The Passion of Christ continues to dominate the box office for its third week straight. This amazing phenomenon has grossed over $267,000,000 in the U.S. in the first 20 days of its release. It is now #22 in all-time box office gross. It would not surprise me to see it pass the $400,000,000 mark by the time the dust settles. If that happens, it will be challenging Spiderman for the #5 spot.
Box office numbers aside, have you noticed how there have been no stories of the much-hyped antisemitism that this film was going to fuel? Not a peep. This article caught my eye...
Survey: 'The Passion' May Be Reducing Anti-SemitismA new poll suggests fears that "The Passion of the Christ" would trigger anti-Semitism were unwarranted.
A nationwide survey conducted for the Institute for Jewish and Community Research finds that 83 percent of Americans familiar with the film say it's made them neither more nor less likely to blame today's Jews for Jesus' crucifixion.
Nine percent said Mel Gibson's film actually has made them less likely to blame today's Jews, while less than 2 percent said they're more likely to fault modern Jews or Jewish institutions.
The Institute's president, Gary Tobin, added that discussion of the issue has probably been good for Christian-Jewish relations.
A leader of Jews for Jesus considers "The Passion of the Christ" a Godsend for Jewish evangelism.
Susan Perlman is associate executive director of Jews for Jesus, whose mission is "to make the messiahship of Jesus an unavoidable issue" for the Jewish people.
Perlman said she's confident that Jews are seeing the film for themselves rather than letting a few Jewish critics make up their minds for them.
She added that blaming Jews, or anyone else, for killing Jesus is a non-issue because "He didn't stay dead." Perlman asked, "How can you be blamed for killing someone who is alive?"
What a great quote! The people at Jews for Jesus are totally committed to their cause. They receive an amazing amount of abuse from some Jews for their attempts to share the Jewish Messiah, but they manage to keep a great attitude. Their web site is nicely constructed as well, offering a different portal for Believers as well as for Seekers. They even have a special Passion of Christ section. L'chaim!
It's Del.icio.us!
Furl It!
March 17, 2004 09:06 AM
Maybe I'm just being picky, but isn't the movie called 'The Passion of the Christ?' Not 'The Passion of Christ?'
March 17, 2004 09:35 AM
It is... but it was initially called "The Passion" and I have been writing about it with that still in my mind. And yes, you are being picky.
Have you seen it yet?
March 17, 2004 04:34 PM
That was a GREAT article! And I agree Joel, that was an awesome point Susan made about how silly it is to look for anyone to blame for His death when Jesus was resurrected! WOW! I need to remember to use that one the next time I overhear someone complain about "The Passion Of The Christ" being anti-semitic....(though I've yet to hear anyone in my circles say anything of the sort...nor do I expect to)
I'm so glad Hollywood and all other critics were so OVERWHELMINGLY proven wrong by the grand success of Gibson's "Passion" and I could not be happier for him given the level of personal attacks he has endured. I have a sneaky suspicion Mel will use alot of that money from the movie for many good causes. Good for him!
August 16, 2005 09:29 PM
Never let a Jew for Jesus vouch for the world's Jews.