Is the Passion of the Christ anti-semitic beyond essentially saying that "some Jews were responsible for Jesus' death"?
I haven't seen it myself and everytime I here that it's antisemitic I wonder if that's the case or if it's just that to some the portrayal of any Jewish people in a negative light is considered antisemtic.

I saw it. I didn't pick up on anything I would have regarded as being anti-Semitic. It was very sado-masichist, though, with lots of slow-motion blood letting and exaggerated violence.

It followed the bible (or the version I was taught as a kid, at any rate) fairly closely. Maybe it was anti-semetic, maybe it wasn't, but the Jewish community can't really blame gibson for it.

As far as Rob Reiner...I guess he hasn't met Mel's dad, it seems obvious where he got it from.

Passion of the Christ is simply based off of Passion Plays, which has been a common tradition in the Catholic church (and outside the Catholic church) for centuries. It was often performed during lent and was seen in conjuncture with the stations of the cross.

Around the 15th century German churches decided to "jazz it up" and added a lot of questionable content to the passion play. Specifically the heinous treatment of Jesus by the Jews. In addition to some magical tricks like Jesus mending the ear of the wounded solider that participated in Diamond J's capture.

Many christians will counter that everything from current passion plays are found in the bible, however the King James version of the bible (the most prevelant version in modern day Christendom) was not published until 1611, while the passion plays started in the early 1400s.

Their is little doubt that Jesus was treated poorly and of course ultimately crucified at the hands of the jews and roman leaders, however the hyperbole that the play extends into is based on absolutely no solid evidence and the first mention of extreme tourture (lashing Jesus with barbed whips, punching and spitting on him as he makes his death walk, crown of thorns, etc) can not be traced back any time sooner than the 1400's by any given biblical scholar.

It is also pertinent to note that the Frankfurt church, the group that really pushed the Passion Play's dial to 11, was quite notably anti-semetic.

These are the reasons why The Passion of the Christ may be deemed anti-semetic by some people. Now throw in the fact that Gibson was at a 0.12 blood alcohol level when he started spewing anti-semetic remarks and you have to wonder his true motives. I'm fairly possitive I achieve a 0.12 every weekend and have yet to mutter anything anti-semetic or even racist for that matter.

That you handle your liquor better than he does isn't really relevant to how much of a fuck-up the guy is. I still think he's crazy and has big issues, but I don't believe he was trying to make some kind of intentional statement with this, that seems kind of silly.

If only Master-Blaster had kicked his ass proper back when, we might not have to deal with this shit now. I blame the midget in the bucket for the persistence of anti-Semitism (intentional or not).

Maybe, maybe not. I am not claiming one side or the other. Someone asked why people deem 'The Passion' as anti-semetic and I feel I spelled out the reasons. Everything I stated was based on fact, not opinion.

In addition you are obviously not familiar with how many drinks it takes to get your blood alcohol up. Breathing a 0.12 by a man who weights roughly 180 lbs takes approximately five beers. Five. You know what I call a day where I have five drinks? Wednesday.

Yes, you clearly (and very informatively) spelled out why people would feel that the movie was anti-semetic. Which has nothing to do with Gibson seeming anti-semetic, as he was trying to stay true to the book. It may be another explanation to why he turned out that way, if he was raised on it.

Once again, how drunk different people get from drinks doesn't really interest me, though if you want to have a "Mel is a lightweight" bashing thread, I'm right behind you.