I grew up on those...
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I grew up on those pious Hollywood biblical epics of the 1950s, which looked like holy
cards brought to life. I remember my grin when Time magazine noted that
Jeffrey Hunter, starring as Christ in King of Kings (1961), had shaved his
armpits. (Not Hunter's fault; the film's crucifixion scene had to be re-shot because
preview audiences objected to Jesus' hairy chest.)
If it does nothing else, Mel Gibson's film will break the tradition of turning Jesus and his disciples into neat, clean, well-barbered, middle-class businessmen. They were poor men in a poor land. I debated Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ with commentator Michael Medved before an audience from a Christian college, and was told by an audience member that the characters were filthy and needed haircuts.
(From Roger Ebert in his 2/24/04 review of Mel Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ)
If it does nothing else, Mel Gibson's film will break the tradition of turning Jesus and his disciples into neat, clean, well-barbered, middle-class businessmen. They were poor men in a poor land. I debated Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ with commentator Michael Medved before an audience from a Christian college, and was told by an audience member that the characters were filthy and needed haircuts.
(From Roger Ebert in his 2/24/04 review of Mel Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ)
