More Hollywood Snubs of Gibson's 'Passion'

More Hollywood Snubs of Gibson's 'Passion'

Govindini Murty
Friday, Jan. 7, 2005

It seems Hollywood just doesn't want to accept Mel Gibson's record breaking "Passion." Dismissing the tremendous success of "The Passion of the Christ" as a fluke, Hollywood critics and awards shows continue to snub Mel Gibson's biblical masterpiece.

This week the Producers Guild of America announced its nominees for Best Picture of the Year, and "The Passion" was notably absent. The PGA also failed to nominate Mel Gibson, Bruce Davey or Steve McEveety for its Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award.

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Some speculate that this was due to "The Passion's" "conservative politics" - an ironic thought, in that Darryl F. Zanuck was a conservative who produced such Biblical epics as "David & Bathsheba" and "The Egyptian." Such ironies are rife in Hollywood today.

More bad news for "Passion" this week: In its "Oscar: Special Report" Variety also announced the hottest contenders for the Best Actor and Best Screenplay Oscars.

Again, anyone associated with "The Passion" was notably absent. Jim Caviezel, who delivered the year's most impressive performance in the demanding role of Christ, was completely ignored.

Instead, Variety gave acting kudos to Gael Garcia Bernal for his role as Che Guevara in "The Motorcycle Diaries," Kevin Bacon for his role as a pedophile in "The Woodsman," and Liev Schrieber for his role as a psychotic conservative politician in "The Manchurian Candidate."

Last month the Golden Globes completely shut out "The Passion," denying it even a single nomination.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization behind the Golden Globes, instead gave nominations to "Vera Drake" (about a kindly abortionist), "Kinsey" (about the discredited sex researcher), and "The Sea Inside" (about a paraplegic's campaign to be euthanized).

In addition, the nation's top film critics have ignored "The Passion" and other quality films in their "Best of 2004" lists, simply because of perceived conservative "Red State" themes.

Roger Ebert of Ebert & Roper at the Movies, Kenneth Turan of the LA Times, Joel Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal, A.O. Scott of the New York Times, Richard Schickel of Time Magazine, and the prestigious National Board of Review all ignored "The Passion" in their Top Ten Lists.

In order to correct this imbalance, the Liberty Film Festival - Hollywood's first openly conservative film festival - has announced its own "Best of 2004" list.

Believing that Hollywood and its institutions have grown pitifully out of touch with the American public, the Liberty Film Festival honored twenty conservative films that exhibited a "high level of craftsmanship, a willingness to challenge the status quo, and a celebration of liberty." Best Narrative Film went to "The Passion" directed by Mel Gibson, Best Documentary Film went to "In The Face of Evil: Reagan's War in Word & Deed" directed by Stephen K. Bannon, and Best Short went to "Submission," directed by slain Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh.

One hopes that as alternative Hollywood continues to grow, liberal Hollywood will realize that it can't continue to ignore the mainstream values of average Americans. If the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences ignores "The Passion" in its Oscar nominations, it runs the risk of alienating the American public - and diminishing what was once a fine institution into a sad irrelevancy. Then only a new wave artists and intellectuals - who share mainstream America's values - will fill the void left in Hollywood's wake.

Govindini Murty, Co-Director of the Liberty Film Festival, lives in Los Angeles.

Editor's note:

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