What do you think about "The Passion"?

Someone emailed me some questions that a student is asking as part of a survey for a class project about Mel Gibson's "The Passion". Here are my answers. Feel free to add your own answers.

1. Have you actually seen a sneak preview of the film?
All I've seen are short clips from movie trailers.

2. a)First off, some general opinions about the movie - from what you've read/seen, do you think the film is necessary/accurate?
I think the film is as accurate as you can expect a movie to be. There's probably some artistic license taken but probably not to the point that anyone familiar with Christianity wouldn't be able to recognize the key elements of the story. Since when did films have to be necessary?

b) What do you think the motivation for making such a possibly controversial movie be?
I would hope that the motivation was to tell a story that has shaped so much of the world and display excellence in the craft of movie making.

3. Do you agree with many opinions that the film is inaccurate or anti-Semitic?
No.

4. How would you respond to someone who would argue that the "anti-Semitic nature" makes the film controversial?
My response would be to ask that person's overall opinion of the Bible. I would also ask which elements of the movie they thought were anti-Semitic and why they thought they were so.