The Dispassionate Academy
I’d like now to take a moment to speak to my evangelical Christian visitors (who are legion, of course.) By now you’ve no doubt heard that The Passion of the Christ was shut out at the Oscars. As they did at the nominations, the “news” sources y’all tend to favor will likely lay the blame for this on those godless/Jewish/commie/pinko/hedonist/elitist Hollywood types. Resist this easy explanation.
Friends, let me propose a much more logical cause: the movie just sucked. I know that’s not going to go over well, but wait and hear me out. Imagine for a moment that this film had no religious theme, and was instead a secular film set 2,000 years ago, shot in a dead language nobody’s sure how to pronounce, shown with subtitles and featuring a breathtaking, almost pornographic obsession with violence. Were that the case, you’d not only skip it, you’d probably write your Congressperson.
I know, you think the message overcomes all this, that it’s moving and inspiring and all of that. Sorry, no. This is a poorly executed, plodding concoction from the guy who directed The Man Without a Face. You’re probably excited about it because you know the story so well, because you have a bona fide star in your corner (and not this guy), or because at last you have a Christian film with better production values than that Fred Durst porno.
But here’s what you have to remember about Academy voters: these are movie people. This is what they do. To win votes, you have to succeed not just on story, but on acting, directing, production… all the things that make the movies one of the most collaborative art forms out there.
Believe me, I know what it’s like to want to have your niche film break out; I’ve watched more gay-themed schlock than I could possibly care to remember. The key difference, though, is that even when I feel validated by a movie that finally pays attention to me, I don’t assume that automatically makes it Oscar-worthy. You’d be wise to do the same.