The following is a critique of the film by Mel Gibson "Passion of the Christ" it was for a New Testament class. Hope you enjoy!!!
Mel Gibson’s film “The Passion of the Christ” is one of the most influential films of all time. As far as its box office success it is the top rated religious film of all time. But while it is great that a religious film has had such a great impact on society the question remains is it historical accurate to the gospels? The answer is mixed.
Gibson basic text comes from a book entitled The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Anne Catherine Emmerich. She was an Augustinian nun who by the age of twenty- four claimed to have visions of the crucified Christ. Whether she really did or not, I have no clue. But it does make for an interesting read. The gospels for Gibson seem to be used for a secondary source instead of a first source. It is also important to remember that Gibson comes from the Catholic Church tradition.
It seems that to every story of the gospel that he used he seemed to add a little something to it. For example, you see Satan as a female and at certain time lurking in the background. Second, in the movie Judas is seen trying to return the monies and moments later seen being chased by little boys down a hill calling him “possessed” until he commits suicide. Third, the emphasis of Mary is extremely misleading. There is a part in the movie in the beginning when Jesus is taken to prison were Mary gets down on the ground and it appears that Jesus is right below her its seems as though she can hear Him underneath. My point is that we know nothing about Satan during this time from the biblical record, except I am sure he was present in the hearts of men during the horrible time. Judas all we know is that he did commit suicide. Mary on the other hand from the biblical record is not mentioned until Jesus nearly dies and Jesus gives her to John for him to take care of her and vise versa.
My point for all of this is to say while Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ” is extremely important for the Christian community as far a presenting all peoples to some truth of the gospels account of the Passion it is not historical accurate as it is so portrayed. This being said I think the movie should be continued to be used by the Christian church for evangelism purposes but with the audience knowing that this movie portrays how Mel Gibson sees the crucifixion of Christ. I think Gibson’s heart and intent was in the right place. He wanted to make the crucifixion come alive, become real for people to see that this event was not easy or a game, it cost somebody his life. And for that I give Gibson a A+.
