US reaction to Passion reviews

Veteran TV curmudgeon Andy Rooney stirred American viewers’ passions when he received 30,000 responses to a commentary in which he called The Passion Of The Christ film-maker Mel Gibson a “wacko”.

It was the biggest viewer response to a segment on the CBS news magazine 60 Minutes, which has been on the air since 1968.

“I think the mail was a good indication of how bitterly divided our country is right now,” Rooney, 85, said on yesterday’s show. “I hope I’m not contributing to that – even though I’m right and everyone else is wrong.”