Man dressed as the devil disrupts ‘Passion’ movie

[Katarina]

<snip>
Moviegoers at Stadium 16 Theater in Evansville attending a showing of “Passion of the Christ” got more than they bargained for Saturday night.

They were greeted in the lobby of the theater by a man wearing a ‘red devil’ costume. Tyler Wendell, a 19 year old freshman at the University of Southern Indiana, caused quite a ruckus with his get-up. The audience, many who were part of church groups, was visibly upset by the antics of Wendell.

”I always like to push the limits,” Wendell said. Many were upset that Wendell chose to wear a devil costume to a religious movie. Many patrons jeered Wendell as he stood in line for concessions.

Once inside the movie, Christians began pelting Wendell with Gummy Bears, Ju-Ju Bees, and popcorn. Management got involved after a 75-year-old woman, Hazel Meyer, poured a 64-ounce Coca-Cola on Wendell.

...More...
http://www.hoosiergazette.com/News/news022.htm

:evilgrin:

[truthbetold]

1. Too bad the religious fanatics...

Were not blessed with a sense of humor.

[AngryWhiteLiberal]

2. Awesome! More power to him...

Can't stand the machochistic/sadistic jesus freaks, so more power to him. Nothing but a rabble of sheep being led to the box office by a man of questionable sanity.

JB

[Cat Atomic]

3. Judge not, turn the other cheek, etc., etc.

[codegreen]

4. begin production of "The Passion of Wendell"

people are in line to spend $9 to watch their saviour get slaughtered, maybe we could pull in $3 each to see this?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

5. Is this a photo of the moviegoers removing Wedell from the theatre?

[boobooday]

6. Could it be . . . . Satan?

These people are afraid of all sorts of things that aren't real!

Now they have a dumb-ass action movie star for a spiritual leader.

They deserve a dress-up devil! He is as real as anything else for them . . .

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[Robb]

7. When I was 19, that would've been me.

Not for any big reason, just because I was a smartass.

Sort of like my nametag whilst registering voters this week, said "CHAD".

[frylock]

12. nice one!!

Chad is a dingbat!!

[saigon68]

8. “that Christians aren’t as forgiving as they portray”.

Wendell, an atheist, said, “If God really existed, He would have struck me down for dressing as the devil.” He also wanted to prove “that Christians aren’t as forgiving as they portray”. Wendell says his actions were also partially due to a genuine dislike of Mel Gibson.

Tolbert replied that Wendell was “a misguided and deranged person.” Tolbert also said measures are being taken to ensure this type of disruption does not occur again. “From now on, people dressed offensively will not be allowed to enter the theatre.” Kerasotes’ management is in the process of creating new guidelines for preventing people dressed as “evil beings” from gaining entrance to the theatre.


Some have said this movie is pornographic violence posing as religion.

[frylock]

17. preventing people dressed as “evil beings” from gaining entrance..

I guess they can say that now that LOTR has run it's course. Ya think they'll turn away any Dark Lords of The Sith come the final installment of the Star Wars prequel?!

[ithacan]

22. no Bush masks I guess....

or Cheney for that matter.

[muffin_man]

9. Just a thought

What if someone showed up to "Shindlers List" dressed as Hitler? Wonder what reaction that would get.To Christians and Jews Satan is definitely more evil than Hitler.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

15. Hitler gave definite proof he wasn't a fairy tale character. (nt)

[muffin_man]

19. Still

Satan nor Jesus is any less real than Hitler to the people at the theater.

[stopbush]

24. We know Hitler existed, we know what he did.

Outside of the tolerated myths, the same can't be said of Jesus and Satan, can it?

[muffin_man]

25. um..er

The point is not one was real one was not. The point is the perception of the people affected.The people offended by the "devil dude" BELIEVE Christ and Satan are as real as we know Hitler was. So people seeing Shindlers List having someone show up dressed as Hitler at the theater is not any different TO the Christians having someone show up as the devil.You understand this right? It is not relevant to my original post whether Christ is real or not,He is perceived as real to the theater goers.To them Hitler is real and so is Christ.

[eileen_d]

10. Well, that's just evil genius.

Give the devil his due, etc. etc.... so many blasphemous comments, so little time...

[MrSlayer]

11. Hahaha! I've considered doing something along those lines.

Fuck em if they can't take a joke.

[DS1]

13. Was that a 5 dollar coke? What does a 5 dollar coke taste like?

/Tarantino

[Blue-Jay]

14. The only thing better than a good stoning

is being pelted symbolically with Ju-Ju Bees. It states specifically in the scripture: "Let him who is without sin cast the first Ju-Ju Bee".

[Paragon]

16. This story is a PARODY -- but it's still genius.

I wish I'd thought of it. But then I'd have to sit through that piece of shit movie...

[gmoney]

18. The next "Rocky Horror Picture Show"?

People dressing in costume, throwing stuff at the screen and other patrons, making up jokes and puns to shout in unison?

Sorry... bad joke.

But shouldn't someone have just sat down and talked to him to show him the error of his ways, rather than throwing corn-based junk food at him?

[frylock]

20. that cetainly would've been the "christian" thing to do

[Ilsa]

21. They shouldn't have been so upset.

I mean, Satan came to see The Passion. Maybe he would have converted if only they had been nice to him.

Or maybe not. Maybe Satan just would have crunched more popcorn, nuts, and given instructions on pretzel-munching on his cell phone to Shrub for most of the movie.

[ironflange]

23. I got smacked around at Return of the King

People thought I was done up as an Uruk-Hai, but that's how I always look and dress. :( Good thing I'll be getting some sharp DU threads soon.