Mel's Daffy Passion

So while I have yet to see "The Passion of the Christ", I have seen the South Park version. And let me say, if Matt and Trey are still alive by the end of this week, it will be a miracle.

As usual, South Park provides clarity on the situation...through foul mouthed little boys and a very skewed world. In an effort to prove Cartman wrong about Jews, Kyle goes to see "The Passion of the Christ", and as expected he ends up vomiting all over himself. Taking to heart the images that he has seen, he begins to question how the Jews could do that to Jesus. Meanwhile, Cartman feels that he has been divinely inspired -- by Mel Gibson -- and it ready to do his work, i.e. rid the world of Jews. The entire town of South Park is so caught up in allowing the movie to guilt them into religion, they don't notice when Cartman, dressed as Hitler, has them goose-step around the town shouting in German.

Meanwhile Kenny and Stan see "The Passion" because, well, everyone else has seen it. Their reaction is about as truthful as it gets: That wasn't a movie. It was a snuff film. As depicted by Matt and Trey, "The Passion" consists mostly of Jesus being whipped and screaming. Apparently that isn't so far from what actually happens. They decide they want their money back, but when the theatre refuses, they have to go see Mel himself. And this is where things get odd.

Mel Gibson spends most of his time in this episode running around in his tighty-whiteys and asking people to torture him. While they do use his real face, much in the way they used Saddam Hussein's, this is nowhere near a impersonation. This is an out and out mockery. Riffing off of Mel's odd interview with Diane Sawyer and the persecution complex he exhibited recently, the South Park version of Mel Gibson is a torture-obsessed, screaming lunatic, who I think is only slightly over the top in comparison to the real deal. And considering how tolerant Mel is these days, if I were Matt or Trey, I'd have someone else taste my food before I did.

Rounding off this episode is the collection of Jewish stereotypes, freaking out about "The Passion" and demanding it be taken from the theatres when Kyle publicly announces that he wants the Jews to publicly apologize for what happened to Jesus. Stereotypes complaining about stereotypes is always a good way to go.

By the end, everyone realizes that a. Mel ain't the saint and religious inspiration they think he is; b. "The Passion" is only a movie, not a documentary; c. Though it is only a movie it can lead to some people becoming more anti-Semitic; d. But causing a huge stink about the anti-Semitic thrust movie only makes things worse by giving the movie credence. Finally the main thing we learned today is that you shouldn't base your faith on violence and suffering, let alone a movie made by Mad Max.

Again, I have not seen "The Passion" yet so I don't know exactly what goes on there. But if it's even remotely like the 2 hour torture-fest I've heard it is, well, I have to wonder about the people this is religiously inspiring. But I'll just have to see.