Instead he focused on scene after scene of gratuitous violence.
I think yo missed the point of Mel's movie. Mel's whole purpose was to focus on the passion...the suffering that Jesus went through VOLUNTARILY. Hard to describe that suffering without showing the violence he underwent...and embraced.
Good violence and bad violence? I don't know...does the violence teach a positive lesson? the violence of Natural Born Killers only serves to glorify violence. The violence of Saving Private Ryan taught a lesson.
Who complained about the Matrix? I thought it was a great story, and that the first one was a "spiritual" story. I think most Christians liked it.
RE: The shroud of Turin, the pix I've seen show a person who was scourged, the scourge marks can be seen on the body...especially the back. Remember, Jesus body was washed before it was wrapped. So, are you saying you think the shroud is the real thing?
Oh, and the baby thing... I think there is no symbolism to it... that was just one of Satan?s demons
I gotta disagree, there's a lot of symbolism in the flick. I'm thinking, Satan, Father of Lies, embracing the lie that is sin, that's what I think.
Bottom line... Mell passed up a wonderful opportunity to tell the world about the life of Jesus and the Love and Forgiveness that he taught... instead he squandered it on a movie that is 90% brutal violence.
There are a lot of stories that tell the soft side, Mel's story shows the hard side of love, the brutality that Jesus underwent. The love is seen in that he does this willingly...even embracing the cross. The forgiveness, in that he did it at all...and also in that he's heard to say, more than once, Father forgive them.
To further emphasize my opinion that Mell totally missed the point of the gospels... there is also the fact that the actor who played Jesus was stuck by lightning while on the set... not once, but TWICE.
Anyone believe in signs?
Anecdotal evidence suggests that ANYONE who plays Jesus has problems. Had God wanted to send Mel a message it would have been Mel getting struck by lightening twice, not Cazviel.