Grabe ang publicity nitong film na ito. Either galing sa machinations ng mga taong directly involved sa film or from individuals, groups and even national governments who reacted one way or another. The three news channels i watch regularly - CNN, BBC and Euronews - carried reports about this film almost every day.
Kagabi, sabi ng isang pinoy na na-interview ng CNN (at least magaling mag-ingles itong isang ito), there's not much in the movie daw to fret about. he said, and i quote, "if you let this movie undermine your faith, then your faith is weak to begin with". Applause ako kay kabayan. Sakto ang sinabi mo dong!
I'm inclined to say the same thing too. Because I'd like to think that I'm one of those people who possess a wider, more flexible and progressive point of view pagdating sa mga controversial issues. Especially when it comes to movies. But stepping back and looking at the issue as a whole, i'm afraid i can't say the same thing at all.
Flashback to another highly controversial film decades ago - The Last Temptation of Christ. I watched it with the appetite of a true-blue movie fan. Walang judgment sabi ko. It's just a movie. Pero kahit bata pa ako noon and i still haven't got the much-needed maturity to discern, I ended up being furious after seeing the film. It was, really, blasphemous. Sa mura kong edad, nagalit ako sa nakita ko sa movie, sa gumawa ng movie at sa lahat ng taong involve doon because they made Jesus Christ look like an average, ordinary and sinful gay guy! Sobrang tapang ng sikmura at sobrang kapal ng mukha ng gumawa nito, sabi ko sa sarili ko. He must be an atheist.
And now, here's another film telling us that Jesus Christ had carnal relationship with Mary Magdalene! Come on, world, what's gotten into you????
Hindi ako overly religious na tao. I don't go to church regularly. I have read parts of the bible once. The number of prayers i can recite is limited. Pero kahit ganito ako, I have a strong faith in God, Jesus Christ and Christianity. And I will not let one movie, gaano man ako ka-movie fan, compromise what I believe in.
Yon ngang The Passion of Christ, which is something I adored when I saw it, somehow lost its appeal to me when I learned that Mel Gibson, even up to this day, is making it as a cash cow by selling almost anything branded with the film title. Nails, belts, images, coffee mugs, T-shirts, etc... The movie was really good. But the motive of making it as a pure advertising campaign really sucks. Do it to Star Wars. Or Lord of the Rings. But to The Passion of the Christ? Nawala ang high regard ko kay Mel Gibson.
People should stop tinkering with things that should be held high above everything else. And that's faith. Lalo na when it is done for commercial purposes. To make millions of dollars out of something blasphemous is probably one of the ultimate sins you can commit in your lifetime.
It's just a movie. A fiction. Yes. But everybody knows that our generation has been turned into a boob-tube, silver-screen educated minds who believe and take whatever we saw on the screen as the truth and nothing but. Kung hindi man, we base most of our conviction in what we saw somewhere, specially in a movie that we liked. Damn Hollywood.
Ok. Ganito na ang reaction ko even if I haven't watched the film. But even if I watch it, siguro hindi na mababago ang mga sinabi ko dito. Because it is not the film itself i am enraged about. But the fact that the world is apparently becoming a greedy lot where commercialism thrives even at the expense of destroying the faith we have clung on to the whole of our lives.
I just hope these people will realize what monsters they have become. Without sounding self-righteous, tama nga yong sinabi sa scriptures - "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing".
note: as if it wasn't obvious, i did this before TDVC was shown, and so is the follow-up i posted above this one.
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