No Passion At The Academy Awards? Good.
In my opinion, this reeks of ignorance. Why does it reek of ignorance? It reeks of ignorance because this woman obviously does not know what she is talking about. In fact, there have been religious films that have won at the Academy Awards. Some of those winning films include Ben-Hur, Gandhi, Going My Way, King of Kings, Jesus of Nazareth, The Ten Commandments, David and Goliath, and The Greatest Story Ever Told. In addition, Ben-Hur actually held the record for the most Academy Awards won from 1959 until 1997. These films are examples of religious movies that have one at the Academy Awards.
When thinking about the facts and evidence that religious movies can win Academy Awards, ask yourself, "What do the Academy Awards Board of Directors look for when they nominate a film?" Being a film major myself, I can tell you that they look for excellence in every category. They examine cinematography, music, direction, acting, makeup, costumes, lighting, etc. Some things that do not help a movie become nominated are controversy and box office figures. In my opinion, controversy is what made The Passion of the Christ as popular as it was at the box-office.
Jennifer Giroux said in another quote at CNN, "It's a movie that is the seventh-ranking movie of all time at the box office." If the amount of money a film makes at the box office is what really counts, then can someone please explain to me why Shrek 2 did not win the Academy Award this year for best picture since it's currently the third highest grossing film at the box office? The Academy Awards Board of Directors do not judge a movie by how much money it makes; they judge a movie by its quality and excellence. Still, money seems to be the best argument that some angry Christians can come up with.
A quote by proclaimed Christian filmmaker, Joe Camp, said, "I would like to see all the Christian people who went out and spent money and made it one of the top-grossing pictures of all time not watch the Academy Awards, just because of that." After reading this quote, I decided why I think The Passion of the Christ was not nominated for best picture.
To put it bluntly, the movie was not worthy. However, I acknowledge the film was a good film; however, it was not a spectacular film. It focused mainly on makeup effects that resembled a slasher movie, and it practically had no musical score. Music helps drive a picture further by making it more emotional. In addition, the cinematography seems very sterile with very few zooms and pans. Apparently, the Academy Awards Board of Directors agrees with me.
I agree with them for not nominating the film for best picture simply because, as I said before, it is not a spectacular movie. I think the Christians who are complaining about it not being nominated for best picture should be proud of the fact that it got nominations in three other categories. Complaining only shows childishness and selfish behavior. I also find the fact that Christians are praising this film to be very hypocritical. Christians lined up at theatres to protest comedies such as Dogma and violent films such as Freddy vs. Jason. Some Christians say that violence in film and on television causes our youth to become violent; therefore, we should not allow our children to see violent movies.
When I went to see The Passion of the Christ in the theater, I saw children in the theater who had to be no more than six years old. In case you have not heard, some people are calling The Passion of the Christ one of the most violent gore fests in all of cinema. After submitting their children to seeing Jesus Christ, who was a real man, being brutally slaughtered, what gives them the right to picket movies such as Freddy vs. Jason? After all, Freddy vs. Jason is a work of fiction, whereas Jesus Christ was a real man and these events did actually happen. After subjecting their children to this, it is my belief that any Christians who took their children to see The Passion of the Christ have no right at all to criticize another violent movie ever again.