Passion of the Christ

[tiberius]

Would you consider The Passion of The Christ to be horror?

[realdealblues]

I don't. It has some gore, and maybe you could argue the Satan part trying to temp him as a horror theme, but I catalog it in my collection as a drama.

[Kandarian Demon]

No - but it's gory. I always found it funny how so many people who would normally condemn such movies were praising Passion of the Christ, considering that all the movie has to offer is blood and brainless violence.

[Giganticface]

No - but it's gory. I always found it funny how so many people who would normally condemn such movies were praising Passion of the Christ, considering that all the movie has to offer is blood and brainless violence.

I can see how that's all the movie has to offer for some people, and is certainly the popular (and tired) thing to do to point out the irony that such a gory movie would be popular with Christians, but considering that the cornerstone event of the world's most populous religion is the brutal and humiliating death of Christ (and subsequent resurrection), it offers a lot more than brainless blood and gore to a lot of people.

I'm a Christian, and the movie is very difficult for me to watch. I've only done it a couple times, and it's the only movie I can think of where I'm in tears for almost the entire duration. Not out of sadness or guilt though. It's hard to describe. Definitely more out of thankfulness for him saving me from a lot of stupid shit I've done in my life.

Anyway, no I wouldn't classify it as horror since its purpose is not to attempt to scare the audience, but rather dramatically interpret a real life event. I'd put it in a similar category as Schindler's List, Holocaust and Roots. The gore level is on par with a torture horror movie though, and like realdealblues mentioned, the dramatized Satan parts are definitely horror-esque.

[Straker]

Accidental torture porn from a mediocre film maker... Can't wait for the sequel. :rolleyes:

I'm hoping they go down this route for the resurrection:

http://images.wikia.com/adventuretimewithfinnandjake/images/d/d7/Cyborg-pirate-ninja-jesus.jpg

[Bob Gray]

It's a boring movie that mixes reality with a ton of fiction about a boring Historical figure, I pass.

[Kandarian Demon]

I can see how that's all the movie has to offer for some people, and is certainly the popular (and tired) thing to do to point out the irony that such a gory movie would be popular with Christians, but considering that the cornerstone event of the world's most populous religion is the brutal and humiliating death of Christ (and subsequent resurrection), it offers a lot more than brainless blood and gore to a lot of people.

I'm a Christian, and the movie is very difficult for me to watch. I've only done it a couple times, and it's the only movie I can think of where I'm in tears for almost the entire duration. Not out of sadness or guilt though. It's hard to describe. Definitely more out of thankfulness for him saving me from a lot of stupid shit I've done in my life.

For me it's not about being a Christian or not. I absolutely love "The Ten Commandments", because it's such a well made movie. When I was a kid, that movie actually made me take Bible lessons of my own free will.

I'm not a Christian - but my mother is Catholic, and we have pretty much the same opinion about "Passion of the Christ" It simply wasn't done well - and it didn't really tell the story properly.

I realise that quite a lot of people already know the story - but to make a movie with the expectation that every viewer has "read the book" in advance is just lazy, and really makes the supposed idea behind the movie rather pointless - at least everything I read about the movie at the time it came out said that it was supposed to "educate". Well - it didn't. By watching the movie, you learn nothing that you didn't already know before watching the movie.

And that's why, in my opinion, it IS brainless violence. There would have been plenty of time to tell the story during the movie, but no, it was all about the torture scenes. To be honest with you, as a non-Christian, my first reaction to the movie was that if I HAD been a Christian, I would have been offended.

But, I know - people have very mixed opinions about the movie.

[MichaelMyers]

Not horror.

[hammerfan]

But, I know - people have very mixed opinions about the movie.

I remember asking the pastor of the church I was attending at the time (Lutheran) what he thought of it. His reply was "I thought it was an exercise in sadism".

[Giganticface]

I remember asking the pastor of the church I was attending at the time (Lutheran) what he thought of it. His reply was "I thought it was an exercise in sadism".

Definitely. I think it's ludicrous for one Christian to expect another Christian to go watch the movie, and expect them to enjoy it. If any church were to think it would be a good idea to, say, have a church event and show it to their congregation, I would find that appalling and offensive. The movie is not appropriate for most viewers, and could be downright scarring to some.

However, IMO, if a believer is willing to subject themselves to that level of violence in a movie, I don't think it's a bad thing to have a visual image of the type of punishment that Christ endured. It's easy for a Christian to forget that that cute gold cross worn around their neck represents an actual event, where actual flesh was torn. It would be similar (although not in a religious sense) to a Jew watching a very explicit, violent dramatization of the horrible things that happened during the Holocaust. They shouldn't feel pressured to watch it, but if they chose to, may feel a strong appreciation and remembrance of the horrible events by doing so. (I also don't think people would be as quick to criticize that movie.)

[metternich1815]

I would not consider it horror, possibly a historical movie, assuming that the Bible is an accurate historical account of the death of Jesus (granted, the miracles and stuff is debatable). Personally, I approached it as a historical movie (I ignored the religious aspects, I know difficult to do). I am not Christian, so I do not get anything out of it in that way.

