NBC's "Revelations" Proves It - Hollywood Doesn't Get "Passion"

Ward and Sean are no great fans of the Left Behind Series of novels. Frankly, very few people who have been thru seminary and studied the complexities of apocalyptic literature are fans of Timothy LaHaye's works. But I have always enjoyed the various interpretations that novelists have made of the End Times... so long as there is at least a reasonable attempt to comply with scripture. But I am not planning to watch NBC's "Revelations" miniseries. Newsweek lays out its own analysis bolstered by that of the author of the Left Behind Books.

Jerry Jenkins, co-author of the zillion-selling "Left Behind" novels, has weighed in on NBC's End of Days miniseries "Revelations." He called Wednesday night's premiere episode "a mishmash of myth, silliness and misrepresentations of scripture." Far be it from me to challenge the opinion of such an authority, a writer whose own apocalyptic fiction makes an "X-Men" comic book sound like J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Jenkins' assessment is spot on. In "Revelations," writer and co-executive producer David Seltzer brings together the overcooked portentousness of "The Hellstrom Chronicle" (1971), a mock documentary he scripted about insects taking over the planet, and the promiscuous misappropriation of Christian doctrine and iconography of his best-known cinematic work, "The Omen" (1976). "Revelations" is schlock, starting with the cross that doubles as a "t" in its title-logo and NBC's promotional allusions to "the greatest story ever told." It's slickly produced, decently acted schlock, but schlock nonetheless.

This proves what we all suspected from the reactions of the "Academy." Hollywood has no idea why The Passion of the Christ worked last year. NBC Execs just thought, "Huh, religious stuff sells. X-Files sells. Let's do a religious X-Files!" What would work? A serious attempt to portray Christ and the apostles - or even Moses and the Prophets. Need it be a literal word-for-word walk thru the Bible? No. But it should respect the text, respect the traditions, and keep the special effects to a minimum. But what are the odds we'll see anything like that from NBC?