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February 26, 2004

The Once Over Twice

Posted by nerdling | February 26, 2004 02:32 PM

I know I've been posting a lot about The Passion of the Christ lately, and these posts have mostly been fueled by the general nastiness aimed at the film. I understand the protests that surrounded The Last Temptation of Christ because the novel and the film were meant to arouse ire and doubt; I don't, however, understand what the big fucking deal is about The Passion. I haven't seen it yet—make no mistake, I will—but I have a hard time believing that a single film has the ability to mobilize a massive campaign of anti-Semitism in the world today. Anti-Semitism may or may not be on the rise but the world has not forgotten the Holocaust and no one is particularly anxious to go through it again.

Reasonable people the world over can rationally deal with the fact that Jesus was a Jew and that some of his Jewish contemporaries did not appreciate the ways in which he tampered with traditional Judaism. It is not the fault of the Jews that Jesus died (since that's what he came here to do) any more than it is my fault that European traders bought and sold slaves. Jesus preached against popular sentiment and was punished for it, not unlike many religious figures who came after him: Luther, Calvin, Joan of Arc, even Joseph Smith. He came here to preach and die, and die he did. He fulfilled his purpose, so what is everyone so fucking tweaked about?

At the moment, they are all twisted up over the remarks made by Mel Gibson's father about the Holocaust—specifically, that he said the Holocaust didn't happen. Now, while I find his statement naive and foolish I don't believe that you should hang the son for the sins of the father. Many people in Hollywood are denouncing Gibson for not publicly criticizing his father, which, to my mind, is ridiculous.

It is none of Mel Gibson's business nor is it his responsibility to police his father or his father's views. My father and I disagree on a great many things—voting Republican, for one—and no matter how often we argue about it, or out-and-out fight about it, neither of us is going to change. Mostly we agree to disagree and don't talk about those things, which I assume is the same in most families interested in keeping the peace. If I came out publicly and criticized my father's views (no matter how justified or correct my opinions were by comparison), it wouldn't affect anything but my relationship with my dad. That, to my mind, is more important than public opinion, and I assume it's the same for Mel Gibson.