In Reply to: Why I decided not to see Gibson's Passion of Christ posted by Carol (AG) on February 24, 2004 at 17:35:20:
It's been pointed out a couple of times, here and on other exer boards, that Gibson was strongly influenced by Emmerich in his depiction of the suffering and brutality of the crucifixion. Questions have been raised about unhealthy levels of guilt for purposes of manipulation, going beyond pointing up need of salvation, or seeking to draw a response of gratitude for the price Jesus paid for our salvation. I think we all agree that manipulation is something we ought to be on guard against.
Still, can it be a good thing that the idea of crucifixion has become so remote to us that many of us rarely think of crosses other than as a piece of jewelry -- an accessory to some outfit?
Thomas Cahill writes (in "Desire of the Everlasting Hills"):
"So intense was the suffering of Jesus before and during his crucifixion that early Christians could not bring themselves to depict it. We have, almost from the very beginning of Christianity, Christian art -- pictures that form a distinctively Christian message: in grave slabs as early as the first century, we see the Church depicted as the saving ark of Noah, the Holy Spirit depicted as the descending dove of Acts, and figures of early Christians, both men and women, praying with uplifted hands.
In the catacombs, we find a crumbling mosaic as Christ as the Unconquered Sun (an image borrowed from ancient mythologies), a quickly daubed Good Shepherd, many portrayals of the Last Supper, even a tender fresco of the Madonna and Child. But nowhere is there a crucifixion scene.
The first one ever will be carved in wood as one of many scenes from Jesus's life -- in a side door of the exquisite basilica of Santa Sabina, a Roman church of the fifth century that stands on the Aventine Hill. It will take the early Christians four centuries to bring themselves to portray the crucifixion of their Messiah. By the time they get around to it, Augustine of Hippo lies dying, the barbarian hordes are overrunning the empire, and Patrick is in Gaul making plans to evangelize the Irish. By the time they get around to it, in other words, they are no longer early Christians; they are already on the verge of the Middle Ages. And still they are careful not to let [the image of crucifixion] occupy a central place in their churches.
This central fact of Jesus's life, his grisly suffering and death, traumatized the first Christians; and even though it was the central reality they had to contend with, they could not look at it directly."
Looking directly at that kind of suffering, even these many years later, is still difficult. But maybe we need Gibson to remind us of aspects of the cross that should not be forgotten.