Film has become an essential arena for theological discussion in today’s culture. Faith and its trials and triumphs make good stories, and Hollywood has always recognized a good story and told it creatively, from The Ten Commandments to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Of course, economic factors also contribute to the prominence of religious subjects in movies now. Thanks to the success of The Passion of the Christ, the spending power of the Christian market has registered at the box office. The gospel of dollars, cultural preoccupation with faith issues, and the dictates of creativity all combine now to form a golden moment for filmmaking about spiritual subjects.
Big Hollywood companies are buying in, raising the stakes and multiplying the titles. The Nativity Story, about the birth of Jesus, is scheduled for wide release Dec. 1. It comes from a secular studio, New Line Cinema, known for the Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy. But the themes and treatments go way beyond the traditional, beyond the serious, beyond Christianity. One Night with the King, is a biblical epic about the life of the Jewish queen Esther, opens Oct. 13. Conversations With God: The Movie, based on the best-selling books by Neale Donald Walsch and opening Oct. 27, aims at a “spiritual but not religious” audience. Evan Almighty, a sequel to the 2003 comedy Bruce Almighty, is due out in 2007; Morgan Freeman again portrays God. Jesus Camp, a controversial documentary now in limited release, offers a look inside a charismatic Christian camp for children.
Movie marketers are borrowing pages from the playbook of The Passion of the Christ, appealing to congregations, offering advance screenings, building buzz among targeted faith communities in advance of a film’s opening.Some conservative Christians have historically been reluctant to engage popular culture and have been suspicious of entertainment, though that stance is changing for many. How do congregations in your area regard the current products of Hollywood?
1 comment:
With all the good economic news, the Democrats had to play this card, and they did so too early, in my opinion.
Post a Comment