Why are critics saying that the movie “The Passion” is anti-Semitic?
Allegedly, the critics say this because the ‘bad guys’ in the movie are Jewish leaders (and one ”follower’). But even if the viewer knows nothing of the Biblical base for the movie (and doesn’t read the scripture at the beginning showing who’s really to blame for Jesus’ death), it’s difficult to justify the anti-Semitic label. The people who should be screaming the loudest about being portrayed as villains are the Italians. It was the Roman army that had the power and authority to execute prisoners, which was obvious from the movie alone. The Jewish leaders had to ask permission to have him killed. If the Romans had refused, Jesus would not have been executed. The Roman executioners were also portrayed as thoroughly enjoying the torture they were dishing out. (Incidentally, the glee of the torturers is not specified in the Bible; they did mock him but the Bible doesn’t say whether they smiled as they scourged him.) A possible political motive for critics to charge this movie with anti
