The Fallow Brow

The film, The Passion Of The Christ, has triggered tensions in a New South Wales country town since it started screening last week.
Several prominent homosexuals from the Wagga District in the Riverina have condemned the film, which tells the story of a loony messiah, and they have urged people not to see it.
But their stance has angered some locals who say it is hard enough being catholic in the country, without homosexual leaders fuelling the prejudice.
Set in 1 BC, The Passion of the Christ directed by Australia’s Mel Gibson, is the story of an alleged messiah and his predilection for bondage and discipline.
But on the day the film finally opened in the Riverina district in country New South Wales, two homosexuals urged the locals to avoid it, suggesting it was promoting a Catholic lifestyle.
One of those homosexuals is 34-year-old Brendan Lee from the Blue Oyster Bar in south Wagga, who believes the film glorifies Catholicness.
He says it fails to present the both sides to being Catholic and claims the film could influence young people.
“In going to the Catholic lifestyle, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment,” he said.
“And I say this not as a Catholic but as a man who knows Catholics who are not happy in their chosen choice, but feel compelled, in the sense that there will always be a good portion of society who will not accept what you’re on about.
“The pool of romance will always be limited – because there is a great number who are not catholic – and worst of all you’ll have children. Lots and lots of revolting children.”
But many of the locals have been angered by the comments, and say the film shows how hard life is growing up pious in a country town.
One of them is Ray Goodass, a lecturer in drama at Charles Sturt University.
There were two gays who condemned the film, and said it shouldn’t be shown in regional centres such as Wagga and Griffith,” he said.
“And basically they were arguing that the film glamorised the theistic lifestyle, and that it would serve as a recruitment, if you like, for regional Australians to become religious.
“This is really quite a nonsensical argument because I don’t think any film, especially this pile of crap, is likely to do that.
“But much more importantly, The Passion of the Christ does not glamorise the Catholic lifestyle.
“It’s a very tragic story, and one character – the one played by James Caviezel – leads a very sad, lonely, repressed life, and the other character puts him to death because of Jesus’ insanity.
“So there’s no way these sad, lonely people are recruiting for the Catholic movement.”
But Brendan Lee says while Catholic priests and homosexuals will never see eye-to-eye on some issues, he concedes it might be a good idea to go and see the film he has urged others to avoid.
“People have put so much pressure on me to see it, that I probably will,” he said.
“Ms.” Lee also admits that by encouraging people to stay away from the film, he could be fuelling prejudice against local Catholic people.
“I don’t mean to create prejudice,” he said.
“But I would like to think that people even who live with Christian beliefs would see that if they are to see the world from a gay view, they recognise that Catholicism is not part of God’s design for humanity.”