I’ve been a little lax on the blogging this past week, but it’s not for lack of stuff to talk about. (Heh…anytime I’ve been online, I’ve been more busy dealing with the fallout from another recent post. Turns out there’s a road trip happening! More on that another time…) Anyway, it was a busy weekend, celebrating my mom’s birthday and a late Father’s day on Friday, a marching band festival for my brother-in-law on Saturday, and babysitting my baby sister-in-law on Sunday while another band festival took place. All good times, but that’s not what’s on my mind today.
I ran across a quote in today’s Focus on the Family “Plugged In!” weekly e-newsletter. Check it out:
“What we’re learning is that Hollywood has decided that what evangelicals want is simple, light-hearted, inoffensive family-friendly fare. Granted, that is better than a lot of what Hollywood produces, but it certainly does not deliver deeper meaning like C.S. Lewis [and] J.R.R. Tolkien did. … Hollywood does extensive market research, and what [those people] are finding in today’s Christians is not an appetite for the culturally-rich heritage of Bach, Dostoevsky and Rembrandt. They’re finding that today’s Christians want something slightly more robust than VeggieTales, but way less demanding than A Man for All Seasons. In short, they will deliver Hollywood-lite for consumers weaned on Christianity-lite and view it as a win-win. Hollywood makes money, Christians are inoffensively entertained, and everybody will say of Evan Almighty, ‘It was cute.’ That is part of the problem: God is not just ‘cute,’ nor is the overall message of Noah a silly comedic one.” — Christian culture commentator Dick Staub
For those who want his full post on the subject, it’s located here.
Now, clearly he raises an excellent point. While I have not seen Evan Almighty, its widespread acceptance by people and organizations that I trust lead me to believe that there isn’t anything inherently wrong with it. However, anyone who has seen the trailers (and likely the film) will probably agree with me (and Mr. Staub) that it’s no Les Miserables. Now, I’d rather Hollywood make more films like Evan Almighty than Hostel, but why shouldn’t we be clamoring for films that are not merely “inoffensive,” but have some more meat to them? If Hollywood is convinced that evangelicals want to be “inoffensively entertained,” how do they explain away the success of The Passion of the Christ–one of the most gory, violent, un-family-friendly films of all time?
The intersection of Hollywood-lite and Christianity-lite is one where the lights never turn green, and it is quite similar to many others that have kept Christians from moving forward in the past. Walk through your local Christian bookstore or gift shop and you’ll see lots of evidence of Christians still stuck at that conjunction of cultural and spiritual mediocrity–shirts that parody popular mainstream logos with Christian messages, “Bible” versions of common household board games, and even TestaMints, for when you want to rescue someone’s breath and their eternal soul.
For years, it was music that frequently couldn’t hold a candle to the quality and creativity of artists in the secular mainstream. Obviously, there were some exceptions. Fortunately, we have moved beyond that and now Christian music is as good as (and sometimes better than) its non-Christian counterparts. (There are still exceptions here, too! 
) Despite our mandate from the Lord to be excellent in all that we do, Christians still carry on an incredible struggle to produce reputable films of quality, and while there have been some good strides lately, Christian movies are still considered to be sub-par, and with good reason.
So, all that to say, I can certainly understand how films like Evan Almighty are so readily embraced and cause so much excitement. Mainstream creation, mainstream quality with original source material straight out of the Bible, but with a family-friendly message and fun, inoffensive context to get there…what’s not to like? Like Mr. Staub, I reiterate, though, that as Christians, we ought to be aiming higher, and not let Hollywood think this is the answer to “satisfying” us.
Culturally-savvy, Bible-believing Christians (who, I recognize, are a small slice of the wide swath of Americans who would call themselves “Christians”) should be looking for truth and for excellence. Quality entertainment doesn’t have to be overtly “Christian” to be acceptable. God doesn’t have to be a character, nor does the plot have to hearken back to anything that happened in the Bible. Playing off of one of Mr. Staub’s examples, J.R.R. Tolkien’s books are full of the kinds of themes and values that are contained in the Bible and reflected in this world, even without ever directly referencing God; they are true. His books are also some of the most well-written pieces of literature to ever come out of the twentieth century; they are excellent.
In these ways, doors are opened for intelligent discussion and debate with non-believers. I’m not indicating that Tolkien wrote his books to be some sort of insidious back door to conning people into faith in Jesus or that we should use them in that way. But as they are true and excellent, they are examples to us of how to live out our faith in the world as salt and light, being in the world but not of it, and being creative and excellent. By following the example of Jesus and connecting with people where they are, we will be more effective in carrying out His call on our lives than by creating subcultural bubbles and expecting the world to come find us when they’re ready. As decent a movie as Facing the Giants was, I guarantee you more people have seen or read Lord of the Rings–and come away with a more positive experience of it than they did with the other, slightly more heavy-handed film.
