Thursday, July 01, 2004
Vengeance is mine, says Hollywood
One of the climactic moments of the Mel Gibson film, The Passion of the Christ, is when Jesus cries out "Father, forgive them" as he hangs on the cross.
Not so Hollywood, which preaches the gospel of vengeance. This message came through particularly loud and clear during a single week recently, in which the studios released three films about grim, determined vigilantes who seek brutal revenge against their enemies. While those who take the law into their own hands are usually anything but heroic in real life, the protagonists in Kill Bill, The Punisher, and Man on Fire are all presented in more or less sympathetic terms. All of their violent vendettas are portrayed as at least somewhat justified, and there even seems to be a hint of divine sanction hanging over their efforts. All three of them have lost a child, and sometimes other friends and family too, and all three of them have been shot and left for dead by the villains who deprived them of their loved ones. Thus, when all three of them recuperate and set out on their quests for vengeance, it is as though they have risen from the dead to set wrongs right.
For a thoughtful analysis of the three films, click here.
One of the climactic moments of the Mel Gibson film, The Passion of the Christ, is when Jesus cries out "Father, forgive them" as he hangs on the cross.
Not so Hollywood, which preaches the gospel of vengeance. This message came through particularly loud and clear during a single week recently, in which the studios released three films about grim, determined vigilantes who seek brutal revenge against their enemies. While those who take the law into their own hands are usually anything but heroic in real life, the protagonists in Kill Bill, The Punisher, and Man on Fire are all presented in more or less sympathetic terms. All of their violent vendettas are portrayed as at least somewhat justified, and there even seems to be a hint of divine sanction hanging over their efforts. All three of them have lost a child, and sometimes other friends and family too, and all three of them have been shot and left for dead by the villains who deprived them of their loved ones. Thus, when all three of them recuperate and set out on their quests for vengeance, it is as though they have risen from the dead to set wrongs right.
For a thoughtful analysis of the three films, click here.
