The Pilgrim’s Protest

The Pilgrim’s Protest asked the members of the college faculty to turn in a list of their 5 favorite books and 5 favorite movies. My list of books demands little explanation, mostly theological and exegetical tomes, the kind of books a Bible professor is expected to enjoy. My list of movies cries out for further clarification. My favorite movies are anything but thought-provoking. They are: The Princess Bride; What about Bob?; Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark; Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade; and Napoleon Dynamite.

When I attempt to explain my viewpoint on movies to people here on campus, I sense that I am more irritating than convincing. I really do not enjoy being a lone Philistine on campus, but I will try to explain myself anyway as plainly as I can. I believe that movies should be entertaining—first, foremost, and finally. Movies that try to make people think are just bad movies. Movies are a totally inadequate medium for producing deep thought. They leave no time for it, that is, for the kind of serious thinking that calls for room to ponder. They are too mesmerizing; they overpower us with sight and sound and rapidly changing images. They are too individualizing. People sit in silence facing the screen, oblivious to the person next to them. Nothing is more annoying than someone who keeps talking to you during a movie. Yet good thinking generally takes place within relationships and conversations. Good thinking can also take place when you are alone. Solitude and conversation both force you to own your ideas. Solitude forces you to discover and contemplate your own thoughts, while conversation forces you to articulate and defend your own thoughts. Movies blast you and impose their ideas on your mind. If you really want to think, read a book, take a class in medieval philosophy, go on a backpacking trip by yourself, call up your grandfather and ask him about the meaning of life. Don’t rent a DVD.

Serious movies that deal with important life issues are manipulative and propagandistic. I don’t believe there is any way around this problem, given the way that movies overpower our senses and minds. The only serious movies that are respected in our society are those that promote values and viewpoints already held by media elites. Million Dollar Baby and Brokeback Mountain come to mind as movies that were taken seriously even though they were transparently manipulative. I don’t go to movies like that, because I just find it impossible to enjoy watching propaganda.

Movie-making is the wrong medium for communicating the Christian message because the gospel demands serious reflection. I honestly do not think there will ever be such a thing as a good Christian movie, just like I do not think that there will ever be a good Christian roller coaster or a good Christian football game or a good Christian game show. The medium is just inadequate for conveying the Christian message. The gospel calls on people to think deeply about God and their view of reality. It asks them to search the depth of their soul. It asks them to ponder the grace of a God and the incarnation of his Son. These are heady topics that do not fit well in a blockbuster. The only way to put the Christian message into a movie is to dumb it down, and the movie comes off as trite. That does not mean that I think Christians should avoid working in Hollywood or should avoid producing movies. Christians should work in the movie industry, just like they do in education, medicine, business, sports, and roller coaster design. However, they should try to make good movies, which means making movies that are entertaining, exciting, funny, heart-warming, inspiring, romantic, or clever. Just away from subjects that demand depth of thought.

One day in Greek class, somewhere between irregular verbs and uses of the participle, we began to discuss movies. One objection from the class to my viewpoint was: “Well maybe that is how people in your generation think, but it is different for our generation.” Ouch! Actually, I did not come up with this opinion from listening to someone in my generation, but from reading Pascal, a Christian apologist who lived in the 17 th century. Pascal saw clearly that people avoided boredom at all cost, because when we are in solitude we begin to think deeply about the human condition, not only about our great dignity but also about our misery and broken condition. People seek out amusements and distractions in order to suppress the misery of their souls and their desperate need for a Savior. My argument is that the movie industry falls on the side of providing distractions rather than on the side of providing solitude for thought on the human condition.

So am I saying that a good Christian movie is an impossibility? Well, yes. I can only think of a couple of possible, yet qualified, exceptions. It might be possible to make a decent movie of a good Christian book ( e.g. Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings). The movie might pass as a good movie, just because people know and love the book. Another possible exception is a movie that portrays historical events surrounding a Christian life ( e.g. To End All Wars, The Mission, Luther, Amazing Grace). The movie might be able to avoid being trite if people actually know the historical story itself. Ironically, if believers really want to produce decent Christian movies they would be better off writing good books and living Christ-like lives.

Here are my qualifications. First, even in the case of these two possible exceptions,
I have observed that people who have not read the book or know little about the historical events find such movies confusing and they focus on the parts of the movie that are most exciting and entertaining ( i.e. the parts that require little thought). Second, such movies are good only to the extent that they remain true to the book or to the historical facts, since it is the book or the events themselves that are thought-provoking rather than the actual movie. This qualification becomes obvious when the movie strays from the real story. The badly botched ending to the third Lord of the Rings movie is an obvious example. The problem is that movies by their very nature seem to demand that producers fiddle with the story and thus mess it up in some way. Third, you do not need to be a Christian to produce such a movie. A non-Christian who can recognize a good story can do the job just as well.

So am I saying that movies are evil, a sin to be avoided by Christians? No, of course not, but they are what they are, a form of entertainment. I am happy to accept that entertainment is an enjoyable part of the balance of life. My advice is not to refrain from movies. My advice for Christians is to lighten up. Stop taking movies so seriously. When you go to the movie theater, you should laugh or cry; you should sit on the edge of your seat and enjoy the ride. Then after your short break for entertainment, get back to working hard at the important business of life.