Who should see this movie?

By Marilyn Jones

A commentary

At this point, it's doubtful that anyone who can read or has access to a television hasn't been inundated with opinions about Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ. Everyone from evangelicals to rabbis to Catholic priests has weighed in on the controversial production. And the two most contested points of view—that the movie is anti-Semitic, or that it's a watershed experience for Christians—both depend on what you, as a viewer, are bringing to the theater in the first place.

If you're wondering if you should see it, there are two strands that tie this film together. You might want to consider whether or not you are comfortable or interested in either. The first is the violence. Personally, by the time the movie ended, I was exhausted. The brutality was so relentless—the R rating is well deserved—and the sadistic infliction of pain on Jesus by the Roman soldiers was so graphic that I finally became numb. Rather than feeling inspired, I felt only tedium. I don't think that's the effect Gibson was going for. Which leads me to the second element of the film—Gibson's message.

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