Dear Editor,
This is not an opinion about two movies, but a simple fact about how each has been accepted by society and proves to be another example of the way history repeats itself.
All Quiet on the Western Front was the first anti-war movie, which was released in 1930 and showed a whole other view of the war – a crude and disturbing, yet truthful, picture of what those soldiers were really facing during WWI.
Causing uproar during the time of its release, it presented truthful things – truth for one particular soldier. Maybe not all would agree that war was as bad as All Quiet on the Western Front made it out to be, but that movie presented truth for one individual.
Young men preparing to enlist might hesitate after watching this movie, but at least those soldiers would know the truth about what they’re getting into rather than facing the shock of unexpected horror.
The truth must be faced to be conquered, is that not right?
The Passion of the Christ creates a similar situation.
Mel Gibson presents the story of Jesus Christ and his death. The movie was not intended to be anti-Semitic but instead to present what the Gospels told of the death of Christ from Mel Gibson’s view.
What is cool to me is how both movies present a truth (a truth to those producers) to a society that may or may not find them truths also.
Still we’re ready to throw them out there to be thought about by other men, despite the controversy they bring.
Did both producers of All Quiet on the Western Front and The Passion of the Christ not wish to make people consider something that they themselves deem as truth?
The movies captivate audiences because they do portray a clear message. All Quiet on the Western Front says the war is crude. The Passion of the Christ says Jesus, the Christ, suffered and was put to death, claiming to be the Son of God.
Viewers react because in both instances, they must decide if they agree with what has been shown as right or wrong.
Few movies do that today. Many may think it better just to smooth over the issue and let people willingly approach it instead of throwing big issues like these in their faces in order to confront them.
Is truth not avoided much of the time in today’s society?
I say yes after looking at how the people of the 1930s reacted to its controversial war movie and then how people today react to the release of The Passion of the Christ.
Katie Beth Criswell

Author