by Susie Lofton

Few industries have the power of persuasion that Hollywood does. The reference to "Hollywood" here encompasses the whole movie making industry whose epic-center is Hollywood, California; and includes all the major studios. The industry has made tremendous advancements over the years. First, everyone was producing silent movies where the movements of the actors were stiff and choppy; and silent. Today, and after much improvement in equipment and technology, one can experience movies that at one time were thought of as only fantasy. Visual effects digitally produced can almost make the unbelievable, believable. Some effects are so explicitly detailed that one has to remind them that what they are watching is not REAL.

I remember watching Moses and the Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston for the first time. I was quite young at the time, but nonetheless it was awesome and spellbinding. Then came movies like Star Wars, Star Trek, etc., with space and a wild imagination as one's inspiration. What always amazed me were movies where hundreds and thousands of people were depicted in extremely large areas, such as war movies. How did they get so many people dressed and co-coordinated?

One such movie produced in recent years was "Braveheart," which had hundreds of people in battle, one against another in hand-to-hand combat. Those battle scenes

were so graphic and realistic! I liked the movie, the theme and plot, but the blood and gore was much more than I could stand. When it came to those parts, I would look away much of the time. Aside from the movie itself, I learned some really interesting history. Studying history in school was not the least bit interesting to me, but as the old saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Today, I really enjoy watching historical movies. History in movies puts "legs" on words. It gives you something to visualize and visualization helps one retain material that otherwise is abstract and unfocused.

The newest and at the moment, most controversial movie is, "Passion of The Christ," directed by Mel Gibson, who by the way played the starring role in "Braveheart." This movie, "Passion," is about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Having not yet seen it, and my only real knowledge of the movie is from what I have heard, it sounds to me to be a movie, which is graphic and moving, historical and for the MOST part--scripturally accurate. I understand that there is a segment before the crucifixion where Satan tempts Jesus. In the scriptures, Satan did tempt Jesus early in His ministry. Anyway, the Bible does not give a minute-by-minute account of Jesus' life. In the Garden of Gethsemane following the Last Supper, Jesus agonized in prayer over His impending death. He asked that the cup, his death, be passed from Him, but He chose to do the will of the Father over His own. He told His disciples, the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. We are not privileged to the thoughts that passed through His mind. Perhaps as He prayed, He remembered that Satan had once offered Him the kingdoms of the world if He would fall down and worship him. He warned His disciples to watch and pray, lest they entered into temptation.

With all the movies about witchcraft, the false messiah, the beast and every imaginable evil concept, it is about time someone was brave enough to come forward with a message of hope. Evil is real. It is tangible. It is not what it often appears,