Mel Gibson's film, The Passion...
Illustration
Object:
Mel Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ, attracted a great deal of
controversy for uncritically presenting biblical passages that reflect an anti-Semitic
viewpoint. Gibson's own approach to the subject was not that simple -- as seen in his
choice of an extra to play one minor role in the film: the Roman soldier who pounds the
nails into Jesus' flesh.
The person Mel Gibson chose for this role was ... Mel Gibson himself. The director's million-dollar Hollywood face never appears on the screen, but it's his anonymous lower arm that flashes across the camera's eye, swinging the mallet. It's a role any extra could have played, but Gibson chose to do it himself, for personal reasons. It appears to be his own way of participating in the confession that ought to be the anguished admission of us all, as we survey the wondrous cross. That confession is, in all its dread simplicity: "I killed Jesus."
The person Mel Gibson chose for this role was ... Mel Gibson himself. The director's million-dollar Hollywood face never appears on the screen, but it's his anonymous lower arm that flashes across the camera's eye, swinging the mallet. It's a role any extra could have played, but Gibson chose to do it himself, for personal reasons. It appears to be his own way of participating in the confession that ought to be the anguished admission of us all, as we survey the wondrous cross. That confession is, in all its dread simplicity: "I killed Jesus."
