Very Important Story in the News Today:
Chanukah-By Mel

Apparently now that Mel Gibson has immortalized Jesus on film (because that guy really needed the press for his career) he wants to bring the heartwarming Jewish tale of Chanukah to the big screen. The funnies part of this article is when the "Anti-Defamation League Executive Director Abe Foxman told the Orlando Sentinel recently that if Gibson dramatizes the rebellion, "we'll lose.""

I am not fearful that the Jews will come off badly in this film because then Mel would have to rewrite the bible and I think its a little too soon for the public to accept the King Mel version of the bible. What I fear is that he will make the story of the Maccabees look like Saving Private Ryan. After The Passion of the Christ focused so intently on the violence and suffering of the last hours of Jesus, not on his message, not leaving the viewers with any redeeming notion accept that humanity is and always has been cruel, I wonder if Mr. Gibson is capable of showing the inspiring tale of faith that Chanukah represents. Mel has said "The Maccabees family stood up, and they made war, they stuck by their guns, and they came out winning," he continued. "It's like a Western." Around the world I think Rabbis are getting ulcers and they don't know why. It is apparent in that quote that he already is focusing on the war and violence, not on the meaning of the holiday, the miracle of the oil lasting eight days or the sacrifice that the Maccabees made.

Or you could speculate that Mel is doing this to make up for the way the Jews are portrayed in The Passion. That was one of the first things that came to mind when I read this article. Either way, Mel's vision of biblical events is a violent one and I believe he misses the point of it all. By focusing on the literal, he misses the dramatic moral and spiritual themes.

There is another really great article that asks what Jesus would say if he saw The Passion of the Christ. No Time for Christian Tenets in 'Passion'. If he makes a movie about Chanukah there will be serious repercussions if he disrespects a story that has such great importance to Jews. I don't know how the Jewish people will feel about an accused anti-Semite making a film about Chanukah. That's like asking an accused Klansman to make a movie about Martin Luther King, Jr. and then expecting African-Americans to be okay with his interpretation of events.

Moreover, if you are going to make a film about a bible event or person, please show what these people stood for. There is no sense in showing the fight and suffering if you don't explain what the fight was for. If you don't show what the actual "passion" of these people is, then all that passion was for nothing. The message is lost, and wasn't that what the good book was for? To pass the message on and inspire people?

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