So…I think movies like Evan Almighty are a good step. Hollywood knows that positive, family-friendly content will sell. But let’s not stop there, settling merely for “inoffensive,” “safe,” and “family-friendly.” (Remember, a lot of stuff in the Bible isn’t exactly “family-friendly” as we consider the term today.) Let’s make sure to support quality films that are well-made, and that might also offer more to chew on, both for our own edification and for intelligent discussion with others. We should ask for entertainment that isn’t just Hollywood-lite or Christianity-lite, but that will nourish us mentally, culturally, and spiritually and help us (and our faith) to be more relevant to those around us.
After all, it shouldn’t be about “safe.” As C.S. Lewis pointed out, “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe! But he’s good. He’s the king, I tell you.” We’re not serving a tame lion. We’re out to glorify the God of Heaven in all that we do–and in all that we take in. We’re also here to point people to Him, and I’d rather point people to a God who is represented in good art–even indirectly via some presentation of what He stands for–in all its truth and depth than the kind that puts on a white suit and tells Steve Carell to get all hairy and make poop jokes.
Good stuff as always, Aaron. And Preach it, Staub! This is an issue that is near and dear to my heart, as you have probably read, and you have articulated it so clearly. There is nothing more offensive than inoffensive Christian art. Of course it shouldn’t be safe! Why should it be? Could it be that we have taken a passage like Philippians 4:8 to mean something that it was never meant to say? “Whatever is pure, whatever is lovely . . . if there is any excellence . . . think about these things.” Have we taken passages like this to mean, “If anything is ‘nice,’ think about such things?”
Are we to just lie back and let Hollywood and Broadway have all the good art?
And no, Tolkien wasn’t trying to write allegory. His Christian worldview so penetrated his work that it couldn’t help containing parable and imagery. So very cool! If only there were more Tolkiens and Lewises in the world today…
I haven’t seen Evan (so if it was actually good, that’s nice – I’ve heard conflicting reviews), but the Noah story wasn’t exactly G-rated entertainment. It was downright depressing in places. We’ve cleaned it up a lot, even for Sunday School flannelgraphs.
I think it was John Fischer who said that wanting “good, clean fun” as our highest goal in the arts and culture was – at best – simply making the world safe for Mormons. I’ve seen wonderful, G-rated, family friendly movies based on Shinto that would get an otherwise positive rating if that’s all we want.
If all we want is safe, that’s what we’ll be marketed – and we are being marketed heavily ever since The Passion and 2004 Election. I was in the (closing) Har Mar Christian bookstore and saw soundtracks to Charlotte’s Web and High School Musicial in there. What it has to do with the gospel and following Christ, I have no idea. I’m guessing it has a lot more to do with “safe” entertainment. As Christians, I would hope our answer is not to simply create art or media that fits in to the world’s schedule of flashy ads, marketing, and getting the film in and out of the theather in time for the next act — while doing the same thing 6 months later for the DVD release.
We can do more than just compete for the best poop jokes. Nice post!
God’s gifted you to step back and see clearly where most others dive innocently (or naively) right in. Thanks for this latest example of God’s grace in you in helping others to see more clearly.
Amy and I just got back from a youth conference. While there, they had everyone who was a musician stand up and almost the entire room of about 1,500 youth stood up – easily 90%. The theme of the conference was wholehearted pursuit of Jesus and it dawned on me as I looked at the crowd that this is a work that God is doing. He is raising up such a multitude of gifted musicians who will seek Him and put His heart and words into their music (because they are in their hearts) that it will result in either a cultural revolution or a cultural rift. Others see this coming, too. There’s even a gathering this July 7th of 100,000 in Nashville for a day of prayer and fasting, asking God for this cultural shift.
It’s awesome that hints of this are already coming, and I don’t think anyone has yet conceived of how far it will go.
Obviously Hollywood would classify Passion of the Christ and Evan Almighty under the “Christian” genre, but where the two differ is their relevance: Passion was released amongst high volume debate and controversy where as Evan was just another family-freindly summer blockbuster. The story of Jesus wil always be controversial in our world because the truth always wins over tolerance.
Now on the other hand, if movie-goers actually understood the context of the original “Evan Almighty” – Noah – there would be ore uproar over this film than Passion. Why? Becuase historians have found that the one other time in our palnet’s cultural past where open sexual orientation (i.e. homosexuality) was widely accepted and allowed in society was the time of Noah. THAT is what the people were doing that was so sinful, God decided to wipe the slate clean and start over. Of course, he promised never to do that again (hence the rainbow that gays have shamefully stolen as thier own), but looking at where our country stands on the issue, what’s so far-fetched about him advising another ark to be built?