Posted by Banky Fan at spider-mtc-tc032.proxy.aol.com on February 16, 2004 at 20:14:23:
Has the Kevster weighed in on the controversy surrounding this flick, other than "Well, it's Mel's turn now"?
And Kevin, if you're reading this: in the quest for spiritual enlightenment that bore DOGMA, did you views on the actual Passion of the Christ change at all?
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'Passion' Report Evokes Passionate Response
Friday's report by FoxNews.com's Roger Friedman that Mel Gibson is avoiding "Jewish, upscale, or liberal" localities in releasing his controversial The Passion of the Christ ignited passionate denunciations from writers who charged that Friedman had spawned a red herring. Most pointed out that the movie will in fact be shown in many areas that Friedman claimed had been blacked out. William Donohue, president of the Catholic League, the nation's largest lay Catholic organization, concluded: "To say that Gibson is intentionally keeping the film away from Jews and the rich is not only flatly wrong, it smacks of malice. We look for Fox to correct itself." David Poland, who writes the lively "The Hot Button" on the Movie City News website, described Friedman's column as "breathtakingly inaccurate and malicious" and called for him to be fired, saying, "This is, in entertainment journalism, as serious a breech of professional ethics as any I can ever recall." Friedman, however, is sticking to his guns. In his column today (Monday), he writes: "The theaters they [Gibson's Icon Productions and distributor Newmarket] have chosen in Jewish areas are minimal." [NOTE: Numerous readers wrote to us on Friday pointing out that the film is being shown in their cities in areas encompassing large Jewish populations. In Los Angeles, for example, it is being shown in The Grove, a prestigious multiplex near Beverly Hills, in the heart of the largest population of Hasidic Jews in the area.] Meanwhile, in an interview with Diane Sawyer on a special edition of ABC's Primetime due to air tonight, Gibson denies that the film accuses the Jews of being responsible for the death of Christ. "It's not about playing the blame game. It's about faith, hope, love and forgiveness," he says.
--Matt