By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent
Hundreds of concerned citizens gathered at Town Hall in Seattle on Feb. 9 to hear two interfaith religious leaders speak about Mel Gibson’s soon-to-be-released film, The Passion of the Christ. The movie has motivated many interreligious groups around the country to call it a misinterpretation of the Gospels and a revival of the classic medieval-style portrayal of Jews as the Christ-killers.
The event, “What’s at Stake for Jews and Christians,” was sponsored by the American Jewish Committee, The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle and the Anti-Defamation League, and featured two long-time interfaith activists: Father James Eblen, a Roman Catholic parish priest in the Archdiocese of Seattle for 40 years and Rabbi David Elcott, the United States director of Interreligious Affairs at the American Jewish Committee.
While the event was sponsored by Jewish organizations, the audience was much more diverse in its religious beliefs—Christians, Jews, and many others were present for the talk.
The Passion, which will be released in its final version on Feb. 25—Ash Wednesday for Catholics—was produced with between $25 and $40 million of Gibson’s own money, and is rated “R” for its violent content.
“My intention for this film,” actor/director Gibson said, commenting about the film on the movie’s Web site, “was to create a lasting work of art and to stimulate serious thought and reflection among diverse audiences of all backgrounds.”
Gibson previewed the film to thousands of invited Christian and Jewish leaders in screenings held around the country. In an interview broadcast on ABC, Gibson said he has since removed the English translation of that subtitle of the particular text that may have been deemed offensive by many, but left in the original Aramaic dialogue coming from the crowd in the background.
“I really wanted to express the hugeness of the sacrifice as well as the horror of it,” explained Gibson. “But I also wanted a film that has moments of real lyricism and beauty and an abiding sense of love. That, in my view, is the greatest story we can ever tell.”
In addition to the criticism that the Jews generally look bad in the movie, Elcott, who attended a preview screening, said he is concerned with the way the story is told because the telling of a story can be hurtful and destructive to others.
But even more than Gibson’s artistic choices, Elcott is most disturbed by the inclusion of a highly controversial quote from the New Testament.
“I came to see this movie not pre-disposed to see it negatively, but I do want to talk about my disappointment,” said Elcott. “It’s not about anti-Semitism. Yes, there are those stereotypes in the movie that I’m sure will remain: those caricatures of Jews, the rabble, the crowd unanimously, every single one calling for Jesus’ death, a naively innocent Pontius Pilate who really wanted to save Jesus’ life but wasn’t able to do so, the evil high priest and his henchmen who beat and bruised and strangled Jesus.
“But in the version I saw,” added Elcott, “although Mel Gibson said he would never put the text from Matthew that places the sin of the death of Jesus—the murder of Jesus on the heads of Jews and all their descendents—the movie that I saw had them in there.”
Elcott was referring to a verse in the Gospel of Matthew 27:25, in which a rabid crowd accepted responsibility for Jesus’ death and proclaimed “Let his blood be on us and on our children.”
Jewish leaders say this passage was used in the Middle Ages to justify centuries of hatred toward the Jews throughout Europe.
Elcott also said that everyone who attended the pre-release screenings was given a large bag of promotional materials. He felt they were expected to promote the movie to their congregants.
“I walked out of that movie with a packet to give this Gospel—Mel Gibson’s Gospel—to the world,” said Elcott.
Eblen, who had not seen the movie, also expressed serious concern over Gibson’s version due to reports from colleagues about its content. He was told of a certain “pressure” to recommend it.
“I wasn’t one of those invited to a showing,” said Eblen, who is also an associate professor in the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University. “But I’ve spoken with people who were and they were expected to promote the movie. Several were threatened with lawsuits when they spoke about what they had seen. They were told, ‘It’s not the final version and you have no right to criticize it.’”
Eblen takes issue with the violent nature of the portrayal of Christ’s death, which he is told takes up most of the film.
“When I see the great violence,” said Eblen, “where is that rooted in the Biblical accounts? Where Jesus is treated for two hours with such violence, there are certainly not enough details in the Biblical accounts to give you that much material to fill. To see a movie or to see a play, suddenly you’re caught up in this.”
Eblen explained that the Scriptures were written by Evangelicals who went far beyond preaching the historical Jesus to get the good news of Jesus out. He said the Scriptures not only include the words and deeds of Jesus, but also the words and deeds of those who preached Jesus and finally, the words of those who wrote down these accounts. None of it, said Eblen, was ruled by strict historical fact.
“Which are the authentic accounts?” asked Eblen. “The movie is based on the Scriptures but they are highly interpretive and we must try to see what actually happened and how that’s been preached and believed as they went out in the world to create congregants.”
The AJCommittee does not promote the censoring of artistic freedom and they oppose boycotts. The organization, which was concerned enough about The Passion of the Christ to write a manual about it, describes its position as “an open debate to inform and persuade. No inappropriate pressure is being placed on anyone—only the pressure of goodwill between Christians and Jews.
“It is important to note that some of the film’s harshest critics have been Christian leaders, including clergy and scholars.”
While the AJCommittee does not advocate a boycott of this film, Rabbi Rick Harkavy, executive director of the organization’s Greater Seattle chapter, believes this film is not helpful to relations between Christians and Jews and wants to see an active and ongoing dialogue.
“Mel Gibson was very selective in the way he presented this,” said Harkavy. “This is going to be a very powerful film. I think it’s important for Christians to distance themselves [from it]. Many Evangelical Christians are going to use this film as a reference point. Our concern is that those who are not so sure about Jews are the ones who will be pre-disposed to anti-Semitism when they leave the film.”