'Passion' draws passionate response from viewers

Months of hype and speculation slivered away in the darkness. Within minutes the reality of the most studied and debated event in human history splashed on the screen in gripping, brutal reality.

The passionate people of Christ, sharing space with others not so sure, others of different faith or no faith, are finally getting the chance to see the well-publicized Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.”

It opened Feb. 25—Ash Wednesday—after earning more than $3 million in two days of sneak peaks across the country. The Friday to Sunday box office totals of $$83.8 million made “Passion” the seventh largest three-day weekend opener ever. For the opening week, the film had earned more than $125.2 million over five days, making it the biggest draw ever for a February.

The film’s debut on more than 2,800 screens—one of the largest releases ever—is a pinnacle for a project more than a decade in the making. It took two years just for Gibson to find a distributor for the movie.

But in recent months, the movie has taken on a life of its own as the debate rages over how Jews are portrayed in the film. Many Jewish leaders are concerned the film will generate a backlash for Jews, saying the portrayal perpetuates the notion they are Christ killers. Christian leaders have tried to temper those concerns by noting that all mankind is responsible for Jesus’ death because it was ordained by God that he be a sacrifice for the sins of all people.

“It has a lot of controversy to it,” Leo Giovinetti, senior pastor of Mission Valley Christian Fellowship in San Diego, told a subdued audience. “If there is anyone to blame, we blame ourselves because it was us for whom he died.”

In Riverside County, reaction was much the same.

“The beatings were the most impactful scenes in the movie,” said Penny Meisenheimer of Corona, who saw the film with her church, Simple Faith, on Feb. 28. “The intensity of Jesus walking up to the cross also put things into perspective for me. I will never forget how he did it and at what cost.”

But Meisenheimer is still “absorbing the movie” and plans to take her teen sons to watch it again with them.

Greg Mendoza, of Corona, said he felt changed after seeing the film.

“It blew me away to see the suffering,” said Mendoza. “I imagined (the Passion) as a different experience. I was touched from the first scene in the garden.”

But, he said, the most engaging aspect of the movie was a scene involving Mary, Jesus’ mother.

“It was really touching to see the film show a portion of Jesus as a boy and she (Mary) run to help him up,” Mendoza said. “I felt he drew strength from that love. When it comes to persevering and not giving into temptation and sin I will remember the film and what Jesus went through.”

Mark Recktenwald, an English teacher at Santiago High School in Corona, saw the film by himself and agreed it was violent.

“It was hard to watch,” said Recktenwald, a Riverside resident. “It’s hard not to be forewarned with all the media talking about it but the flogging with the metal strips was what gave me a greater appreciation for what Christ went through. He knew he was going to do it.”

Recktenwald, who plans to see it again with his wife, Jane, said the film solidified his faith.

“I have a keener awareness of the sacrifice he made and will now apply it to my own daily life,” said Recktenwald, who is also a football coach. “I’m looking for things to repent and sacrifice.”

Since viewing the film Recktenwald has talked with his two elementary-age children about the suffering of Christ, he said.

“It (The Passion) caused me to realize all the things about Christ’s death that my kids don’t know. It has allowed us to sit and talk about the movie and what Jesus went through. I told them what happened. We got out a map and looked at where the trial took place and where he was crucified.”

The Rev. Bob Kraning, interim preacher for Southwest Community Church in Indian Wells, attended a morning showing of the film Feb. 25, along with 300 others from the church.

“I don’t think anyone can miss the point that Jesus died and it had something to do with us,” he said.

Kraning said that it provided a graphic picture of the price that was really paid for his salvation.

“I’ll never forget the blood dripping off the nails,” he said.

The next afternoon at Regal Stadium 12 in Brea, Bruce Kidd, assistant manager, said ticket sales for the film have been strong at his complex, which is showing the film on three screens, with several of the shows sold out.

Many who viewed the movie there have been touched.

“It drove home all the words you’re raised with,” said a tearful Martic Herrera, visibly shaken as she left the theater. “It reinforces what Christianity is about.”

Shane Ely, who recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq summed up the movie,

“It was amazing,” he said. “It’s the most powerful film I’ve ever seen.”

Not everyone, however, was moved by the content or its message. Kathy Mir, a San Diego resident who attended by invitation of a friend, said it was not a film that she would recommend to others.

“It was an extremely powerful, intense movie that intentionally draws on emotion,” said Mir, who was wiping tears from her face. “I did not expect the intensity or the drama.”

Did she view the movie as contrived or manipulative?

“No more so than the Bible,” she said.

She then took exception with the authenticity of the crucifixion.

“It’s not physically possible for a human to live that long and take that much abuse,” she said walking away, never offering an explanation of her tears.

Glenn Fromang, associate pastor of Mission Valley Christian Fellowship, said Mir’s observation underscores that nothing about it was done under man’s power.

“He was doing God’s will, God planned the whole thing,” Fromang said. “The same God raises people from the dead and he was quite aware of what he was doing.

“The line is drawn in the sand, whether your you believe it or not, it’s true.”

Freelance reporters Sue Sailhamer and Kelli Cottrell contributed to this story.

Published by Keener Communications Group, March 2004

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