Flashback: Role Reversal
I recall the religious right being up in arms over the movie The Last Temptation of Christ, which I did see and thought was a decent movie. Now, the left is up in arms over antisemitism and appeasing to the religious right.
I guess pissing the religious right off is OK but doing a movie about something they may agree with isn’t?
They’re just movies. Robin Williams said it best when he said: Hey Sparky, no movie’s real.
February 17th, 2004 at 11:14 am
No
Anti-Semitism is wrong no matter who does it. Didn’t think that was a left right issue.
February 17th, 2004 at 11:16 am
I haven’t seen the film so I can’t comment on whether it’s antisemetic or not. Gone with the Wind, Do the Right Thing, American History X, and many more movies had racist undertones. That doesn’t make those movies any less powerful nor any less artistic.
February 17th, 2004 at 12:39 pm
Uncle:
Well, to be fair, religion is a much different subject than Civil-War era Georgia or urban New York life. And Kevin has also decried the racism of Gone With the Wind, so he’s not being selective here.
The issue comes not with racist overtones, but with blaming an entire race for what many Christians view as the biggest crime in the history of mankind. (A viewpoint for which there is little Biblical justification, and one that I’ve never understood… Jesus had to die for our sins in order for us to gain salvation. Didn’t “the Jews” do us a favor by crucifying him? And let us not forget that Jesus was himself a Jew.)
I guess pissing the religious right off is OK but doing a movie about something they may agree with isn’t?
That’s not the issue and it never was. I think you’re making false comparisons here. The only thing at issue here is what The Passion does (and how Gibson plays it up). If you could find another movie that is similarly racist that we on “the left” have praised and listed as “required viewing,” then you might have a point. Until then, yawn.
For what it’s worth, if a movie came out vilifying an entire race, no matter what that race was (yes, even if that race was white), I would certainly complain about it.
February 17th, 2004 at 12:42 pm
The only issue with the last temptation to the right was that it slammed, you know, the leader of many religions. I never said the left praised it but they weren’t in an uproar over offending christians.
At the end of the day, it’s a damn movie.
February 17th, 2004 at 12:44 pm
“At the end of the day, it’s a damn movie”
Ideas have consequences say uncle, and in our culture, pop culture and damn movies have quite a bit of influence. Charles Barkley did more for Gay Rights over the wekeend than a thousand marches or a million decisions like the one in MAss could ever do. This movie could have the opposite effect.
Ideas have consequences.
February 17th, 2004 at 12:48 pm
Yes, ideas do have consequences. But, ya know, people can express those ideas any way. I tend to doubt gibson is playing up antisemitism, much the way i doubt Oliver Stone was playing up being a serial killer.
February 17th, 2004 at 1:47 pm
Uncle:
Yes, ideas do have consequences. But, ya know, people can express those ideas any way.
Where has anyone questioned Gibson’s right to do this? His motives, and his judgment, sure, but those are open to question.
If Kevin ever suggested that the movie ought to be banned, please let me know so that I can offer a mea culpa.
February 17th, 2004 at 1:48 pm
I didn’t say he did.
February 17th, 2004 at 1:56 pm
” I tend to doubt gibson is playing up antisemitism”
And I disagree, and since I disagree, I have an obligation to speak out about it.
From everything I have seen, Gibson’s film does have anti-Semetic pieces, he isn’t shy about defending the work and attacking those who point out the anti-Semetic parts (he doesn’t refute things in anything but a general way, and then plays on the ‘poor picked on little me’ card – his comments about non-existant death threats, for example), and those defenses are giving comfort to some people who revel in the blood libel lie.
“I guess pissing the religious right off is OK but doing a movie about something they may agree with isn’t? ”
This line made it sound as if it was acceptable that the religious right be allowed to spew anti-Semitism without censor or rebuke, at least too me. Your comments about it being just a movie reinfrced that notion, as if you did not think that a pop culture movie could have a seriously detrimental effect. Sorry if I misread you, but I don’t think I was completely off base in my reading.
February 17th, 2004 at 4:14 pm
Kevin, have you seen the movie from beginning to end, or just pieces?
February 17th, 2004 at 8:08 pm
Gibson has the right to make a movie, people have the right to call it “crap”, “racist”, or whatever they want to. Same with Last Temptation of Christ and every other movie. I personally don’t think that banning movies (or anything else) accomplishes anything.
February 17th, 2004 at 9:46 pm
exactly manish. No one would care if this movie featured bad guys. But jewish bad guys, well that’s unheard of.
February 17th, 2004 at 10:07 pm
There is a world of difference between Jewish bad guys and blood libel, SU, and you should know that.
BSTommy
No, I haven’t seen the whole thing, and if the final picture is not anti-Semetic, then I will be happy to apologize. But I won’t apologize for criticizing the poor way in which Gibson has delt with the accusations and the delibert seeming steps he has taken to make himself appear victim, or the way in which he has handled this has given ammunition to thse who would and do advance blood libel.
February 18th, 2004 at 8:24 am
It’s all about marketing. After watching a little feature on the news this morning….this movie’s going to make a million bajillion dollars. Churches have been buying up all the tickets for opening week. It’s gonna be huge.
Why would Mel want to turn all the controversy away? Let’s not forget that Mel’s in it for a buck. And if people are talking about the movie and all the “problems” it causes, then they’ll want to go see it. He’s not going to try to assuage anybody’s fears or accusations. The angrier they are, the more they talk about his movie.
By the way, Uncle….whatever Robin Williams says, I have it on good authority that Animal House, the Karate Kid, Superman 2 & 3 and Transformers: the Movie are all movies that are, in fact, real-life.