Welcome to my semi-charmed life...

The Passion of the Christ (Spoiler)

So I finally watched "The Passion of the Christ" last friday. Before the seeing the movie, people were saying how it was so powerful and moving, especially towards the emotions. I anticipated that it will be powerful, I mean, its Jesus' cruxification, of course its powerful. But I didn't think it'd be THAT different and emotionally charged like many previous movies. But boy, was I wrong.

I think what made Gibson's movie different from all the other Jesus movies was its emphasis on the relationship between Mary and Jesus. Mother and son. The flashback which shows Jesus and his mother goofing around on a Sunny afternoon was so real. I see my mom and my brother goof around like that all the time which was why it was so real to me. A lot of us wander about Jesus' relationship with his parents. We all seem to think that he was this prodigy child that sort of grew up on his own and his parents didn't have much say to him but with only observed amazement towards his abilities. But this perspective shows a rather, in my opinion, a truer nature of their parent-child relationship. Though He is God's son and the title is definitely astonishing. But maybe to the young Mary, Jesus was just her baby boy and loved him regardless of his title or destiny. His upbringing was nothing out of the ordinary, he was brought up in a regular jewish family like everyone else at that time. So I don't think there was anything out-of-the ordinary that would have affected Jesus' relationship with his family.

Jesus' suffering before the cruxification. I think that was the part of the movie that people were complaining about. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about it whether or not we like it. Jesus indeed had to endure those beatings right after those arrests. The weapons, the mockery, the wounds, they were all real. I mean, this guy is dying for every man's sin. Everyone before him and everyone after him. Do you know how much suffering one may deserve? To imagine that he had to suffer for "EVERYONE" in this world for the things he havn't done? Some say its brutal but in my opinion, it had to be brutal if you're dying for everyone's sin. A passionate and faithful man Jesus is. For those who don't know, that's why the movie is called, "The Passion of the Christ".

The flashbacks on life before the arrests. Though the movie was set on the 12 hours before Jesus' cruxifiction, viewers were given a glimpse of what Jesus did before his arrest. Flashbacks from Jesus washing his disciple's feet, the time when he protected Mary Magdalene from being stoned to death, his time with his mother, the passover dinner and the times when he preached to his people. I thought it was very effective because people will gain a better understanding of the character of Jesus. On another note, Jesus did not begin his ministry until he was in his early thirties.

Was the movie anti-semitic? No. When I walked out of the theatre, the only thing on my mind was a passionate man named Jesus that gave his own life to save the world from a destiny that could've been.

**NOTE: If you're curious about the accuracy of the Film. Check out the source, the Bible. Everything you need to know about Jesus' life is documented in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Check it out.

posted by pegz @ 5:14 PM