Churches to Protest ‘Temptation’ : Others Say They Will Ignore S.D. Opening

The executive director of a San Diego evangelical group said Thursday that member churches are planning to protest the opening today of Martin Scorsese’s “The Last Temptation of Christ” at the AMC Fashion Valley 4 theater complex.

The Rev. Jim Whitby, whose San Diego Evangelical Assn. represents about 240 San Diego churches, said peaceful protests are planned for all six showings of the Universal Pictures release today. The theater, in turn, is adding about eight security guards, according to manager Dave Wells.

“We don’t want to do anything illegal,” Whitby said. “There will be some people that have picket signs. We have some people there that plan to be giving out literature (about) the real truth about who Jesus is.”

Whitby called the film “a cheap form of pornography” and said his organization is urging its members to boycott both the film and all companies that hold stock in MCA-Universal. Among the companies named on a list being prepared for church members are Sears, Roebuck, Wells Fargo and General Electric, Whitby said.

He said a petition with 25,000 signatures from San Diego residents was sent to the Los Angeles-based entertainment conglomerate last week, asking that the film not be shown here.

“The Last Temptation of Christ,” adapted from Nikos Kazantzakis’ 1955 novel, has created a firestorm of protest from some fundamentalist, Roman Catholic and Greek-Orthodox church leaders who resent the film’s depiction of Jesus as a flawed and reluctant leader consumed with self-doubt.

The movie received mixed reviews when it opened last Friday in Los Angeles, New York and six other North American cities, but most critics agreed it is faithful to Kazantzakis’ book, which proposed to be an exploration of spiritual conflicts in Christianity.

Most of the criticism from religious protesters has centered on a dream sequence in which Jesus, on the cross, fantasizes being spared death so he can live out a full life as a husband and father.

In the dream, he is shown making love to prostitute Mary Magdalen, whom he then marries.

The AMC’s Wells said the telephone has “been ringing pretty much constantly” at the theater since the booking of the film was announced earlier this week. The film, which runs about 2 1/2 hours, is being shown three times a day in two theaters, he said.

“We don’t have the officers to offer security to private enterprises,” said Bill Robinson, spokesman for the San Diego Police Department, “but we will monitor the activities, especially if there is a demonstration.”

Most religious groups and church officials contacted by The Times said they oppose the film but will not protest its run here because they want to avoid giving it more publicity.

Universal had originally planned a slow “rollout” of “The Last Temptation” in September, but moved the release up to last weekend after the intensity of religious protests began dominating the news and some exhibitors announced they would not book the movie in their theaters.

The protests have proven a box-office boon so far. In the opening three days, the film played to sellout crowds and grossed an average of $44,600 a theater.

Not all Christian groups are opposing it. Some religious leaders have publicly praised the movie, while others are taking a wait-and-see attitude.

“In a way, so much of the protest is premature,” said Father Michael Smith of Immaculata Roman Catholic Church at University of San Diego. “We’re not saying anything about it.” He said he thinks that the decision whether to see it has to be left to the individual.

“The Last Temptation of Christ” is not scheduled to open at any other San Diego theater. A studio spokesman said the film’s fate here will be determined by how well it does at Fashion Valley.

Although Whitby’s association plans an active protest, most San Diego religious leaders seem to be taking their cue from the box-office grosses for the movie last weekend.

Officials with both the Catholic Diocese of San Diego and St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church said they are advising their members to neither see the movie nor protest it.

Dan Pitre, a spokesman for San Diego’s Roman Catholic diocese, said it is following the advice in a memo issued by Bishop Anthony Bosco of the United States Bishops Communications Committee. Bosco wrote that overt protest would “merely encourage the curious to see it.”