The point of this movie was to depict what happened to Jesus during the last hours of his life: from the time Judas informed authorities of Jesus to the Resurrection. The message was to remind Believers of the pain and suffering Jesus went through for the whole of humanity. Now, I don’t want you to think I’m preaching! I do have a point! From the people I have spoken to, this film influenced inspiration in them after watching the film. However, it also influenced individuals in a negative way, as well. I would like to bring to light the effect this controversial film is having on individual people.

Surprisingly, discrimination has been an outcome of this seemingly innocent film. I have a friend, let’s call him Joe, who just so happens to be of the Jewish faith. After hearing about the negative protests of Jews in New York, he was reluctant to watch “The Passion for the Christ.” However, he ended up watching it open-mindedly and had a non-offending view of it. He says, “As a Jew, I was not offended by the movie. There are much more important things to be offended by, than by a movie about a historical event. Besides, real believers know that God doesn’t need anyone to defend him. It’s sad that a movie about love and compassion can bring about such hatred to a certain group of people.”

The latter portion of Joe’s comment pertains to a situation that recently occurred to him. While casually walking through the mall, wearing his yarmuolka, a skullcap worn by Jews, a group of people walked by him and one of them loudly exclaimed, “F-----g Jew!” Completely taken aback by the comment, Joe removed his yarmoulka to avoid further conflicts while they remained with their discriminating comments.

Now, I’m not saying that the opinion of these people was purely conceived by the movie itself, but I am saying that there was a time (before the movie came out), that Joe could proudly wear his yarmoulka without being shown prejudice. To me, this is a step backward from tolerance. Open-mindedness is one of the most important attributes that an individual living in the 21st century can have. The ability to obtain an opinion based on the knowledge of all the different point of views available before coming to a decision, is formed through an open mind.

My personal experience with watching “The Passion for the Christ” was good. However, as soon as the movie started and Jesus started speaking Aramaic, muttering filled the theater and the man sitting behind me said, “You gotta be f-----g kidding me!” The girl next to me added, “Subtitles? Now I have to read?!” At the end, most people disappointedly commented that it was “long and boring” and “I can’t believed Jews did that!” What she doesn’t know is that not all Jews wanted Jesus crucified. This second opinion goes to show that you can’t just form an opinion by one movie, event, or comment.

This inspirationally driven film has had an incredible impact on today’s society. It has influenced more people to make their ideas known and act upon them. It has influenced people to build a new faith or renew faith that was covered up. However, it has also influenced people to act inappropriately negatively. If you haven’t watched “The Passion for the Christ,” I encourage you to go ahead and do that. Don’t go by what other people have said, discover your own opinion and voice it. I hope that by reading this point of view that you have shaped an outlook of your own, and if you disagree, that’s good, because it means you’re thinking!

http://www.thepassionofthechrist.com/
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=34291
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33702