(Dub) 1 : My Next Interview's At The Demon Quee...

Having in this encounter established Satan as a "cosmicvillain" playing antagonist to Christ as a "warrior hero,"(12) Satan next appears in brief glimpses among a group of children who tauntJudas on a hillside outside town, psychologically tormenting Christ'sbetrayer until he hangs himself from a tree. Significantly, two such childrenhad previously transformed into demons as they cornered Judas in town atnight, Judas calling them "little Satans," (13) just before theybecome deformed and demonic, and attack him while hurling psychologicaltaunts (similar to Satan's verbal tormenting of Jesus in the garden).That these children are Jewish, indicated by the kippot worn on their heads,(14) ties the film's well-establish anti-Semitism with its devilishdepiction of the queer, as these and later-seen Jewish children come underthe evil influence of queer Satan.

(Dub) 1 : My Next Interview's at the Demon Quee...

One of the most cinematically powerful images in the film followslater, as Satan next appears lurking in the crowd at Christ's flogging.During this segment, the one most often criticized for its excessiveviolence, Satan turns up amidst an otherwise motionless crowd, glidingunnoticed past them, circling Christ. Satan's eyes are intently focusedon Christ and the scourging. At one point, it becomes clear that Satan isholding something in her/his arms, as yet unrevealed. As the viewer becomescurious, a figure in Satan's grasp stirs. Drawing back the robe, Satanreveals the sinister face of a middle-aged, grinning demonic baby, whichitself gazes into the camera. The image is jolting. Here, Satan'squeerness is further accentuated by her/his unnatural baby. Particularlysince this image follows back-and-forth cuts between Jesus and traditionallygendered Mary, Christ's mother, the image reads as a scornful, mockingMadonna and child, and contrasts a "good," healthy mother-sonrelationship with one that is queer and "evil." Gibson'sintent in showing this "deformed and hairy baby with a ghoulishgrin" was, in his words, to depict "evil distorting what isgood." (15) Bartunek's writing in the Insider's Guide reflectsthis, as the discussion of this moment regularly links that which isunconventional with "evil," saying for example that the image is"more than a little weird," "it's all wrong,""[it] is weird, it is shocking," "[it's]disturbing," and "reiterates the idea that evil [... is a]distortion of something good." (16) 041b061a72