I received this today and wanted to pass it on to everyone here at MB.
Harold

Subject: Fw: Mel Gibson
>
>
> Mel Gibson's movie about Jesus.I watched the O'Reilly Factor last night on
> Fox News where Bill O'Reilly interviewed Mel Gibson. He is making a new
> movie about the life of Jesus called "Passion". He is currently on
location
> somewhere in Greece/Italy. They showed a few pictures last night. It
> reminded me of our
> passion play we perform each year at our church. It is going to be bloody
> and gruesome and hard to watch, but Mel says he is going to try and get it
> as
> close to reality as possible. I was VERY impressed with what Mel said
about
> making this movie. You
> can tell that he is definitely a Christian believer and that is extremely
> rare to find in Hollywood these days. He even admitted that this might be
a
> career-killer for him, but he said the movie must be made and must be
> made honestly and not sugar-coated and glossed over as Hollywood has done
> in the past. He has received threats on himself and his family and there
is
> a reporter who is feverishly working to dig up "dirt" on Mel and
> threatening to expose the dirt if Mel goes forward with the movie. This
> reporter has even harassed Mel's 85 year-old father and Mel's close
personal
> friends.
>
> As long as Mel Gibson has been in the movie-making business, I have NEVER
> seen bad press on that man. He seems to be someone all women adore and is
> sort of a man's man. Bill asked Mel if he thought the now hostile
atmosphere
> in which he finds himself is because he is making an honest, truthful,
> biblically-based movie about Jesus. Mel said he DEFINITELY
> thinks so. Mel said that the movie is going to show what a loving
sacrifice
> Jesus made to all humanity and THAT is the basis of the movie and THAT is
> why
> forces do not want the movie to go forward. He said it isn't intended to
> throw Jesus in the face of Jews or
> Muslims or anyone. It is ONLY to show the love of Christ to the world.
Think
> about it, if Mel's movie is successful and is released all over the world,
> just
> THINK about the impact this movie is going to have on the lives of
thousands
> of non-believers. THINK about how Jesus will be lifted up if this movie
> goes forward.
>
> There are already, and will be, stronger and even
> more powerful forces attacking the making of this movie. I stood
speechless
> last night at hearing Mel Gibson speak of his decision to take on this
> project.
> I am so proud of him and thankful to him at offering up his career as
> sacrifice to advance the message of Christ. I hope you will join with me
in
> lifting up in prayer Mel, his family, and the making of this movie. It
gave
> me chills last night to hear all of this. The only way Mel is going to
get
> this movie made and shown is if he has other Christians standing behind
him
> and backing him up on this. As you know, the Bible says "the prayers of a
> righteous man availeth much."
>
> I'm sorry this email was so lengthy, but it is a very important subject.
> Thanks for reading....
>
> Deborah Bartlett Sells (D. B.)
> Counselor
> Lyles Middle School
> 4655 S. Country Club Road
> Garland, Texas

Just a few thoughts to put this in perspective...

For one, I would take Gibson's promise to make the movie "as close to reality as possible" with a grain of salt. Mel is a good actor, and by all accounts a really great guy, but his other movies based upon "reality" leave something to be desired.

Braveheart, while a terrific film, is somewhat of a joke among folks who study the history of Scotland.

The Patriot, again a fine piece of Hollywood drama, is a bit light on historical accuracy.

Signs, while a good film by a great director, is based upon the long-since debunked notion that crop circles have something to do with aliens.

So if Mel is planning on a "realistic" portrayal of the last days of Jesus, I would be at least a bit suspicious.

Second, I would be skeptical of his claims that people are harassing him because of this film.

Let's face it, reporters are keen to dig up dirt on EVERYONE in Hollywood, for no reason other than the fact that dirt on celebrities sells magazines. It just comes with the territory.

If there were some secret anti-religious cabal bent on trashing celebs who do Bible-based movies, then Charlton Heston would have been run out of Hollywood a long time ago.

Third, I would question if this is really a "career killer" for him. After all, Heston made a career move with both Ben-Hur and the Ten Commandments.

Biblical dramas tend to play really well in a nation that is overwhelmingly Christian. If I were providing career advice to Mel Gibson, I'd say "Jeez, you'd be stupid to NOT do a movie about Christ."

JMHO...

Hi CJACK! Thank you for posting. Yes, I'm watching this too and am hoping that this time he gets it right and it is a good movie.
Time will tell.
PS - Like your sig - about Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles - an excellent read.
Harold <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="images/icons/tongue.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="images/icons/tongue.gif" />

I work in the entertainment industry and the only real talk about this movie will be how the Jews are portrayed. Mel's dad apparently has made some ant-Semitic comments in the past and various Jewish organizations are concerned what if any effect this would have on the movie. Mel's dad apparently a member of Catholic sect that practices CAtholicism as it was in the 17th c. According to the article I read Mel is building a church for his dad here in So. Calif that will not be open to the public a private church?

As to this being a career killer well Mel's career has kinda been in a decline for a while now. He peaked with Braveheart and since then he hasn't really had a huge hit. He's not the box office draw he once was and the bottom line with movie industry is MONEY. Public tastes change and there is always somebody younger,newer more exciting out there ya know. Since he is financing the film himself in addition to producing and I think directing this may open a new career for him as an independent film maker.

Had to respond.

Check out The Passion (2004) for an unoffical page about "The Passion" and DOLOROUS_PASSION_OF_OUR_LORD_JESUS_CHRIST for the suplemental material on which the movie will be based.

<img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" />

Jim/NSR

NSR thanks for the Link - it was Kool! I'll have to look more closely at it later - we have a t-storm headed our way so I need to sign off...
Harold