I’m going to be honest – I’ve gone back and forth on whether
to write this one or not. Mainly because I go back and forth on exactly how I
feel about this topic.
Christian movies. IMDb any of the many Christian movies that
have come out in the last few years, and you’ll quickly see that reactions to
these movies can be quite varied. And by varied, I mean anything from praising
them as “the greatest movie(s) ever” to outright hostility. But unlike the
premise that God’s Not Dead implies,
one of the films I’ll be mentioning a few times over the next few minutes, it’s
not only “evil atheists” that look down on these movies.
Of course, not everyone hates them. I have many friends who
look forward to whenever the newest Christian movie comes out. It gives them a
boost, and they appreciate having their faith affirmed by a movie studio, albeit
usually smaller ones.
But honestly, that’s part of my problem right there. These
movies have a tendency of “preaching to the choir,” only being appreciated by a
Christian audience. Which wouldn’t be such
a bad thing if there wasn’t a massive disconnect between the supposed goals
of Christian movie makers and what their media actually accomplishes.
Christian movies tend to revolve around a central moral premise,
whether it be the power of prayer, the value of apologetics, or the quality of
Christian manhood. But the real goal of these movies appears to be twofold. The
filmmakers want the Christians in their audience to learn something about these
topics. This is normal. Any Christian kid who grew up watching Veggietales or
any of the other 90’s Christian kids TV will know that moral lessons are par
for the course in Christian media. But these newer Christian movies also want
to use the movie to introduce the Gospel to any non-Christians who are
watching.
Perhaps it would be better to say “who happen to be
watching” or “who have been invited by their Christian friends to watch.” I may
be wrong, but most of my non-Christian friends would not actively want to watch one of these movies. You’d
be hard pressed to see them pull up God’s
Not Dead on Netflix, let alone go to a theatre to see the sequel.
But because these movies are “Christian,” every single one
of them (that I’ve seen at any rate) insert a Gospel presentation into their
film like it’s the altar call at the end of a sermon. That way, if you do
invite a non-Christian friend to watch with you, you have a convenient conversation
opener. Take Courageous, for example.
The film’s a few years old now, I know, but bear with me.
Courageous is the
aforementioned movie about Christian manhood. In it, a group of 5 men commit to
working on their fatherly abilities after the Mitchel family loses their daughter.
There’s also stuff about life in gangs and corruption within the police
force. On the whole, it’s a decently
interesting concept, even if it comes across as cheesy and overly Christianized
at times.
Anyways, one of the friends – David Thompson – has a crisis
of conscience halfway through the film. While all his friends talk about
signing this fatherhood resolution, he reveals that he (a single man) is
actually a father too. He got his girlfriend pregnant a few years back, didn’t
want to deal with the consequences, and then bailed on her. But as he hears all
his friends talk about wanting to be better fathers, he starts struggling with
his own failure as a father.
This leads to an emotionally charged Gospel presentation in
which the group’s black friend, Nathan Hayes, shares how not growing up with a
father affected him and how Thompson will still have to stand before God, the
ultimate judge, one day to explain his actions. Hayes corrects Thompson’s
theology when Thompson says he hopes his good will outweigh his bad, and then
after explaining how Jesus was punished in our place on the cross, Thompson
becomes a Christian. And to the movie’s credit, it shows that Thompson really
does change after this, trying to make amends and seek reconciliation with his
ex-girlfriend for the sake of his daughter.
Why do I explain all of this? Because I find the Gospel
presentation here is contrived. I’ll admit, rewatching the scene made me
realize it flows more naturally out of the events of the plot than I originally
thought, but the sequence of dialogue that leads up to the presentation feels
like the filmmakers were forcing the conversation to turn to Jesus. Mix that
with the emotional orchestral music that begins just as Hayes mentions Jesus’
death on the cross and you have a recipe for a perfect conversion moment.
The conversion moment in God’s
Not Dead is even more contrived. Subplots aside, the entire movie builds up
to the big dramatic moment where, after being presented with the evidence, atheist
Professor Radisson must choose whether to continue in his unbelief or return to
his childhood faith.
But all of this is thrown out the window when Radisson is
hit by a car. Thankfully, the movie’s preacher character providentially happens
to be driving by at the moment, meaning he can guide Radisson to faith in a
highly emotionally charged scene (are you noticing a pattern?). But this scene
and the consequences that would follow from it are quickly forgotten as the
movie turns to the triumphant Newsboys concert that ends the film.
What? For a movie that wanted to emphasize the rational
reasoning for God (I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether it succeeded or
not), it seems like a cop out to depend on an emotional appeal to bring about
the final conversion. It lets all the air out of the film’s premise. And the
sad part is that there are so many other ways this could have gone! Radisson
could have had a Jacob moment where he intellectually wrestles with God in his
office and ultimately decides to come to Christ. Or Radisson could have made it
to the concert and had his moment of conversion there.
But no. Radisson becomes a Christian just before dying after
being hit by a car. And the worst part about this is that so many of the
conversion moments in Pure Flix films, the company that produced God’s Not Dead, give the impression that
the only way someone will become a Christian is if they, or someone close to
them, are dying or about to die. Yes, I know that this is when people are their
most vulnerable and most willing to listen to the prodding of the Holy Spirit,
but there are other ways that people come to faith too! Why not show those off?
I guess my question is: Do Christian movies have to include a Gospel presentation?
