Continued from page 1

The Gospel of Mel

Thursday February 26, 2004 10:38 AM EST

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Should kids see it?
Due to the violence, probably not. "You have to have some spiritual maturity to understand it," says Jennifer Giroux, 42, a Cincinnati mom of nine (ages 3 to 19) who started a pro-Passion Web site. She is keeping her under-14s home. But permission slips will be at many box offices for parents to sign when dropping off their kids. The Christian Coalition is encouraging teens to go. "They see so much violence [already]," says spokeswoman Michele Ammons. "I don't think they would take this like seeing a Schwarzenegger movie. They would think it was like seeing a docudrama."

Subtitles. Extreme violence. No stars. How did Mel Gibson sell this movie?
For months the Oscar-winning director (1995's Braveheart), who spent about $25 million of his own money to make the movie, put in at least a dozen appearances before preview audiences of thousands of Christian evangelical church and media leaders. Smart move. "They have their own radio networks, TV stations, bookstores – there's no better organized subgroup in America," says Josh Baran, a film marketing exec. "They sold 60 million Left Behind books. They can get the message to tens of millions of followers." With religious Web sites calling the movie "the best outreach opportunity in 2,000 years," churches bought out 800 theaters for advance screenings and many gave away tickets – some on the condition that you bring a nonbeliever as your date. By opening night at least $10 million in tickets had been presold. Big-name endorsements also helped: Rev. Billy Graham called the film equal to "a lifetime of sermons."

Why are Protestant evangelicals embracing this very Catholic vision of Jesus?
Grateful for any serious film about Jesus, evangelicals are overlooking the emphasis on Jesus' bloodied body and other elements that don't jibe with their theology. "We have for 30 years been praying that someone would use film to tell the Christian story in a way that would be interesting to the general public," says Rev. Rob Schenck, head of the National Clergy Council. "It's impossible to say, 'Well, he's not the answer to our prayers because he's Catholic.' God surprised us."