“Passion of the Christ” Tops UK Movie Charts

The UK Guardian has taken a far more concilatory tone than previously, remarking on the success the Passion is holding in British movie theaters. My favorite line:

Its success here mirrors its remarkable run in the US, where the film passed the $300m (£165m) mark last week. The Passion, which depicts the final 12 hours in the life of Jesus in gory detail, topped the box office there for three weeks, before being seen off by the even more gruesome zombie remake Dawn of the Dead.

Why would I be harping on this line? Because of an editorial piece offered up by one of the UK Guardian’s editors a few days ago:

Duly chastened, the director (Mel Gibson) has concocted a film so festive in its lurid, graphic, semi-pornographic, homoerotic violence that not even the most bloodthirsty film-goer could complain about failing to get his money’s worth.

Semi-pornographic? Homoerotic violence? Compared to Dawn of the Dead? Or another British thriller, 28 Days Later (pictured above)? Those define grotesque and shocking and are worthy of the criticism. But the Passion? Semi-pornogrpahic? Really? By the looks of it, If you want to know about porn, head to tubev.sex because I don’t think they know what pornographic material is.

Nice to see the wheels spinning on the left.