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The Passion of the Christ
Mar. 28th, 2004 10:00 pmTery and I went to see "Passion of the Christ" Friday night, a rather impromptu date. ("Which movie do you want to see?" asked I. "P of the C," she answered. "Pirates of the Caribbean???" I asked incredulously. LJ and all the fangirl squeeing therein has ruined me, I tell ya.)
I had a passing interest in seeing this film, although I admit to feeling a little nervous when Felipe, my hardcore punk rock co-worker, sheepishly described it as "brutal." I also have heard so much about its message and of course the controversy that I actually had a strange fear of my fundamental belief system being shaken and transformed, and that I would emerge from the theater a Born-Again Christian. I was raised Catholic, though left the faith even before becoming thoroughly disgusted with its views of homosexuals (in fact the only thing that made me stay as long as I did was a breathless crush on unsuspecting Father Roger. It was all very Thorn Birds-y). Now I just have a general belief in being a good person, and that a lot of religions have really good ideas until the people in charge of such things come in and fuck everything up to serve their own warped and very human agendas. As Bill Maher once said, Son of God or not, Jesus was very good and said a lot of things that people should listen to. Unfortunately other people came in and started doing all manner of not-so-nice things in his name. I guess what I am saying is I am fiercely opposed to organized religion, though not necessarily spirituality. Don't ask me if I believe in God or not, though. The jury is still out on that one.
I liked this movie very much, gratuitous violence notwithstanding. However, like Schindler's List, it is entirely too intense to experience multiple viewings. I am not ashamed to admit I cried through easily 80% of the movie. True, I cry easily despite my gruff exterior, but the images were absolutely heart-wrenching, and I heard plenty of other telltale sniffling going on in the theater.
( ::major spoilers abound:: )
In short, this movie if nothing else reinforced my belief that religion in the wrong hands or used for the wrong purposes is a bad, bad thing. And that most visionaries like Jesus who might change the world for the better will probably come to a messy end at the hands of those who benefit from the status quo. Pessimistic, sure, but I am basing this on history.
PotC might be the most powerful, moving film I have ever seen (saying a lot from a confessed atheist/agnostic). It sparked a lively discussion between myself and Tery afterwards on all sorts of issues, but because we are godless homosexual sinners we eventually deteriorated into quoting Life of Brian instead.
Just to prove how unaffected my belief system is, I am rather inappropriately using this entry to showcase my new Monkeybone icon.
-=Lainey=-
I had a passing interest in seeing this film, although I admit to feeling a little nervous when Felipe, my hardcore punk rock co-worker, sheepishly described it as "brutal." I also have heard so much about its message and of course the controversy that I actually had a strange fear of my fundamental belief system being shaken and transformed, and that I would emerge from the theater a Born-Again Christian. I was raised Catholic, though left the faith even before becoming thoroughly disgusted with its views of homosexuals (in fact the only thing that made me stay as long as I did was a breathless crush on unsuspecting Father Roger. It was all very Thorn Birds-y). Now I just have a general belief in being a good person, and that a lot of religions have really good ideas until the people in charge of such things come in and fuck everything up to serve their own warped and very human agendas. As Bill Maher once said, Son of God or not, Jesus was very good and said a lot of things that people should listen to. Unfortunately other people came in and started doing all manner of not-so-nice things in his name. I guess what I am saying is I am fiercely opposed to organized religion, though not necessarily spirituality. Don't ask me if I believe in God or not, though. The jury is still out on that one.
I liked this movie very much, gratuitous violence notwithstanding. However, like Schindler's List, it is entirely too intense to experience multiple viewings. I am not ashamed to admit I cried through easily 80% of the movie. True, I cry easily despite my gruff exterior, but the images were absolutely heart-wrenching, and I heard plenty of other telltale sniffling going on in the theater.
( ::major spoilers abound:: )
In short, this movie if nothing else reinforced my belief that religion in the wrong hands or used for the wrong purposes is a bad, bad thing. And that most visionaries like Jesus who might change the world for the better will probably come to a messy end at the hands of those who benefit from the status quo. Pessimistic, sure, but I am basing this on history.
PotC might be the most powerful, moving film I have ever seen (saying a lot from a confessed atheist/agnostic). It sparked a lively discussion between myself and Tery afterwards on all sorts of issues, but because we are godless homosexual sinners we eventually deteriorated into quoting Life of Brian instead.
Just to prove how unaffected my belief system is, I am rather inappropriately using this entry to showcase my new Monkeybone icon.
-=Lainey=-
