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"The
Passion"

• June 1 -- Frank
Rich's Pornographic Hypocrisy
Editor Frank Rich contemptuously dismisses conservatives who dare link the
prisoner abuse of Abu Ghraib to pornography: "The hypocrisy of those
pushing this line knows few bounds." Yet the left-wing essayist Susan
Sontag, so admired by Rich, made precisely the same argument in the cover story
of the NYT magazine.
• April 5 -- "Passion"
Corrected With Help From "Tolerant" Calvin Butts
TV critic Alessandra Stanley sees tonight's ABC documentary "Jesus and
Paul" as a welcome corrective to "The Passion of Christ," and
singles out the "more tolerant views" of the Rev. Calvin Butts. But
what does the "tolerant" Butts thinks of Republicans?
• March 22 -- Rich
Liberal Triteness
Frank Rich describes “one of the most hysterical outbreaks of Puritanism in
recent, even not-so-recent, American history” and administers another beating
to “The Passion.”
• March 8 -- Gibson's
Movie a "Joy Ride for Sadomasochists"
Frank Rich sees "The Passion of Christ," a movie on which he has
expended thousands of harsh words over the last several months. But that's
nothing compared to the vitriol unleashed in his "review."
• March 1 -- Hope
He Didn't Bet on the Oscars
Frank Rich's poor box office insight on "The Passion."
• February 26 -- Not
Mad About Mel
Laurie Goodstein relays some thumbs-down reviews from an interfaith panel who
watched "The Passion." "They said the movie…deviated in bizarre
ways from the Gospel accounts, fell flat emotionally and was numbingly
violent."
• February 26 -- Scold
Mountain
A.O. Scott dislikes Mel Gibson's new movie on the Passion of Christ. Comparing
Gibson's violent filmmaking to Quentin Tarantino, Scott notes: "It will be
amusing to see some of the same scolds who condemned Mr. Tarantino's 'Kill Bill:
Vol. 1' sing the praises of 'The Passion of the Christ.'" Scolds
like…A.O. Scott, perhaps?
• February 20 -- The
Religious Right Is Rising (Again)
TV critic Alessandra Stanley sees a rising of the religious right in the release
of Mel Gibson's new movie.
• January 19 -- Pope
"Unwittingly Hawks" Mel Gibson Movie?
Editor Frank Rich spins a conspiracy theory about the Pope giving Gibson's movie
on Jesus a thumbs-up: "The ailing pontiff has been recruited, however
unwittingly, to help hawk 'The Passion of the Christ.'"
E-mail
TimesWatch Director, Clay Waters, with TimesWatch feedback at
cwaters@mediaresearch.org
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