Mel Gibson's Movie Passion of Christ: a Literary Analysis

Before I began writing this paper, my first choice of topic was "Why to Keep Your Teeth Healthy." After seeing The Passion of the Christ, my idea completely changed. I have now decided to write about why someone should go watch The Passion of the Christ. There is the emotional aspect, the subtitles, and understanding the torture of Jesus. I believe that this movie should be seen by everyone.

First of all, as far as the emotions are concerned, there are a lot in this movie. While I watched this, especially the beatings of Jesus, my whole heart went out to Him. There was no reason for the horrible beatings that Jesus received on that terrible day, but this movie definitely shows the right amount of violence, in my opinion. Somebody doesn't have to necessarily be Christian or Catholic or Jewish to appreciate this movie or to be touched by it either. The entire theater was silent and many crying as well. The Passion of the Christ was so emotional that I even cried, which I don't normally do. Mary, Jesus' mother, Peter, the other disciples, and Jesus himself, all exhibited so much love and feelings during the movie that it really made it seem so realistic. I feel that this movie was outstanding, as well as very informative. A person should see this movie, not only because he likes to see violence, but it shows all the emotions that were present during the last 12 hours of Jesus' life.

Secondly, what I found extremely enhancing to the movie was the language. How many times have you been watching a movie about Jesus and it's in English? Every single time, right? I can't count how many occasions I have been watching a Jesus movie and I've thought, "This would be much better if it weren't in English considering Jesus didn't even speak English." The different thing about The Passion of the Christ was that the entire dialogue was Jesus' spoken language, Aramaic. This really added a lot to the feeling and setting of the movie. Having the complete movie in Aramaic obviously means that there must be subtitles. You know how during some movies, you just can't pay attention and you just end up sitting there losing interest? Well, not in this movie. By reading the subtitles, it causes you to pay attention and keep interest throughout the whole, entire movie. Having subtitles in The Passion of the Christ was really something that made the movie, and not speaking in Aramaic would have depleted its meaning and purpose.

Thirdly, how much do you think you know about what happened to Jesus during His last 12 hours? Just the little that they show in all those other movies about Jesus isn't enough to truly fathom the torment and torture that He went through. Having seen The Passion of the Christ, my understanding of it all has really increased. I know that Mel Gibson, the director, wasn't there to know the exact truth, but he showcases what has been told in the four Gospels. This movie is full of truth it and it portrays the actual known happenings of the last 12 hours before Jesus' death. I think that the pain and suffering was essential in The Passion of the Christ, otherwise the understanding of it all wouldn't be at all the same. It would have been just like all the other movies, boring and repetitive. Therefore, Mel Gibson was smart enough to realize this and he knew what he had to do; he had to make Jesus' torture real and allow everyone to comprehend things a lot easier. I think that in order to understand everything that Jesus went through in His last few hours, everyone should go see The Passion of the Christ, for it is a wonderful movie. It may be brutal in some places, gruesome in others, but overall, the compassion and truth that this movie depicted was grater than any other, and it is a great movie for anyone.

In conclusion, after all that has been said, I'm sure that anyone who reads this will want to go see The Passion of the Christ. I've explained three main reasons why one should watch it. Those being all of the emotions running wild, the language and subtitles, and of course, the complete understanding of all the torturing and torment that Jesus went through. This movie is most definitely the best movie ever made about Jesus. The way everything played out during the movie was perfect: the flashbacks, the crying, and the violence. I enjoyed this movie, and hopefully you will too!