For decades, Christians have had their own music industry to keep them safe from the outside world. But what about movies? The Christian movie industry exists, but nobody really watches it (besides the folks who just watch TBN).
Recently, though, the Christian film industry has been in the news making themselves look stupid to the rest of the world. Here's my take:
Christian Movies For Adults?An upcoming Christian movie with the usual feel-good sports drama plot, Facing The Giants, has recieved a PG rating. I guess that wouldn't be too bad if somebody swore or there was blood, but the MPAA says it's rated PG because it contains "Religious Content". Scary stuff.
To be completely honest, I agree with the MPAA representative's view:
Any strong or mature discussion of any subject matter results in at least a PG rating. This movie had a mature discussion about pregnancy, for example. It also had other mature discussions that some parents might want to be aware of before taking their kids to see this movie
Hey, Remember the Titans and Hometown Legend were also rated PG. Who wants to see a G-rated movie unless it's a Pixar film anyways?
Non-Christian Movies for Christians?Apparently many people don't like Christian films. Or, at least, they don't seem to be satisfied with watching only Christian films. So what to do? I know! Let's take the parts of the message that we don't like clear out of the film!
There are many companies doing this for a couple years now, especially JfH's favorite, CleanFilms. But according to a judge's ruling, they now break the law. I know it's about time. Here's what the people who make art such as movies have to say:
These films carry our name and reflect our reputations. So we have great passion about protecting our work ... against unauthorized editing. ... Audiences can now be assured that the films they buy or rent are the vision of the filmmakers who made them and not the arbitrary choices of a third-party editor.
I know I wouldn't like taking the non-Christian parts of a movie out if I were a director. Heck, Peter Jackson did that to The Lord of the Rings and we didn't like it that much either. I mean, what's the use of watching a love story like Titanic if there isn't the naked scene? It might not be the right thing to do, but it is a minor point of the movie and one that the artisans of the film intended. Is the rave/sex scene in The Matrix Reloaded there for no reason? No, its point is that real humanity lives on in Zion.
Hey, I got another idea! Maybe if I took all the preaching out of Left Behind: The Movie it would be enticing entertainment? Oh wait, nevermind. Kirk Cameron isn't even good enough to save a horribly low-budget movie.