Recaps, commentary, highlights of your pop culture favourites and mine! Email me: timmybopper@yahoo.com

 
It's funny, because Passion of the Christ isn't really that complex of a movie. It's a simple re-telling of a story known to many of us. The movie feels simple too; not marred by any special effects imagery or overwrought with tedious dialogue and action. And yet, as we all know, the story that The Passion brings to life, is not simple at all. If it were just another fictitious movie, I would not have had the intense butterflies in my stomach while in line. (I told my friends that it was like the feeling you get right before boarding a roller-coaster - full of anticipation, but a little uneasy at the same time). If it were just another fictitious movie, I know I could've watched it without attachment, without fear, without shame.

But The Passion of the Christ is not a tall tale. It's a true story. And it dares you not to feel moved. I closed my eyes through much of the whipping and crucifixion scenes not because I was scared of the blood, but because I was overcome with guilt. I complain about how much I "hurt" when I can't afford a new sweater, or even when I have a slight stomach ache from not eating... but the "pain" that I feel can not compare to the intense torture experienced by Jesus. I was most affected, however, by the scene in which Peter (a follower of Jesus) denied him three times. Scared of what others would do to him, Peter vehemently denied knowing Jesus and repeatedly denied following him. Ouch. On this day, the tugging I felt in my heart could not be denied. That was so me.

One of my friends MSN-ed me the other day to ask me questions about Jesus, after watching the film. It was quite a surprise because if you know him, he's not exactly the God-seeking type. And yet the film stirred something within him that made him want to learn more about Christianity. I wondered why he was so confused. I mean, much like watching "Titanic," he surely knew how it was going to end! But as we continued to chat, I began to realize what the movie was truly all about - For even though we all know the ending to this "story," there is, in fact, a different ending waiting to be told in each of our lives. The story does not end with Jesus' death. Rather, it begins from there, and we are given the director's cap to decide how the subsequent scenes will play out. If we're lucky, we might just be able to paint a beautiful love story and one that ends not with us witnessing Jesus' death, but with us enjoying LIFE with Jesus forever.

posted by Tim at 11:38 AM