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….by not providing any context or back-story to the events and characters, it both alienates…
….choosing to not provide any prior context…
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Marq, what back-story or prior context are you talking about? The Gospels, with the exception of one brief passage in Luke, give no back story other than Christ was born in Nazareth. And by prior context are you talking about Isaiah? Well, Isaiah was written 700 years before Christ. I hate to break it to you but the New Testament gospels are religious teachings, and not great works of literature. If you want back-story, intrigue, romance, and revolution read Tolstoy or watch a David Lean movie. Yeah, Gibson could have included John the Baptist paving the way for “one greater than me who will baptize the world in fire” and Gibson could have included Christ at age 12 spending time in his Fathers house (Luke) or casting out demons are pissing off the Sadducees. But there was no need to, because the Passion is the story, it is the teaching, it is the way, it is the message, it is the medium. Everything that came before was *less* of the same, The Passion is not just the best part, it is the only part. In the last 12 hours of His life he pissed of the Sadducees, suffered the most excruciating torture by death, forgave the entire world and He made all things new. And you don’t like the movie because Gibson doesn’t go out of his way to guide you step by step through the New Testament nor does he differentiate Mary from Mary called Magdalene. So you don’t know that John is John. What does it matter if you know his name or not? The point is not what was John like, but how could John watch his Rabbi being crucified over 12 hours yet hold no hatred against the aggressors.
You and others can cry that Gibson left out the spiritualism and the teachings of Christ, but the truth is that all of Christ’s teachings were directed at his dull disciples. You're basically admitting that your heart is hard and that you are duller (spiritually) than Peter. Do you take pride in saying that you didn't give a damn that Christ was tortured so badly that God had to look away? "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" I mean, did you even cry or feel badly for Christ? When you watched the Romans sadistically torture Christ did you not realize that YOU sadistically mistreat god's grace and commit worse sins on a daily basis?