But what about the ugly baby?

Tyrone emailed me that question about the passion. I also spoke with Shawn on what he thought. Their thoughts are here (with their permission):

Tyrone: when you saw the movie "The Passion", what did you think about the part when Satan was holding a baby that looked like he was about 40?

Me: That really confused me. I assume Gibson was trying to be artsy on that part. I think he was going for a creepy vibe and I think he got it. That part and the children chasing Judas. Nothing scarier than children out of place.

Tyrone: But what about the ugly baby? "it's evil distorting what's good. What is more tender and beautiful than a mother and a child? So the Devil takes that and distorts it just a little bit. Instead of a normal mother and child you have an androgynous figure holding a 40-year-old 'baby' with hair on his back. It is weird, it is shocking, it's almost too much-just like turning Jesus over to continue scourging him on his chest is shocking and almost too much, which is the exact moment when this appearance of the Devil and the baby takes place."

Did you realize that Satan was a female who had her eyebrows shaved?

Shawn: I have also thought about that scene in the movie and here was the best I could come up with.

Remember in the beginning of the movie when Jesus is confronted by Satan and Satan tries to convince Jesus that the sacrifice is too great and that people are not worth it? I had thought that may have someone to do with the baby scene. I thought it was maybe trying to give Jesus a visual of what state humans were in. Though they were not created to look like that as children, they had become corrupt. They were now distorted children of Satan rather than beautiful creation of God. Maybe he was once again saying, "they are not worth it." "Look at them." This was possibly a temptation to make Jesus give up and put an end to it all.

Me: Uh...

So what do you think about the ugly baby?