CNN revealed today (No Oscar battle for 'Passion' partisans) that two Christian groups are up in arms that Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ was not nominated for Best Picture. (The Passion garnered three noteworthy nominations-- Best Cinematography, Makeup, and Orginal Score.)
Consider the text from the article:
Hollywood has spoken. 'Don't mess with us,' is what they're saying," said Jennifer Giroux of seethepassion.com. " 'Don't mess with us because we will not consider your talent if you do anything that is Christian,' is the message that's coming out."
.....
Patrick Hynes, a married, 32-year-old father and advertising copywriter, collected 25,000 signatures on a petition on his Web site, passionforfairness.com. He sent it to the academy -- but received no response.
Disappointed by the announcement of Oscar nominees on Tuesday, the groups briefly considered boycotting movie theaters and targeting companies that will advertise on the ABC Oscar broadcast on February 27 in hopes of demonstrating some economic muscle.
"I briefly floated the idea of a boycott of Hollywood --- and certainly the Oscars -- but in the end I don't think that would be productive, so I decided against it," said Hynes, who is based in Washington.
These people are like spoiled children who won't eat the dinner you put in front of them because they don't like what you gave them. They want what they want and so they whine and throw tantrums until you've had enough and you send them to their rooms without supper.
Jennifer Giroux and Patrick Hynes, let's talk about unrealistic expectations.
In a galaxy full of potential best film nominations, The Passion wasn't even a planet but an unnamed satellite blip somewhere in the galaxy's nether region. Consider these facts:
1. Of the critics from the major U.S. newspapers, The Passion of the Christ was only recognized in the top ten list of two critics -- the esteemed Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times and Ron Stranger of the Los Angeles Weekly.
2. However, fifty-one (yes, that is 51) films received more recognition on the top ten lists than The Passion.
3. Prior to the Oscar nominations, The Passion only received two nominations from any major U.S. film or critics organizations -- Best Popular Movie (Broadcast Film Critics Association) and Golden Reel Award (U.S. Sound Editor's Association). (And let me remind you that the BFCA has a category for Best Film too, of which The Passion was not nominated for.)
Even an MTV Best Actor nomination and People's Choice win for Most Popular Drama is no cause for belief that it deserves Oscar's recognition.
The Academy Awards is not a high school election campaign. They're not voting the school's (public's) most popular person for the top prize. They are a body of producers, directors, actors, editors, writers, filmmakers, costume designers, makeup artists, and musicians voting for who they feel is worthy of being recognized. Of the 5,800-plus body, the Best Picture nominations and final winners in most categories are decided by the vote of every member.
With this in mind, the fact that The Passion was nominated for three awards, including the prestigious Best Cinematography and Original Score categories indicates that the film was definintely on people's minds.
And don't believe the talk that these nominations were consiliatory gestures for not nominating it as Best Picture. In the nomination process, cinematographers can only nominate in their category; musicians can only nominate fellow musicians for Original Score.
In closing, Giroux and Hynes come across as unreasonable and reactionary. I think there are two possibilities why: 1) they have straw for brains; or 2) they could just be playing that old lamentations card the Christians like to play every year -- "Hollywood hates Christianity." Giroux alluded to this in her comments above.
But Hollywood doesn't hate Christianity. This is just a grand myth. Giroux and Hynes should be thrilled with the nominations the film did receive.
Another point in regards to the myth: What these Christian groups need to realize is that money talks to film executives. Hollywood is market-driven.
A few years ago, an impressively artistic animated film about Moses leading Israel out of Egypt was released. The film, The Prince of Egypt, barely grossed over $100 million dollars. Having employed the assistance of scholars from every facet of the religious spectrum to fact-check the script for biblical accuracy, this film was intentionally created to cater to peoples of all faiths. It was marketed as a spiritual experience and expected to be well supported. It was considered a financial failure.
If religious-minded people support Christian-friendly movies, Hollywood will continue to make them. If not, they won't. And that my dear friends is the gospel truth.
