Christian Film - Cheese-us or Jesus?

Since the beginning of film itself, there have been Christian filmmakers who have attempted to tell stories that represent the Gospel or tell the story of Jesus or relay some sort of spiritual theme through the medium known as film. Sometimes, these efforts are successful. Most of the time... they are not. What makes Christian film subject to lower quality than the rest of the filmmaking world? I thought I'd explore that in this blog post.

If you're a Christian (I am), then I'm sure you've probably seen your fair share of cheesy Christian movies. You know, the stuff they play on Saturday nights on the Trinity Broadcasting network, or a DVD your old pastor insisted you watch because it was 'such an anointed movie' or something like that. Everyone saw 'Left Behind.' Thanks to it, though, everyone's knowledge of the Book of Revelation and the End Times goes only as far as Kirk Cameron explored in what was, generally, a cheesy movie. There's movies like 'The Perfect Stranger' where a very gay-looking Jesus-in-disguise talks to people and convinces them to become Christians. The list goes on. 'The Omega Code' is another End Times one, 'September Dawn' tries to show how evil Mormons are to Christians, 'C Me Dance' was... I'm not even sure. It had a ballet dancer with cancer trying to fight off Satan in the form of a black man with a trench coat. You can't make this stuff up. Or, if you're a Christian filmmaker, apparently you can.

Then you think of other 'Christian' movies that... are a lot better. 'The Blind Side' had an overtly Christian message, but was nominated for an Academy Award - Sandra Bullock went on to win Best Actress for her portrayal in that movie. You have 'The Book of Eli' which had awesome fight scenes and Denzel Washington as the protagonist. You had 'The Chronicles of Narnia' which could rival Lord of the Rings on level of epicness, but has a story the whole family can appreciate. Why do these 'Christian' films work better than others?

The Great Commission.

The fact is the good Christian movies I've listed above are all cases of Christians, in Hollywood, creating something, and putting it out into the world. 'The Blind Side,' 'The Book of Eli,' 'Narnia,' even 'The Passion of the Christ' were all produced out of Hollywood, and they're all very good... masterpieces compared to other Christian movies.

When you look at the bad Christian movies, though, what do you see? Christians afraid of the world, focusing on themselves and other people who are... already Christians. They only allow other Christians to work with them, they only allow Christians to act in their movies, and they make these Christian movies for other Christians to be released under a Christian studio. See the problem?

We need filmmakers willing to do what Jesus said and actually go out into the world, instead of sitting where we are, and expecting great things to happen. 'The Book of Eli' used the 'F word' five times. There was a lot of violence. It deserved it's R rating. But you know what? It was infinity more effective in conveying a deep Christian message than... any other 'Christian film' I've ever seen. Here's a man (Washington's Character) literally traveling the world to spread the Gospel, and, literally, fighting for the Word, despite the suffering he's going through. Now, what was 'C Me Dance' about again?

The fact of the matter is that Christians need to stop fearing the world. They need to stop fearing the idea of talking to someone other than other Christians. Who are we supposed to be reaching out to? Who is the 'target audience' of Christian film? Why do Christian films... have to suck so bad?

I think we need more creative Christians going into Hollywood, creating epic stories and awesome characters that can be brought to life by the ability and skill of others - not even necessarily Christians. The Gospel will be spread with the help of God, no matter if the guy who held the microphone was a Christian or not. We need more willing and brave Christian writers and directors to make amazing stories with Christian themes and ideas to pitch to Hollywood that can make it into theaters and disband the lie that 'All Christian movies have to suck.' That is certainly not the case.

Christian music went through a revolution from Hymns and Lofty worship to legitimate rock and hip-hop. Why can't Christian film? I believe it can. We just have to try.

-Matt