That Movie Thing

I was just thinking, when posting an entry on one's blog, is it better to title it first and then write, or should one write first and then title it after. If you're curious, I'm trying out the write-first-title-later thing right here. Most of my other posts are the other way around.

And talking about titles, at my computer at work here I have the transcripts of every episode of Buffy and Angel produced thus far. Many of these titles are really cool (Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Never Kill a Boy on The First Date, Conversations With Dead People and others). I'm going to rip off some of these titles (or all of them eventually) and use them to title my posts. It's my own way to pay homage to my fav TV shows. Pathetic fanboy much ? Maybe, but I didn't ask you, so there.

I was reading the news at the AP website and came across some bits about The Passion of Christ. I haven't seen the movie, but I figure it's quite intense and moving. Of course we've all heard about people getting worried that the movie will spark hate crimes against Jews for it's so called "anti-Semitic" elements. And once again I groan with annoyance.

Okay, let's think about this. Out of the many millions of people who've seen the movie so far, how many have attack a Jew in the last few days ? And of the many millions of people who ARE anti-Semitic and HAVE involved themselves with racist hate crimes, how many of them have seen this movie ? And what makes people think that a film, no matter how good/bad could have enough influence to drive somebody to do something as dire as that.

And finally, if someone goes to watch The Passion of Christ and start to hate Jews, who is the one having the problem ? The guys who make the movie ? Or is it the person who watched it ?

I cannot stand it. Again and again and again, there are people stupid enough to blame mass media for something as serious as racist hate crimes. Okay, I won't deny it, mass entertainment media does have an influence on people. But to imply that the influence is major enough to modify a person's behaviour ? That's insulting people's intelligence (especially young people).

If you're the type to think this way, please think about it. Use the law of averages and work it out. Influential or not, it takes more than a movie to push a normal person over the edge.