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I received inquiries about the possibility that the GCP might respond to
the opening of Mel Gibson's new film depicting Jesus of Nazareth's last
few hours, focusing on the torture and suffering.
"It seems
that there is an amazing amount of controversy developing around
it...and since
it opens tomorrow -- Ash Wednesday-- I thought I'd ask. I have not seen
people
talk about a film like this before, both in and out of print...and on
television." -- Barbara Smith.
I can't make a formal prediction, but decided to look at the data on the
25th of Feb 2004, when the film was released, in an exploratory way.
Here's the result -- showing the full GMT day, with the time of the
first showings in the US indicated. There is a sense of agitation, with
some strong trends early in the day, and a very steep drop about the
time of the opening, followed by a strong and persistent positive trend.
But these could be and probably are chance
fluctuations, though interestingly coincident with the schedule of
showings.
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