The Passion Posted on Fri, Feb. 27, 2004

LEONARD PITTS JR./COMMENTARY
Debate [misses] the message of Passion...
To understand The Passion, though, [one] needs at least familiarity with the four Gospels and, ideally, faith in them. The movie does not concern itself with back story; it assumes that you come to it with a certain body of knowledge.
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But there's something critics of The Passion, Jewish and otherwise, are missing. Namely, that this movie -- there's no delicate way to say this -- was not made for them -- or for that matter, for Muslims or atheists. It is deliberately exclusionary to a degree I've seldom seen. You didn't have to be Jewish to get Schindler's List or African-American to get Roots. Being those things might have deepened your appreciation, but they were not necessary.
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Otherwise, all you will see is a man being hit over and over and over again, such extravagantly brutal torture that you cringe and pray for it to be done. But it never is. There is always another blow, a fresh gout of blood. If you know the Gospels, however, you might see something more than violence. You might see the embodiment of Christ's message. Which was not simply ''love and faith'' but redemption, ransom, sacrifice, the willingness to take upon Himself, upon His body, punishment for all the sins of humankind.

gmb: Now THIS makes it seem worth seeing. I wonder if I can see that message.