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Highlighting News Stories for Our Town for the week of  February 23, 2003

Previous Newsbreak Archive

Newsbreak for Walpole

The Week – Feb. 23

The Year – 2004

The Passion and The Reaction

Mel Gibson is well known as actor and producer of films. These films are of a very violent nature and carry the intrinsic message of good conquering evil.

A few years ago, Gibson took on a special project. He began work on a movie that would also be a portrayal of violence and a supreme message of good over evil.

Gibson is a man who has turned from a life of excess to a life founded on his devotion to Jesus Christ.

Thus, he began his project to produce a movie depicting the horror of the last twelve hours of Christ.

Gibson undertook to focus on the sacrifice and death that Christ undertook. The movie is rated ‘R’ for its violence and graphic portrayal of the torture inflicted upon Christ.

With this in mind, the previews and publicity leading up to the opening of the movie have been overwhelming.

On Ash Wednesday, February 25, 2004, the production of ‘The Passion of The Christ’ opened in more than 4,000 theaters across the country.

More reviews of this movie have been written than imaginable already, as many select groups have seen a private showing of the movie.

This movie will be talked about and discussed for a long time. There will be those who will acclaim it for artistry and integrity and drama and  inspiration.

There will be those who will decry the movie for its focus on violence, its distortion of the story in the bible, its potential to incite discrimination, and the unseemly emphasis on power and crowd emotion.

However, you or I react, this event and this project of Mel Gibson’s will be a significant part of the history of this year – 2004.

Caution is advised for young people seeing the movie. The violence is beyond anything we could imagine.