responsibility, as well as when suicidal mass murderers act in the name of God,
I’m inclined to agree with Gibson.
Along with strong public approval via the box office, there
has been much criticism and controversy surrounding the film, from cries of
anti-Semitism to his use of graphic violence. I didn’t see anti-Semitism in
this film.
In
the film, we see Caiaphas and the other Jewish leaders judging Jesus and then
taking him to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Pilate, as we all know from the
Gospels, washed his hands before the Jewish crowd and then had Jesus crucified.
But Gibson also shows sympathetic Jews, like Simon and Veronica, who come to
Jesus’ aid.
As Gibson told ABC’s Diane Sawyer, there were no
Norwegians in evidence during Jesus’ crucifixion, only Jews and Romans. He
also disagreed with the assessment that his film will incite anti-Semitism.
After viewing “Shindler’s List,” he told her, he didn’t go out and beat
up Germans.
Mankind killed Christ, Gibson said.
The film is truly violent, but I think the violence was
necessary. Jesus was “scourged” with a particularly nasty weapon called a flagellum,
which is a whip with leather throngs holding pieces of metal and bone. In many
cases, the victim died from the scourging and never made it to the crucifixion.
Gibson shows us Jesus’ strength, authority, and grace. I
particularly like the way Gibson portrays Jesus’ confrontation with Satan at
Gethsemane. Satan, as many critics have noted, looked like Irish singer Sinad
O’Conner, and he/she appears on the sidelines throughout the film. The Prince
of Darkness is always close at hand.
After praying on his knees for guidance and strength, Jesus
stands and forcefully stomps the symbolically evil snake that Satan had released
from his cloak. Jesus is no meek
hippie in this film.
Jesus also stood strong and dignified when facing the
powerful Roman governor. Beaten, bound and bleeding, Jesus tells Pilate “You
would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.”
Jesus changed the course of history. Michael Grant, author
of The Twelve Caesasrs and History of Rome, wrote that millions of
men and women have found Jesus’ life and teaching overwhelming significant and
moving.
“The most potent figure, not only in the history of
religion, but in world history as a whole, is Jesus Christ: the maker of one of
the few revolutions which have lasted,” Michael Grant wrote in An
Historian’s Review of the Gospels. “His was the most dramatic life ever
lived.”
Gibson, the director and star of Braveheart, gives
us a superb film about Jesus. The Passion of the Christ is a fitting film
for our age. With terrorism and crime on the rise, I think we need to see, hear
– and feel – how Jesus died for our sins.
Widely reported in the press was the case of a couple that
fought with each other after seeing the film. Stating it was the dumbest thing
they’ve ever done, a Georgia couple argued and fought over a theological issue
and were arrested for stabbing and assaulting each other.
The deputy sheriff who made the arrest told reporters that
he thought the couple missed the point of the film. Millions of us did not.