May 10 2008
Films You Can Believe In
There is an interesting article in the latest issue of MovieMaker magazine (Spring 2008) by faith-based media consultant Tom Allen about the status of the faith-based film movement in Hollywood. “Mass Media: The Faith-Based Film Movement Takes on Hollywood,” argues that independent moviemakers are starting to get in on the action that had previously been the domain of the big studios, namely, films tailored for the Christian market. Ever since the success of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ the so-called Christian market that had withered since the days of A Man for All Seasons (1966) and the 1973 musicals Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell, has been revived with some studios, such as 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, and the Weinstein Group, forming separate divisions to produce and distribute faith films.
Fox described its faith division as “Films you can believe in.” Apparently, however, not many people have believed in the films, and some of the newly-created divisions are already on the ropes. The problem as Allen sees it is as follows:
What the Fox, Lionsgate and Weinstein deals all have in common—and perhaps what’s impeding their success—is that they have all teamed up exclusively with Protestant/Evangelical distribution units and are all focusing exclusively on developing Protestant/Evangelical content. There isn’t a Catholic company or title in the mix ….
Moreover, according to Allen, the companies have been unable to produce a film that integrates the three key demographics: Evangelical, Catholic, and African-American Christian.
The real problem as I see it, is that American Christianity is far more nuanced and diverse than three neat little categories (to be fair, Allen does mention Mormons as another category but states that they have their own production and distribution arm that is essentially closed to non-Mormons). I, for example, would not classify myself in any of the three (or four) categories the movie industry wants to divide the market into. What I want—and will pay to go see—is a good story, high production values, and not to have someone else’s theology imposed on me. Probably the best “faith-based” films are the ones that do not proselytize and allow me to search for and locate the theological message on my own. That’s a film I can believe in.
So the question I throw out is, what’s your best or favorite example of a faith-based film?
not so much in the films but Star Trek television series often had religious themes. My favorite was the episode where the “God” of a particular planet was causing all sorts of trouble and ready to destroy it, Kirk and the rest of the crew when it turned out “God” was a little kid whose parents had given him the planet as a play thing. When he’s told to finish playing for the day, you hear the “Aw, Mom!” cry whens kids have to stop playing.