Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
David Poland has often been an outspoken critic of this site, and of Harry and myself. Despite that, he’s a good read, and his Movie City News site is a great way to browse headlines from all over the net. Right now, he’s got a story up that is absolutely essential reading for anyone following all the hubbub about the release of Mel Gibson’s THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, and I think it’s an important issue that he addresses:
CLICK HERE FOR THE STORY!!
The reason it’s important is because Roger Friedman’s factually inaccurate and borderline-malicious lies about the release pattern of the film have already been picked up by other news sources and run as fact. Which they are not. This is one of those films that has become a political hot potato in any conversation, and we’re getting tons of mail about it every day. One letter in particular struck me, a response to last week’s story that Harry ran:
Dear Harry,
I am a big fan of your site, visit it almost daily, and have tremendous respect for your writing. You are a lover of cinema, and I have really appreciated that cinema is the focus of your site.
When some of your more recent news about Passion of Christ came out a few months ago you posted your enthuisiasm for it. I was a little disturbed because you never mentioned the controversy surrounding it. The controversy had existed for the prior several months, but when your news about it came out many people were still not familiar with it. Hence my surprise that your story contributed to the movie's hype without mentioning the controversy. But I said to myself, "Harry knows how to distinguish political and social controversy surrounding a movie from a movie itself. He's not going to publicly take sides in this debate."
That is why I was even more surprised when you posted a new story on your site called "Rabbi speaks out to defend Passion of Christ." As much as the article presents an interesting point of view, I have seen no mention on your site of the other side of the debate, let alone reference to the existence of any controversy to begin with.
I agree, as you say in your article, that it is a "very serious topic." But because the other position on the debate is not suitably referenced, the posting of this article projects an unbalanced view.
You speak to a large audience who for the most part get their entertainment news solely from you. Since your site has decided to move into the realm of reporting on controversial current events (as you said, "this is a different sort of article"), can I expect a rethinking of your editorial policy on this point?
Best regards,
Lee Tessler
Lee, you ask a fair question, and here’s my take on things. You cannot discuss THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST without sparking heated debate right now. People have already taken sides without even seeing the film. I think Harry felt that there was so much noise about the film that the controversy that was brewing was understood without us having to sum it up in another article. Many of the reviews that came out of BNAT addressed the controversy. One of the reasons I’m still struggling with my own review of the film, which I hope to run sometime this week, is because I’m so deeply torn about it, and I’m aware that whatever I write will become a political bat for people to wield in the debate. Right now, I think what’s crucial is for people to actually see the movie, and to let Mel speak for himself. For example...
Hey Guys,
I just wanted to let you know that ABC News has put up a bit of the interview with Mel Gibson that will air Monday February 16, 2004 at 10 p.m. EST on Primetime. The interview addresses the concerns of a few individuals -- *cough*ADL*cough*. Mel gets very personal and even reveals there was a time 10 years ago in which he thought about committing suicide.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE EXCERPTS FROM THE INTERVIEW NOW!!
Sincerely,
SCaRfaCe
This is going to be one of the most-discussed movies of the year, no matter where you personally come down on it. I think the dialogue that it will generate is important and interesting, and I think the less emotional it is, the more valuable it could be.
"Moriarty" out.
