Why I haven’t seen “The Passion of the Christ” and probably never will

(Essay/Ensayo: Por qué no he visto "The Passion of the Christ" y por qué probablemente nunca la veré)

While corresponding with a friend not too long ago the topic of “The Passion of the Christ” came up. I asked him if he had seen it and added that I wasn’t sure I would ever see it. I said I wasn’t ready; that my gut feeling was telling me, “Don’t go see it.” To this very day, I have heeded my gut feeling unswervingly.

To my surprise, my friend told me, “I’ll never see it. It is sufficient for me to know that Christ suffered unspeakable horrors on our behalf.” Wow! What a powerful answer! It almost made me say, “Yes, sir!” Then he added, “Besides, I’m a little scared of watching it.” I immediately interjected, “Man, I’m scared to death! It’s hard enough when you read the Passion in the Gospels. I don’t think I can stomach Christ’s suffering on the big screen. Not like that.” We then moved on to ponder about the suitability of a medium like film to capture the historical Passion of Jesus Christ.

I’ve read a lot about “The Passion” before and since its premier. I have read good things and bad things, but the numbers don’t lie. As sculpture and painting before it, film’s suitability to portray the Passion of our Lord withstood the test of time with some added perks. So far this year “The Passion” is only second in profits to “Shrek 2,” a fact that in itself is worthy of another article. The movie has accomplished an uncommon feat in cinema- it became an instant classic. “The Passion of the Christ” is the definitive religious motion picture of our time.

Making money, however, was a mere byproduct of a work primarily wrought with love. Granted, many films are wrought with love, but most don’t have such a “happy” ending. There is obviously a business side to movie making. The producer, screenwriter and director of the movie, Mel Gibson, expected to make a fair amount of money out of it; at least more than the $25 million he invested in the project. That the movie ended up making so much more is something I’m sure he didn’t expect.

The DVD of “The Passion” will be released in a few days. I am confronted once more with the dilemma of watching what I consider to be a dreadful movie, maybe not in the worst connotation of the word, but still dreadful. I am a firm believer, mostly through experience, in the maxim “Never say never,” but my gut feeling remains unswerving as the DVD release approaches.

All my friends but one have said that I must see the movie assuring me that it will open opportunities to share the Gospel. I don’t doubt it would. Besides, I have seen many a movie depicting the Passion of our Lord before. So why don’t I arm myself with valor and get done with this one? Well, it’s not that easy, at least for me.

I can give a couple of reasons as to why I haven’t given in to seeing “The Passion.” The first one has to do with Christian maturity; the second one, with Redemption as an act of God the Son and our role in it.

On the first count, I’d like to begin by saying that Christianity is a religion of dogmas, things that must be believed. That Christ suffered, died, was buried and rose again from the dead are the dogmas at the core of Christianity. However, these are not mere dogmas; they are facts in the record of history. Christianity is belief rooted in history, but faith takes precedence over and in spite of the historicity of the facts. None of us where there when the events we believe in happened, but we still have to believe them.

As we continue to participate in the life of the Church, our understanding of these Christian dogmas in view of the Gospel narrative increases and our faith in turn is strengthened. On a spiritual level, the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ grow as a wider and deeper foundation in our lives than they were a year before. The more we understand these dogmas, the greater the impact they will also have on other areas of our lives.

A Christian will find it harder and harder to explain his faith in purely rational or simply emotional terms without any regard for spirituality as he grows in Christ. The dogmas of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ continue to be branded in the heart of the mature Christian with the passing of liturgical time.

A movie like “The Passion” would only serve as a reinforcement of what is already settled in our Christian experience; it will never be first and foremost a moving experience. While it is true that most of us need all the help we can get, and I do not question that “The Passion” is a big help, some of us choose to rely on the apprehension we have already gained from our participation in the Christian religion, in particular dogmas relating to Christ. Dogma gives the members of the Church uniformity of believe (Ephesians 4:5), but each individual member of the Church grasps the dogma in a unique way. Not a new or different reality, but a unique apprehension. Watching “The Passion,” or any other similar movie for that matter, is subservient to the faith of the believer not the other way around. As of today, watching “The Passion” is one thing I can do without.

In fairness, however, I must ask myself how different things would have been for me had I seen “The Passion” by now? And in all honesty, I must answer that very little would have been different. A movie, if it is a good movie such as “The Passion,” has a long lasting effect as far as memory goes. For a movie going generation like ours, nothing can be said against it. But as far as everlasting salvation is concerned, even if “The Passion” had the effect of bringing someone to Christ, there is no way anyone can rely on it for Christian sustenance; much less rely on a daily dose of it to make it through. The Christian walk is a slow walk to maturity. With time the factors that externally helped bring us to Christ are substituted by a great deal of inward Christian pondering. Another friend of mine contends that among its many values, one of the greatest if not the greatest value “The Passion” has, is that it will drive you to reflection; it will make you meditate like you haven’t done it before or, as others say, you will simply be repulsed by it.

I make no claims of being a mature Christian. Maybe, that’s one reason I’m not able to see the movie yet. One thing is certain- the impression of the Christian tenets of the Passion, Death and Resurrection has been so heavy upon my soul I haven’t felt compelled to watch the movie.

On the second count, the Passion of our Lord reveals to us the extreme passivity to which the human race cave into when Christ was attaining the redemption of our souls. This passivity did not characterize humanity alone; even the Father and his angels succumbed to passivity when his beloved Son struggled in the darkest hour of world history. There was no other way. Christ became the spectacle and we, all of us, became the spectators. Christ, activity and we, passivity.

Here lies perhaps our greatest problem, that when it came to the redemption of our souls, we could not do anything to stop it or anything, besides the Fall, to help it come about. “The Passion of the Christ” exposes our so-called self-sufficiency for what it really is – a load of crap.

That’s another thing that’s keeping me from seeing this movie. Every human being enthrones the god of self-sufficiency at one point or another, if not at every moment, during his lifetime. “The Passion of the Christ”, the movie, cries out loud to our movie-going generation that we are a species in need of redemption. This redemption, even when we adhere the most to our self-sufficiency delusions, is an act that took place without our active participation and at the same time is an act done on our behalf. The fact that I, whether I want it or not, will become a spectator of what Dorothy Sayers described as “the greatest drama ever staged” makes us uncomfortable to say the least.

My own sin keeps me from the big screen confrontation with my real spiritual need of redemption. Yet, to sit passively in a movie theater while my eyes soak in the scourging of Christ in proportions I had not quite imagine before unnerves me just the same. It made me realize that what my friend gave as a reason for not watching the movie is also a safeguard not to the fact that Christ suffered and died, but to the fact that the trio of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord is primarily an issue of faith.

Things pertaining to the realm of believe, a believe that transcends time and space, always try to find expression in the here and the now. That’s why many of the greatest works of art throughout history, including “The Passion of the Christ”, are Christian. This attests to the beauty of Christianity. No Christian can deny the power of art. One way in which we actively strengthen our Faith is through artistic endeavor and contemplation. The Christian drama contained in the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is something of such huge proportions we would literally explode save by the weekly rehearsal of the Eucharist, the yearly rehearsals of Christmas and Holy Week and the aid of the artistic expression of our Faith. “The Passion of the Christ” adds to this latter one a huge contribution while being quite unapologetic about our need of redemption.

With God’s grace, I will be able to appreciate more and more the dogmas of my Faith as I continue to grow in my Christian walk. Even so, I haven’t seen “The Passion of the Christ” and probably never will.
cspellot2004