Yeah, I used to enjoy Bill's site but his overly academic/politically invested, ivory tower poo-pooing of anything remotely popular amongst, we hoi polloi, is tiresome and dull.
It oppresses me so!
Gregory Bourke | 03.01.04 - 1:11 am | #

And since I'm here, I dislike the lack of comments boxes on his site because that creates an air of one-way lording over the reader, which is against the communal spirit of blog.
Gregory Bourke | 03.01.04 - 1:32 am | #

Gregory,

This is a bit tangential (bordering of off topic), but Ogden Nash wrote a wonderful limerick about the sort of "Ivory Tower Poo-pooing" of which you speak:

How the Avant-Garde loves to annoy
The gullible gaping polloi
Some some underground flicker
Will prove with a snicker
That Helen of Troy was a boy.

Oops, that's:

How the Avant-Garde loves to annoy
The gullible gaping polloi
Soon some underground flicker
Will prove with a snicker
That Helen of Troy was a boy.

In at least one "review" of the film, Mr. Cork finds things to praise AND things to damn.

http://wquercus.com/passion.htm

Let's not forget that. Gibson's TPOTC is a film. Not a fifth gospel.
David | 03.01.04 - 8:57 am | #

After watching it, I was struck about how innacurate the particular criticisms of it were. Were these critics watching the same movie I was? "The Romans looked great & Jews looked ugly"???? The most repulsive characters to me were the over-the-top sadistic Roman soldiers at the scourging.
While I seldom waste time reading Cork's blog, it strikes me that the label "chancery employee" describes him well. Nice he can take a break from mumbling & issuing memos to write a blog.
Fr. Matthew K | Homepage | 03.01.04 - 10:26 am | #

+J.M.J+

>>>"The Romans looked great & Jews looked ugly"???? The most repulsive characters to me were the over-the-top sadistic Roman soldiers at the scourging.

Tell me about it! As an Italian that disturbed me a bit; that people so brutal and inhuman could well have been my ancestors!

In Jesu et Maria,
Rosemarie | 03.01.04 - 2:06 pm | #

Ditto Sweetheart!



PS This is not the first time SAM has done a take down of Bill Cork. Way back when Bill was shamelessly smearing Carl Olsen & trying to link him with Sungenis SAM ripped him a new one on Steve Ray's message board.
BarYacob(Jim Scott 4th) | 03.01.04 - 4:29 pm | #

Thanks, Mark. But you know, as much as Bill's writing on The Passion irritates, confuses, and generally ticks me off no end, I've still gotta say that guys like Bill can (however wrong they may be) help keep the Church herself when it comes to these issues.

Example: After hearing from critics who sound a lot like Bill, Gibson removes the Temple Cross-building scene.

Example: After hearing from critics who sound a lot like Bill, Gibson removes Matthew 25:27 scene.

Not that those scenes would necessarily make the film anti-Semitic. But there is the Pauline aspect of witnessing to men where they are which should be considered, and those scenes would have been VERY difficult to do without at least conflicting with that more limited goal.
SecretAgentMan | Homepage | 03.01.04 - 5:12 pm | #

I thought the scene (or the subtitles that translated the aramaic) that was removed had Caiaphas uttering the words "his blood be upon us and our children".

That's not in Matthew.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/ new...RTICLE_ID=36921
David | 03.01.04 - 7:12 pm | #

Technically the was no Temple Cross building scene. In Emmerich's writings the Cross was built in the CourtYard of the High Priest's house.

Which is almost as bad but not quite the same thing. Indeed I don't see how the early critics of the stolen script missed that?
BenYachov(Jim Scott 4th) | 03.01.04 - 9:06 pm | #

I am relatively new to this blogging but I have a concern on the approach taken by apologists for Mel Gibsons father. This might not be the place, but here goes. Again and again, it is written that "the evil of Mel's father has nothing to do with Mel or his father". Excuse me! I have read these apologies on Mark's site and on others such as the National Review. There are other logical possibilities than Mel's father being evil. ie., a misguided but good. Misguided but not totally evil but mostly good. Actually correct in his views, but bad. etc. Quit using this term of evil when you disagree with someones views, or just because you are afraid of being associated with someone who might be considered an antisemite or whatever. Just deal with the issue. If he has his numbers wrong, show him how he erred.
gerard bruin | 03.03.04 - 12:55 am | #

Saw the Passion last night. I wish it had gone a little longer to highlight the Resurection and Ascension. Rather than fostering any hatred, I felt pity for the Jewish people for some few of them having made the wrong decision on Christ, the group has been stigmatized over the centuries. A tough legacy.
Can anyone tell me what a devout Jewish person expects if their Savior was to arrive today? Is he to be a conquerer, a preacher or what?
ed keefer | 03.05.04 - 12:09 pm | #

It's been awhile, but I think Maimonedes says the Messiah will gather the Jews into the promised land, rebuild the Temple, and reign over the earth in peace and justice.
SecretAgentMan | Homepage | 03.11.04 - 11:18 am | #