And if so, do they have to make it a purely emotional experience? Because from
the Christian movies I’ve seen, it appears that the answer is yes, but I’m not
sure that’s always a good thing. While I understand and sympathize with the
desire to include a moment in these films that encourage non-Christian watchers
to follow Jesus, I’m just not sure that a cheesy movie is the most effective
platform from which to do this.
A movie shouldn’t be a sermon. What a sermon is trying to
accomplish is vastly different from what a movie is trying to accomplish. And
that’s true of both classical understandings of storytelling and modern ones.
Nowadays, you’re average Joe on the street expects primarily
one thing from movies, TV, or books – entertainment. It’s the whole idea of art
for art’s sake. That doesn’t mean morals are necessarily excluded from the
project, but it’s not their top priority.
But art for art’s sake is a relative new concept in the
scope of history. For example, Sir Philip Sidney, writing in the 16th
century, adopted the perspective of the ancient Romans and some medieval
theologians (including Augustine) to argue that the purpose of literature is to
move, teach, and delight. The latter two goals contribute to the former.
Literature is not just about delighting readers with good quality writing but
it’s also about teaching and upholding a moral lesson. And when good writing
and moral teaching are combined, a piece of literature will move readers to
live a certain way.
Which is where we come to my next problem with Christian
media. If we consider movies to be the modern equivalent of literature, then
Christian movies have entirely missed the boat. Granted they might not have the
budgets that Disney or 20th Century Fox have, but their lack of
budget does not excuse their poor storytelling abilities and their overdependence
on stereotypes.
Let’s look at the two God’s
Not Dead films for examples. The writing in these movies is just plain
awful at various points, and only about half of the actors have the acting
chops to somewhat salvage the lazy writing. But what I’m more concerned with is
these films’ characterization choices.
One of the biggest complains I’ve seen leveled against these
movies is their negative, stereotypical portrayals of atheists. Radisson (who,
to his credit, I think Kevin Sorbo does a decent job of playing) is not just an
atheist, but he grew up as a Christian and only became an atheist after his
mother died at the age of 12. As a result, Radisson came to hate God.
He’s not the only stereotyped non-Christian though. The
first film portrays a Muslim as an abusive father, sticking to his convictions
and disowning his daughter after he discovers that she has become a follower of
Jesus. The second film portrays atheist parents, lawyers, and school board
members as uncaring idiots who are determined to wipe out the disease that is
Christianity. The latter film in particular makes a point of reminding us of
the growing persecution that Christians are facing in the West and that our
true battle is against powers and principalities, not flesh and blood
(Ephesians 6:12).
Here’s the thing, and please don’t take this the wrong way… There’s
a reason that these movies portray characters and events as they do. There are people out there who match these
stereotypes. And yes, I do think that it’s becoming harder to be a Christian in
our society today, because we are being asked (some would say forced) to keep
quiet about something we believe to be true and vital to living life.
But what these movies so wrongly do is present these
characterizations as the norm. They suggest that anyone who isn’t a Christian
is a heartless, uncaring individual whose sole purpose in life is to wipe out
any trace of Christianity from existence! Granted, these movies are obviously
going to exaggerate and villainize atheism in order to develop tension and
plot. But if these movies are to be learning tools, then these exaggerations
are teaching us wrong attitudes!
I attended a Christian university for my undergraduate
degree. I’m now attending a secular university for my Masters degree. And I’m
ashamed to say that I held some of these exaggerated stereotypes going into my
Masters. I expected all of the professors at my new school to be like the cold
hearted Professor Radisson. And while I have met some people who do match the
Christian movie stereotype of atheists, they are far from the majority. And it
was wrong of me to make that assumption of everyone who doesn’t believe what I
do.
There’s a sad irony to God’s
Not Dead 2 in particular. In this film, Grace Wesley is put on trial
because she compares the words of Jesus to the words and actions of Ghandi in
answer to a student’s question. Specifically, she quotes Matthew 5:43-44: “You
have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I
tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
What bothers me is that we don’t see this played out in the
film. Grace herself regularly seeks God’s strength and guidance through prayer,
but never once does she pray for the prosecutor against her. Never once does
she seek to reconcile with the parents who brought this case to court. Sure,
she doesn’t seem to hate any of them, but I don’t see a lot of loving or
forgiveness going on either. Instead, the movie ends with Grace being acquitted
(shocker) and then everyone chanting that God’s not dead (another shocker)
outside the courthouse. In so doing, the Christians are the ones who start to
appear stuck up, which I can only hope was the complete opposite of what the
filmmakers intended.
I know I’m being critical. There are things that these
movies do well. They can have their quality apologetic moments, and there are
even a few scenes that really hit home with the watcher.
But these are some of the bigger name Christian movies, and
they seem to have missed the point. And I’d argue that this version of
Christian media has the potential to do a lot more harm than good. Their moral
lessons are lost within a sea of emotional Gospel presentations, exaggerated
presentations of non-Christians, and holier-than-thou portrayals of Christians.
There’s already enough of these stereotypes both within modern Christianity and
modern society; we don’t need movies that claim to uphold truth and Christian
values to be perpetuating these stereotypes further…
But I don’t just want to be a critic. Is there an
alternative? Is there well-presented Christian media that’s challenging these
stereotypes while still including moral teaching? Is there a way to get
Gospel-friendly entertainment out there that is enjoyable and desirable for anyone,
whether Christian or not, to watch?
Spoiler alert – I think the answer is yes. But you’ll have
to wait until my next Second Sunday Switch Up to hear my thoughts on that side
of things. Hope to see you then!
~Brentagious
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