With his film The Passion of the Christ Mel Gibson has surely persuaded Hollywood that in suburbia everywhere there is a neglected, Christian audience thirsting for productions that will bear upon their personal commitments.
Everywhere they have flocked in droves to see The Passion. The movie appears to be of interest as well to people of other faiths.  Distributors reported surprisingly sizeable audiences in the Sydney suburb of Auburn, an area with a large population of Muslims.
Within three weeks of its release Arab News reported that pirated copies hit the streets in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and were selling like hot cakes. The Aramaic language is presumed to have driven up sales there.
Hollywood financiers who turned down the opportunity to be the distributor of The Passion must be ruing the day they took that decision as they have watched the reporting of weekly box office revenues.
Who can blame them? They based their decisions on all the received wisdom of Hollywood. The Passion is an independent, foreign language film with subtitles. It has an overtly religious theme, another endeavour in the Jesus genre. And to cap all that, the producer/director is known for his pre-Vatican II, Lefebvrist Roman Catholicism. It was a film surely heading for brief runs in art-house cinemas. But now Hollywood and the TV networks are dusting off old Jesus films and getting them ready for re-runs to try and catch the crest of the tidal wave of interest
I’m prepared to call this film ‘brilliantly crafted’ even though some of the characters, especially Peter, were flat and one-dimensonal. John was wooden though always present, a good position for an eyewitness gospel writer. Simon of Cyrene was gripping and Caviezel’s Jesus was overwhelming.
It seemed to me that biblically literate people will understand this film so much more than those who are just learning this story. Those aware of biblical theology appreciate the opening with the words from Isaiah 53, and the quick move into the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus, treading on the snake and killing it, is shown as the Second Adam.
I wanted to cheer when I saw thrown up as a subtitle, “I am the way, the truth and the life”.
Of course there were additions to the gospel story – a touch of humour in the carpenter Jesus making a table and predicting the use of chairs – and more questionable, Mary using white cloths given to her by Pilate’s wife to mop up the blood of Jesus after the scourging.
It is a violent film and it is not for children. But though critics have panned this film for its violence, surely it is no more so than many Schwarzenegger films? Let’s face it, violence is Hollywood these day. But apparently to critics, it’s more acceptable to show people being blown up, � la Schwarzenegger, than being whipped and crucified.
  Is it anti-Semitic? Not overtly, it’s really anti-Roman. The Roman soldiers come out of it badly, close to psychopaths, and Pilate is vacillating. Herod is high camp.
Are all the enthusiastic Protestants flocking to this film actually supporting the promotion of medieval Catholicism? That can certainly be argued. The evidence is in the presentation of Mary. The camera follows her intimately, lovingly almost. Yet as I watched I thought ‘What mother wouldn’t follow her child as he suffered?’
But if this is medieval Catholocism writ large, why is Peter so one dimensional and uninvolved? As the traditional ‘keeper of the keys’ one would have expected Gibson to highlight Peter if he wanted to promote Catholicism.
Another striking aspect is the portrayal of Satan. Androgenous, yes, but still with a female face. (Boo! for that Mel Gibson) Throughout the film Satan wandered in the crowd, never away from that gathered humanity that was oblivious to the evil presence “seeking whom he may devour”.
I was disappointed at the brief appearance of the Risen Christ at the end. Isn’t the gospel narrative wholly leading to that climatic event?
In spite of these negatives, I would say to anyone who hasn’t been, ‘Go and see it’. You will never again glibly say the words ‘suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried’ without an uncomfortable awareness of Christ’s human suffering as sin-bearer, for you and me, in our place.
Christians should also use the opportunity provided by this film to talk about faith in the resurrected Christ. Mel Gibson has made Jesus the talk of the work place coffee urn, and at the dinner party table. All kinds of people are now open to talking about Jesus. Don’t waste the opportunity by having to say ‘Sorry, I haven’t seen it’.