The World According to Oatney

Snubbing the Passion

Few people will argue that The Passion of the Christ was one of the best films of 2004. Because of its religious nature, however, Mel Gibson's blockbuster smash, which stars Jim Caviezel as Our Lord, The Passion was snubbed, not garnering a single Oscar nomination.

Michael Medved was on Today this morning making the case that Passion was passed over because Hollywood has grown too uncomfortable with films which have a religious topic. Medved further noted that these films are popular with the public, and pointed out that the biggest successes in American film history were religious films.

The opposing critic (whose name I can't recall) basically admitted that this was a political snub, and then tried to justify it by saying that Hollywood didn't want to support the film! Many of the very people who criticized this film never even saw it.

Rabbi Daniel Lapin had the best thoughts on the matter. If the so-called "Jewish organizations" who say they aim to prevent "anti-Semitism" do not wish to stoke that which they want to eliminate, perhaps they would do well to leave Christian America alone. Quit seeking to presume what we will think. Literate Christians saw this film, and we had no plans for a "pogrom in Pittsburgh" as Lapin humorously puts it.

posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 11:36 AM