Ok, here's a fresh one: As a follow up to a conversation last night with Tom and Kerry, I'd like to weigh in on all they hype surrounding Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. First of all, I haven't seen the film, and was originally going to wait until I saw it to blog on it. However, I've realized the principles regarding the charges or anti-Semitism and the corresponding actions of some Hollywood moguls are actually independent of the content of the film, so I'm jumping in.

Let's assume, just for the sake of argument, that the film portrays the Jews as being responsible for the murder of Christ (I'll leave the debate as to whether or not the film does this to those who have seen it.) I do not understand why there is such an outcry from some in the Jewish community regarding this. Is there a law that say all Jews must be portrayed in a positive light in films? Are we to believe for the sake of political correctness that the Jews had no part in the death or Christ, despite what is written in the bible and in historical reports by the Jewish historian Josephus? I am disappointed that a people that have in the past been so graciously self deprecating in their depiction of themselves are so outraged by the depiction of an event in which some Jews are seen doing wrong. I understand the fears of anti-semitism, and the fact that Jewish people might be a bit more sensitive to how they are portrayed because of their troubled past. But really, in this case, they need to get a grip. It reminds me of the fracas surrounding the movie The Color Purple, which enraged some members of the black community because it negatively depicted black males. Let's forget the heroic black characters in the film, and that fact that this happened a long time ago. All that matters is our own modern political agenda! Of course, this is to say nothing of artistic integrity or free speech.

Yeah, yeah, I'm a white male and I've never been oppressed. Deal with it. (Anyone can look back far enough into their ancestry and find descendants who were oppressed.) In case you haven't noticed, we're the only ones left you're allowed to make fun of in the media, and you don't see us crying about it. I haven't heard a single report of Jews being harassed by people who saw the Passion film and left with anti-Semitic hatred coursing through their veins. And as Kerry mentioned last night, now that the numbers are in and the film is a huge success, many of these Hollywood moguls are now retracting their statements. So much for the strength of their convictions. It's sadly ironic that they played right into one of the biggest Jewish stereotypes by putting financial interests before their supposed morality.