The editing. The music. The script. The pacing. The cheesy wordless montages. It was all there. But the worst part was, as Christina and I discussed after finishing the film, the characters were like cardboard cutouts rather than real people.
It tried to do what other Christian movies have failed to do. It tried to present non-Christians in a positive light and some Christians in a negative light. But this was done with such extreme, broad strokes that it was caricature from the outset.
It also tried to be a movie that, according to the behind the scenes featurette that we, of course, watched, "dealt with the issues". And because this is a Christian movie, those issues were abortion, homosexuality, skepticism, and for one or two scenes, stem-cell research.
It troubles me that this is the best Christians can come up with, because I know it's not true. The fact is that there are Christians making movies, and making good movies, but they choose not to put the Christian stamp of approval on it, and I don't blame them. Placing a Christian label on your film puts you in league with "Hidden Secrets", "Left Behind" and "The Omega Code". I wouldn't want that for my film.
What about you? Have you seen a "Christian" film that was done well? How have you seen Christianity portrayed in film?
I've seen plenty of Christian films done well: Amen. Mission. Shawshank Redemption. Green Mile. Romero. Dead Man Walking. The problem is that Christians have trouble recognizing those films as "Christian." Then again I do own a copy of Second Chance due to the Mettlers. So maybe I shouldn't talk.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I made sense, I had just had a whiskey. I think those films, or at least some of them, have a pretty obvious Christian stamp on them, we just tend to not recognize them as such. Which may be a good thing.
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