Say Yes to Christian Movies?
Okay, so let’s just say that the latest Christian movie spawned a self-help book, and a church that is very near and dear to my heart announced they are going to screen the aforementioned Christian movie for the congregation at a huge launch party for a two-month group-study of the aforementioned Christian movie self-help book. I will admit that I am a hypocrite, because I am being critical of this movie when I have never seen it. I always get on friends for banning books that they deem offensive, when they have never read the book. You can’t be offended by something you have never read. And here I am getting offended by a Christian movie and its self-help book when I have not experienced either.
Hypocrite.
So I need to see this movie, even though my expectations are low. And why, pray tell, are they so low? Well, for one, the movie’s title and tag-line reveal the metaphor that will most likely be ample in the film. There’s no subtle metaphor here … no long shots of nature like you’d find in a Terrence Malick film. What you see on the poster is what you get. For that reason, I fear I’ll find more of the same when I actually view the film.
I feel like I did a fairly coherent job communicating why we should just say no to Christian movies back in October. While I am sure I will revisit this subject as I grow older and maybe wiser, at this time I still feel the same. While I have touched on it, I have not said much about the “self-help” approach to Christianity our churches have embraced in the last half century. Go to your local Christian book store and choose from a variety of books on self-improvement, then go to the church and get a practical, relevant message that will give you some more tips. It’s all connected to the consumerist approach to evangelism many churches have adopted in the last twenty-five years. I talked about that last week.
The latest consumer tie-in, a self-help book created because of a movie, is the perfect storm. A guy I know told me that a lot of good has come from this movie, and I would be the last one to disagree. God moves. But a lot of good has also come from Romeo and Juliet, and for a long time. Most recently, Donald Miller made me love that play in new and brilliant ways in his book Searching for God Knows What, and it wasn’t another self-help plan. I wonder if the latest Christian movie and its book will still be examined four hundred years from now.
But, truthfully, if Romeo and Juliet is the standard by which I rate all works of fiction, then there really isn’t much I can watch. A Romeo and Juliet only comes around once in awhile, and there is a lot of stuff that falls pretty far short that is still very good. And a play, book, or film doesn’t have to be as good as Romeo and Juliet for me to enjoy it. I saw Transformers on opening night, and I was one of the first to buy the DVD. I am not sure Optimus Prime is a tragic hero … unless you are talking about the original Transformers animated film. That was the first time many young boys cried at a movie.
Along the same vein, there is absolutely nothing wrong with family friendly movies. Wall-E was one of the best movies made last year, and one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. I love it more every time I see it. Marley and Me was another surprise. Yes, it was far from a perfect film, and it was quite melodramatic, but I was still touched in a very real way. If a Christian wants to make nothing but family friendly movies that the whole family can go see, there is nothing wrong with that. I was recently exposed to a fantastically well-made and poignant “kid movie” by director Alfonso Cuaron called A Little Princess. Seriously, rent it and Wall-E to watch with your kids.
So less than perfect films and family friendly films are okay. In fact, they’re great. As an aspiring filmmaker, I hope I get the chance to make both. But mediocre films are not okay. I hear this a lot: “The acting was bad and the story was weak, but it had a really good message”. As Madeleine L’Engle said in her book Walking on Water, “If it’s bad art, it’s bad religion, no matter how pious the subject.” If the acting is bad and the story is weak, then it is not a good message.
Of course, “bad” is subjective, and when one movie is better than the next, I see no problem in supporting a filmmaker and challenging him to do better. Let the filmmaker know you appreciate what he is trying to do, but there is room to grow. Let the studio know you’ll go see more movies like this, but they should support and encourage excellence, too. If the movie stinks, you won’t go see it. And then don’t go see it, even if the church bought a block of tickets.
So I guess I need to go see the movie. If I want to be a person of faith who makes movies, then I should probably support and encourage others who want to — and are doing — the same.
But I won’t buy the self-help book. And neither should you. So there.
January 13th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
I’m with you. I can’t pick off the top of my head a Christian movie (other than Passion of the Christ or Narnia) that didn’t feel amateur and corny. Doesn’t matter if the message is good. The movie is god-awful. I don’t know what the problem is - lack of money probably for one. Lack of big name talent willing to appear in such a film is probably two.
And as for examining our period in history centuries from now, it will be deemed one of the most self-centered, theologically ignorant generations of all.
February 6th, 2009 at 12:05 am
[...] you should say “no” to Christian film, and a few thoughts on why you should say “yes” to Christian film. In that light, I realize what follows will probably be somewhat [...]