Monday, March 22, 2004
The Face
I was talking to my mom this Sunday. We talked for 3 hours about all kinds of things -- my sister's wedding plans, getting rid of furniture, credit card debt, etc. My mom & I generally don't talk for 2 weeks or so & then we stay on the phone for hours & can't get off. And, I can tell her pretty much anything. I love this about our relationship.
The conversation turned to movies & she asked me if I've seen "that 'Passion of Christ' thing." I said I had decided not to see it (at least not in the theatre) because I don't think it was made for me. I read an editorial in this free NYC daily paper called amNY that talked about how the movie was made for Christians/believers not for agnostics/atheists/Jews/other religions. I definitely fall into the "agnostic" or at least not traditionally "gnostic" category as far as my faith/belief goes, so I figure the movie is not something I may find moving. I may see it on video. People have said it's anti-semitic, and I have no idea if that's true. (Joe said it was violent & pointless but that the acting wasn't bad.) My mom hasn't seen it but she says that it's a work of art by Mel Gibson & nobody should get all freaked out by it. Anyway, I digress -- because I'm going somewhere else with this story.
My mom said she'd read somewhere on the Internet that when Mel Gibson was a little boy he was an orphan and he was in a terrible accident and somehow he lost half his face...
I stopped her right there. "It's not true. It's a well-known urban legend."
She said, "I didn't know if it was true or not, but I thought if it was true it might explain to me some of the reasons he made this film."
"It's not true. You can look up urban legends on the urban legends page on About.com. Some e-mails that go around are neither confirmed nor denied, but this one has been absolutely denied."
"Well, I just thought that if it were true, it would explain..."
I should have let her tell me the explanation.
He had a hard life, lost his face, and so now he...what? makes movies about religion & pain & violence?
What is my mom's perception of Mel Gibson's decision to make this movie? What was she trying to explain?
I'm so curious.
I focused so much on the fact that the rumor isn't true because I think it's so interesting & weird that people e-mail these legends about celebrities & they stay in circulation for years & people -- like my mother -- ponder their relevance to the celebrity's decisions/films/etc. & come to conclusions without first checking that they are true!
Now, I want to hear her explanation because I want to know what she thinks about the film/story/Mel Gibson.
I'm not criticizing my mom. I love my mom. She is one of a kind & one of many.
-m
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I was talking to my mom this Sunday. We talked for 3 hours about all kinds of things -- my sister's wedding plans, getting rid of furniture, credit card debt, etc. My mom & I generally don't talk for 2 weeks or so & then we stay on the phone for hours & can't get off. And, I can tell her pretty much anything. I love this about our relationship.
The conversation turned to movies & she asked me if I've seen "that 'Passion of Christ' thing." I said I had decided not to see it (at least not in the theatre) because I don't think it was made for me. I read an editorial in this free NYC daily paper called amNY that talked about how the movie was made for Christians/believers not for agnostics/atheists/Jews/other religions. I definitely fall into the "agnostic" or at least not traditionally "gnostic" category as far as my faith/belief goes, so I figure the movie is not something I may find moving. I may see it on video. People have said it's anti-semitic, and I have no idea if that's true. (Joe said it was violent & pointless but that the acting wasn't bad.) My mom hasn't seen it but she says that it's a work of art by Mel Gibson & nobody should get all freaked out by it. Anyway, I digress -- because I'm going somewhere else with this story.
My mom said she'd read somewhere on the Internet that when Mel Gibson was a little boy he was an orphan and he was in a terrible accident and somehow he lost half his face...
I stopped her right there. "It's not true. It's a well-known urban legend."
She said, "I didn't know if it was true or not, but I thought if it was true it might explain to me some of the reasons he made this film."
"It's not true. You can look up urban legends on the urban legends page on About.com. Some e-mails that go around are neither confirmed nor denied, but this one has been absolutely denied."
"Well, I just thought that if it were true, it would explain..."
I should have let her tell me the explanation.
He had a hard life, lost his face, and so now he...what? makes movies about religion & pain & violence?
What is my mom's perception of Mel Gibson's decision to make this movie? What was she trying to explain?
I'm so curious.
I focused so much on the fact that the rumor isn't true because I think it's so interesting & weird that people e-mail these legends about celebrities & they stay in circulation for years & people -- like my mother -- ponder their relevance to the celebrity's decisions/films/etc. & come to conclusions without first checking that they are true!
Now, I want to hear her explanation because I want to know what she thinks about the film/story/Mel Gibson.
I'm not criticizing my mom. I love my mom. She is one of a kind & one of many.
-m
