Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to Anyone seen the new Mel Gibson flick

No, though I know some people who have.
Mary Anne — (archived)

They went with a church group, and said it was very difficult to watch.

One of the 12-year-old's friends said her mother was going to make her go see it. [gag]

My opinion, which I kept to myself, is that it's a snuff movie starring God, and that without the ministry, the death makes no sense except as a celebration of torture.

I've seen enough of the trailers to know that I don't need to see any more.

But then, I have the benefit of Catholic schooling. In religion class, preparing for Confirmation, we discussed the physical consequences of being beaten with a cat-o-nine-tails; approximations on how big the thorns were, how long the walk was, and how much the cross weighed; the effects of shock (a nice tie-in for first aid instruction, as it turned out); what the gall in the wine was; and that crucifixion achieved death over a period of days by slow asphixiation using one's own body weight. That Jesus died within 3 hours was rare, but it was the outcome of the torture.

We also discussed the anatomy of the hands, feet, wrists and ankles to determine where the nails really went in, and whether he would have had to have his limbs tied as well, as was traditional. We came to the conclusion that the nails were an imaginative embellishment by the soldiers doing the crucifying, because no way could his body weight be held up there by two nails, even if they were through his wrists. He would have torn loose and flopped down, ripping his feet off. I don't know if the Pope would have approved of our conclusions, but that's what you get when you discuss a gorey execution with a bunch of 11- and 12-year-olds.

Maybe people who didn't receive that kind of information in the sixth and seventh grades need to see it graphically depicted on a movie screen. I certainly don't.

Happy Easter, Frank. :/

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