[Kandarian Demon]

It would be similar (although not in a religious sense) to a Jew watching a very explicit, violent dramatization of the horrible things that happened during the Holocaust. They shouldn't feel pressured to watch it, but if they chose to, may feel a strong appreciation and remembrance of the horrible events by doing so. (I also don't think people would be as quick to criticize that movie.)

If it was made in a similar way, then yes, I would be very critical.

The reason that movie got so much attention was because of the controversy over how brutal is is. It was the gore that created all the media attention, and both directly and indirectly made most people go see it. Had it just been another movie about the story of Christ, then it would simply not have had the same audience.

They had a great hit movie, not by telling the story of Jesus, but by getting attention for showing a religious icon being tortured non stop for 2 hours.

I totally respect that you have a different opinion about the movie, but I don't really get why you seem to insinuate in both of your posts that I am critical because it's a Christian movie, when in fact I am saying that I find it disrespectful. I don't personally believe in Christ, but if I did I would find it very offensive that someone made money from his suffering by using it for shock value. Just as, by the way, I find it tasteless when they make gorefests out of certain real life events (and I know that to you and many other people, the Passion of the Christ IS the story of a real life event).

But if YOU got something positive out of the movie, great! I'm not saying you're wrong because of that, I'm just saying how the movie made ME feel, and why I, in the post you first replied to, called it "brainless violence". It was in no way said to be disrespectful to your faith, if anything it was the opposite.

Other than that, I agree with the rest of your post.

[Giganticface]

It was in no way said to be disrespectful to your faith, if anything it was the opposite.

I appreciate that. I didn't take it that way, but I appreciate you going out of your way to say that. At the same time, I don't want anyone to feel bad if they were jabbing me for my faith. I'm sorta asking for it, professing my faith in a horror forum. :) I spent 6 years or so in a doom metal chat room and I don't think I encountered a single other Christian there, but I did get a lot of flames about how stupid I was. (BTW: Straker, your response was hilarious. :D )


If it was made in a similar way, then yes, I would be very critical.

That's cool. Certainly a lot of people would agree. Maybe a good real-life example is Men Behind the Sun. I assume you would not like that movie, and even believe that making the movie was a bad idea. (Ignoring the cat scene, which the director states was a special effect, but many believe to be real.) Certain folks -- perhaps the grandchild of a person killed in that concentration camp -- might find some value in watching the movie. Criticizing it for being exploitative, however, is totally legit, and you'd have every right to that opinion.



I don't really get why you seem to insinuate in both of your posts that I am critical because it's a Christian movie, when in fact I am saying that I find it disrespectful.

I didn't say that, and I didn't mean to insinuate it. I apologize if that's the conclusion you drew. There are a lot of reasons to be critical of the movie, many of which have been discussed. It also doesn't help that Mel Gibson keeps repeatedly makes the news for being a bigot and a jackass. I was only pointing out that it's easy and popular to be critical of it.

[Kandarian Demon]

I appreciate that. I didn't take it that way, but I appreciate you going out of your way to say that. At the same time, I don't want anyone to feel bad if they were jabbing me for my faith. I'm sorta asking for it, professing my faith in a horror forum. :) I spent 6 years or so in a doom metal chat room and I don't think I encountered a single other Christian there, but I did get a lot of flames about how stupid I was.

Yeah, I understand that. I suppose it's because horror and metal fans are used to being judged for being "ungodly". Which is actually pretty silly if you ask me - so many horror movies are about "good vs. evil", and I think that really goes for many metal lyrics too (and some of them are just pure fantasy). I used to be a Christian and loved horror and metal then as much as I do now, so I know how you can get kind of caught in the middle and feel like everyone is picking on you from both sides.



Maybe a good real-life example is Men Behind the Sun. I assume you would not like that movie, and even believe that making the movie was a bad idea. (Ignoring the cat scene, which the director states was a special effect, but many believe to be real.) Certain folks -- perhaps the grandchild of a person killed in that concentration camp -- might find some value in watching the movie. Criticizing it for being exploitative, however, is totally legit, and you'd have every right to that opinion.

I haven't seen that particular movie (I've heard about it though), so I can't comment on that. But - I watched "Schindlers List" once, I don't really want to ever watch it again, but even though some of the scenes were brutal and unpleasant, I think they added something important to the story telling. It was a very unpleasant movie to watch, but I think it was tastefully done and got the message through. I am not totally against making movies based on real life events, or against having violent or disturbing scenes in them. It's when it seems to be more about gore than it's about telling the victims stories that it starts to bother me.



I didn't say that, and I didn't mean to insinuate it. I apologize if that's the conclusion you drew. There are a lot of reasons to be critical of the movie, many of which have been discussed. It also doesn't help that Mel Gibson keeps repeatedly makes the news for being a bigot and a jackass. I was only pointing out that it's easy and popular to be critical of it.

I'm sorry if I misunderstood you, then :) But yeah, I guess as with any controversial movie, it's easy to point the finger at it.