**WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PHOTOSHOPS MAY OFFEND**
BEHOLD! I'M GOING TO TURN THE CLOCK BACK TO FRIDAY NIGHT... ALRIGHT!
Friday was an interesting day. I tried to use the day for personal reflection and study. Having realized how my behavior has been affecting the people around me for the past month, something had to change. Keeping up with studying for GMAT, I headed out to Barnes & Noble to run through some practice exams. Many hours later I came home to learn that many of my friends called while I was away. Realizing the irony of the situation, I could only smile and laugh.
The evening rolled on and eventually I received a call from Brian. He informed me that Nick, Jessica, and himself had just seen the movie "The Passion of the Christ" while I was studying. I wasn't too dissapointed having missed my chance to see this movie, but the movie and its media coverage had peaked my interest. At the very least this movie's inerpretation of the Gospels could be interesting.
Later in the evening, we all converged at the Cornwell house. Sitting on the couch while Brian played Baulder's Gate, Gurg sleeping in a chair and John doing the same on the large sofa, I noticed something rather disturbing. On top of an in-table I found the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly addressed to our good friend Jesse Cornwell. Why anyone would read Entertainment Weekely let alone actually subscribe to the magazine is beyond me. However, that isn't what I found disturbing, because it was the cover image that bothered me the most. The issue's cover was dedicated to "The Passion of the Christ." The cover depicted Mel Gibson's head blown up like a large stone idol wearing a ribbon of motion picture film that had little thorn like barbs coming off the edges. I found the obvious symbolism of the image in the context of the magazine to be very offensive and I'm neither Christian or religious.
The creation and marketing of religion themed movies isn't new. The passion play itself is one that has been recreated thounsands of times acrossed many different media. What is shocking is how the advertising and the marketing has become much more pervasive in recent times. I realized that my desire to see the movie was tied up with the incredible amount of attention and scrutiny before it was even released. This provoked a few interesting thoughts on how easy it is to fall for a clever marketing campaign. The movie is being marketed heavily towards certain religious groups so as to maximize box office revenue.
It makes one wonder of an absurd future in which controversial interpretations of religious beliefs will be successfully fused with everyday products for the purpose of advertising.
The following photoshops, while no doubt offensive, are designed to show such absurdity. They are not designed to criticize, mock, or insult Christianity.
