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Perhaps there needs to be a sub-blog that ONLY covers press reactions to “The Passion of the Christ.” No, I don’t think so. But Jack Mathews of the New York Daily News does have one of the first takes on the story that will keep this media fest alive for, oh, 11 more months.
I’m sticking with my hot-and-cold stance on The Passion of the Christ. I think it has moments of brilliance, but needed more of a Hitchcock approach to temper the numbing literalism of some of its images. I think Mel Gibson could have made a film that hit just as hard, without becoming such a festival of violence. I know what Gibson was trying to do with this film (stations of the cross for a media-soaked age), but I still question the theological balance of 15 minutes of flogging and 90 seconds of the Resurrection.
That would be Richard Ostling, the veteran religion writer for the Associated Press. This is the same Richard Ostling who did such high-quality God-beat work for Time in the days before cover stories on the agony of dog overbreeding and the like.
Gayle White and Tom Baxter of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution report on how much the church-and-politics atmosphere has changed since 1960. When John F. Kennedy ran for president 44 years ago, he had to assure skittish Protestant ministers that he wouldn’t let his Catholicism influence his political decisions.
Talking about yourself at length can be a troubling habit, but Spalding Gray managed to turn it into an art form that transcended mere self-absorption.
WACO — Every decade or so a journalism storm hits Baylor University, leading to a wave of ink about Baptists, sex and freedom of the press.
60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley’s profile of Bishop Gene Robinson was a good introduction to the man — especially for anyone who has lived in a cave since Robinson’s election last summer. The story touched all the familiar bases: first openly gay bishop elected last June, heated debate at the Episcopal Church’s General Convention in August, dissents at Robinson’s consecration in November, pew-level responses ranging from anguish to elation since then.
“Out the door” means that I am going to be on the road for the next few days and so will Doug. I will post when I can during lectures at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. I am sure that it will be a relaxing time, since there are never any controversies in Waco concerning religion and journalism.
Los Angeles Times media columnist Tim Rutten (access requires subscription) is asking some serious questions about the media blitz that is driving the same-sex marriage wave from the blue-state Northeast to the blue-state West.
