The Cross and the Cinema

Raise your hand if you think that Christian movies are lame. Okay, too many hands to count, but not surprising given the number of people who fundamentally disagree with the underlying premise and message.

Now please raise your hand if you'd call yourself a devout Christian and think that Christian movies are lame.

Wow, still a surprising number of hands.

A little more than month ago, Salon.com columnist Andrew O'Hehir wrote an article titled, "Why are Christian movies so awful?" which basically wonder aloud why - notwithstanding the message - the actual production values of these Christian films, including acting, writing, directing, cinematography, soundtrack scoring and editing are so sub-par. He uses the recently released and deceased movie "Soul Surfer" as the foil, and goes on to lambast the performances of the cast.

But what really gets O'Hehir's goat is the formulaic plot and how these Christian movies are utterly (and unnecessarily irrelevant) to non-Christians, and dull and inspiring for even the fervent believers who really want to like the film. He writes:

If evangelical Christians want to see their life and faith and values reflected on-screen, I guess that's understandable. But movies are not mirrors, and the mass audiences that went to see "The King's Speech" or "Black Swan" or "The Social Network" didn't necessarily identify with the characters or their lifestyles...

At the risk of offending many people in many different directions, Christian cinema reminds me of gay cinema. If, that is, gay cinema were permanently stuck in 1986, with a self-ghettoizing mandate to present positive role models for youth and tell an anodyne but uplifting story that sends a message of hope.

I think he's on to something here, and I respond on a couple of fronts. He talks somewhat rhetorically "if evangelical Christians want to see their life and faith and values reflected on-screen" - and the answer from me is "Darn right I do." I get that people don't go to movies to watch mirrors of their own life. But the reality is that nobody can deny the influence of media upon behavior. While not universally the case, much of television and movie watching is subtly educational and aspirational. We watch movies like "Rocky" and "The Karate Kid" because we want to relate and replicate great courage in our life while getting entertained. We watch shows like "Growing Pains", "Family Ties" and "Parenthood" because we can see what to do (and not do) when it comes to raising our children while getting entertained.

Where do Christian adults nowadays get that? Two and a Half-Men? Modern Family? Family Guy? How I Met Your Mother? Please. The options for spiritually edifying, or at least not borderline offensive entertainment are so few and far between, there still exists a need for these "mirrors". I'm not crazy about the fact that the production values are sub-par, but it's not because an oversupply has stretched quality too thin. Christian adults want to see an entertaining role-play of what good character and faith looks like. Unfortunately, there aren't tons of good material out there.

But another thing O'Hehir implies is that people are happy to go to a film which does not mirror their life or lifestyles at all, provided that fundamentally there's a good story to tell. That's probably a good word for Christian filmmakers. I'm not sure if there's a fundamental marketing challenge here such as:

Christian Film Marketer: Bob, as we plan to send out these movie packets to churches, I'm thinking you're too light on emphasizing the character's Christian faith. I think you need a gratuitous scene where he's kneeling at his bed... and make sure he closes with "in the sweet and magnificent Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior." Oh, and there's at least five times where you can preface his lines with: "The Lord is telling me that..."

Christian Film Director: I don't know, it seems pretty contrived. I mean, it's clear that this is a man of faith. There's a scene of him walking out of church and he tells his friend about how God is His strength...

Christian Film Marketer: Yeah, speaking of which, we want you to change the "God is my strength" to explicitly Philippians 4:13. And don't forget to have him say the book, chapter and verse. Oh yes, and in that scene that he's opening the glove compartment to look for his registration? Let's keep a copy of "My Utmost for His Highest" in there and make sure you zoom in on that...

Christian Film Director: Wait... how many people that we know actually do these things?

Christian Film Marketer: Oh, another thing. You need to get "damn" and "crap" out of the movie. Christians don't say those kind of things - or at least according to the Southern Baptist Convention who is sponsoring our social media marketing, they don't.

My point being, I wonder if Christian filmmakers are terrified of toeing the line of trying to be wholesome enough for Christian audiences but authentic enough for non-Christian ones. Maybe it's me, but is part of the problem that the compass just way off? As a Christian filmgoer, I will outright plead for Christian filmmakers to please, please push the level of authenticity in your films. In fact, I would argue the best films which contain Christian themes are not "Christian films". Aside from "The Passion of the Christ", the films which to me speak most to Christian discipleship and growth are ones such as "The Karate Kid" (discipleship), "Glory" (servant leadership) and "Chariots of Fire" (conviction and faith in action). None of those are "Christian films" per se.

One could counter that it'd doubtful that movies such as "The Karate Kid" and "Chariots of Fire" aren't explicit enough in it's Christian themes to "convert" people. Maybe, but it's not as if I've heard of mass conversions coming out of screenings of "Fireproof" and "Left Behind" either.

At the end of the day, I wish the Christian brothers and sisters who labor in the medium well. Their intentions are good, and it's clear that they're doing the best that they can. Maybe the bigger challenge and hope is finding the most talented Christian filmmakers and actors to devote their time on a project which will be both excellent, beautiful and redemptive in articulating the Christian gospel. Lest the pot call the kettle black, it's not as if all the talented Christian businesspeople are running to take a 75% paycut to work for Christian organizations or the church. But that's a story for another blog post.