Question about the Mel Gibson movie The Passion

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Mind if I interject? :)

Nbc, I've been really trying to see things from your perspective here. . .

Do I have this right?

You're saying that bad guys in a film are going to look "visually" evil. Portraying "bad guys" as visually evil does not constitute anti-Semitism. Good guys are going to look visually like "good guys."

You're arguing that it's impossible for the director to visually depict people as evil without having them "look" evil. And if those evil people happen to be Jewish, then certain oversensitive types will cry "anti-Semitism."

So let's concede the point, the baddies must look bad. The question is--what makes the stereotypical "Jewish look" (take a look at Nazi propaganda--I'm sure it can be found on the web--portraying Jews and then compare it to the Passion) equate to evil. The "hook nose", the dark curly hair etc. If you want your audience to focus on the message of the story rather than getting wraught up about anti-semitism, why not have them all look like Palestinians--antagonists and protagonists since that's where this story took place.
 
nbcrusader said:
If you look at a depiction of old Pharisees (after researching who they were and what they stood for) and the first thought is "anti-Semetic," I guess we'll remain at this impasse.

Do you know who the Pharisees are and what they stood for?

1) Did you know that the Pharisees maybe numbered, at most, 7,000 Jews compared to possibly several milliion Sadducees?

2) Did you know that the Sadducees had a tendency towards violence and militancy, which is why they were all killed or enslaved by the Romans in A.D. 70?

3) Did you know that, because of the Pharisees' relatively cordial relationship with the Roman Empire that this is the only reason that Judaism isn't a footnote in history along with the people of Carthage?

4) Did you know that the entire Bible likely wouldn't exist without them? That if the Pharisees had not made the decision to create an Old Testament canon in the 2nd century A.D. that Christians may never have come up with the idea to create the New Testament canon?

An impasse, indeed.

Melon
 
Oh Melon. Always trying to look smarter than the rest of us. Yes, I am familiar with both Pharisees and Sadducees. Thanks for the contribution.
 
maycocksean said:
So let's concede the point, the baddies must look bad. The question is--what makes the stereotypical "Jewish look" (take a look at Nazi propaganda--I'm sure it can be found on the web--portraying Jews and then compare it to the Passion) equate to evil. The "hook nose", the dark curly hair etc. If you want your audience to focus on the message of the story rather than getting wraught up about anti-semitism, why not have them all look like Palestinians--antagonists and protagonists since that's where this story took place.

I fully understand how others have manipulated the picture of a Jewish Priest into a caricature. But does the caricature mandate that all subsequent images of Jewish Priests be considered equally anti-semetic?

Perhaps the silence over the History Channel's depiction of Jewish Priests (which are very similar to the picture posted) in various shows hints at the other motivations for the criticism.
 
nbcrusader said:
Oh Melon. Always trying to look smarter than the rest of us.

Blessed art thou, nbcrusader.

Yes, I am familiar with both Pharisees and Sadducees. Thanks for the contribution.

Then since I can count on your familiarity with these concepts, perhaps you can see why Gibson's decision to rely on medieval Jewish caricatures is intellectually lazy, at least, and bad filmmaking, at most.

Melon
 
nbcrusader said:



Perhaps the silence over the History Channel's depiction of Jewish Priests (which are very similar to the picture posted) in various shows hints at the other motivations for the criticism.

well my silence about the history channel depiction is because I haven't seen it. And I don't have any other "motivations" (at least that I'm aware of). Remember, I'm a Christian. I don't really have a big problem with the movie (other than this one issue, which again doesn't exactly "hit close to home" as it may for others. I'd get more worked up about the Desperate Housewives thing, really). I don't have an ax to grind here. My comments are based on about as an objective and dispassionate point of view as it's possible to have
 
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