When I began writing my review for the new movie Gimme Shelter I started thinking about Christian films and how they approach hard issues. How they balance realism and family friendly entertainment. Quite a while ago a film stirred up quite a lot of controversy in Christian circles and secular circles alike. It was one of the most popular movies of 2004 and a 2006 article in Entertainment Weekly named it the most controversial movie of all time. The movie was The Passion of The Christ. The Catholicism split some Protestants. The violence split everyone. Some saw it as a tragic, powerful interpretation of Jesus’ sacrifice. Others saw it as “a two hour and six minute snuff movie – The Jesus Chainsaw Massacre.”[i]Regardless of what I think (I like it) or even what you think (sound off in comments) neither of us can deny the powerful affect it had on the world. The Passion of The Christ was an extreme precursor to the modern Christian Film movement. Thanks to this and Sherwood Pictures, Christian films has had a surge of popularity and support. This has caused Hollywood some frustration as no one welcomes competition, especially when the competition has a worldview that you reject. This has also caused many questions and debate among Christians: Should Christians be involved in Hollywood? How much realism (read, potentially offensive content) can Christians include in their movies?
Amazing Grace, Facing the Giants, and
Fireproof were three films that were released after The Passion and all were
good to great. But one difference showed through: The Passion and Amazing Grace
were both technically Hollywood movies and while the quality was outstanding
more than a few Christians could see problems with content. Facing the Giants
and Fireproof were explicitly Christian movies and suffered from poor quality.
All four were very successful. In 2010 a movie was released that was generally
ignored by critics but caused shock waves in Christian circles: To Save a Life.
To Save a Life was written by a youth pastor in California and was one of the
first, if not the first, Christian movie that takes a true, gritty look at the
world the way it is. It addressed and showed hard and controversial topics like
teen depression, suicide, school shootings, teen drinking, teen sex, cutting,
and cussing. This was the first implication of what Christian movies could be:
hard hitting drama with a positive message that actually reaches the masses. I
can’t deny that movies like Facing the Giants, Fireproof, and Courageous are
relevant and have helped many people. But, and that But is what motivate me to
make films, I also feel like they look at the world through rose colored
glasses. That they tend to preach to the choir and alienate secular crowds by
making Christianity look like an easy answer to life’s problems. That once you
become a Christian, you have all the answers. Now while many people disagree with
me, I think we can all agree that not many Christian films take an honest look
at the hard problems of being a teenager in today’s world the way that To Save a
Life did. Now teenage pregnancy is an increasingly popular subject in secular
Hollywood and Christian Media. Hollywood has preferred to address this very
serious issue in a comedic way with titles like Knocked Up and Juno. Christian
Media has addressed it in movies like Come What May, Sophie's Choice, and
October Baby. Hollywood apparently likes to laugh about this subject. Christian
movies seem to be uncomfortable looking directly into the people faced with
this choice and seem to skim quickly over it or have visions make the decision
easy (Sophie's Choice) But now we have Gimme Shelter and what Gimme Shelter
presents as a production I find extremely hopeful. We have a Hollywood
production, professional actors, a Christian message, and realism that
restrains from being offensive. 2014 is a year when we have Gimme Shelter, Son
of God, Noah, and Exodus all being released. Never before has Hollywood and
secular society been this accepting of Christian media and never before has
Christian media had this chance to be so relevant. But if we want to make a
difference and be relevant, Christians cannot shift away from the hard issues
and tough topics. Like the home in Gimme Shelter we have to be a shelter to the
broken and questioning people: welcoming, warm, and most importantly…real.
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