Margaret Mitchell on The Passion of the Christ

Thanks to Gail Dawson for this interesting link. From the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School, this Sightings piece is written by Margaret M. Mitchell of the University of Chicago Divinity School:

Special Gibson
Margaret M. Mitchell

The article is an interesting read; the "Special Gibson" of the title is a play on "Special Matthew" and "Special Luke" and is Mitchell's means of answering the now familiar question, "Is Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ, anti-Semitic?" Mitchell's answer:

If we think of Mel Gibson as a modern-day fifth evangelist, we can ask, is his film "more" or "less" on this same trajectory of increasing blame on Jews for the death of Jesus? The verdict seems to me clearly on the "more," even "abundantly more," both for what Mr. Gibson chooses to include from the existing accounts, and, particularly, the "Special Gibson" (SpGib) material that conditions the interpretation of the traditional sources into which it is stitched.

However, the material Mitchell uses essentially demonstrates that Caiaphas's complicity in Jesus' death is enhanced in the film. Does this place the film on "this same trajectory of increasing blame on Jews"? Perhaps, but I am not so sure. "All the people said, 'His blood be on us and on our children'" (Matt. 27.25) -- this most famous line is a concern precisely because it is focused on "all the people". But in The Passion of the Christ, in so far as one can catch it at all, it is spoken not by "all the people" but by Caiaphas. Likewise, much of what Mitchell finds troubling is the film's depiction of Caiaphas and not of "the people" as a whole or of other representatives of it. I would have thought that there is an argument here that Gibson does not enhance potentially anti-Jewish elements in the Gospels but focuses a good deal on this one character who is admittedly portrayed as a villain. In other words, what Gibson avoids doing is to set up a negative group who through racial stereotyping might be intended to promote negative reactions to Jews and Judaism. Given that there are some Jesus films that could be so accused, especially, as I have mentioned before, Jesus Christ Superstar, I still feel that the debate, as it is often presented at the moment, really needs a little more nuance and careful attention to the film itself.