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Lately, the common sentiment from my family and friends has been that our world just seems upside down lately. What was once good is now called evil, and what was once evil is now applauded as good.
I saw a trailer today that makes me feel like Hollywood is trending opposite which I find pretty interesting. In the early days of motion pictures, Hollywood held much respect for the Bible and Christians. Biblical based movies were made, often in epic scope. People had high moral standards of what was acceptable to be shown on film and tv. The example that comes to mind was shows like I Love Lucy where a married couple couldn't even be seen sleeping in the same bed together. Obviously much as changed. My first experience of seeing Hollywood trend anti-Christian was the praise given to Last Temptation of Christ which is the first time I saw a move to boycott a film for being so religiously offensive.
It only got worse from there with movies that rarely touched on faith. And if religion was seen in a movie,it was usually a Catholic priest having doubt. But things started to change with "The Passion of the Christ". That movie shook Hollywood and showed that a Christian movie can make big bucks. We live in an era where more people are turning away from Christ according to the polls yet we are seeing more faith based movies than ever before. But most are on an independent level with B level Hollywood actors and laughed off by the critics.
Hollywood seems to be trying though. Attempts to bring back the biblical epics were made last year with movies about Noah and Moses. And now I am seeing a faith based movie produced by a major film company and starring some pretty big Hollywood names like Kate Mara. This is great, but why would Hollywood be willing to take such risks now if so many people are truly leaving the Christian faith? Maybe that isn't the reality at all.
Maybe the window of influence from dominate liberal opposition against Christian has waned in these days ........ See Hollywood is on the decline and it has become almost broke , just like the music industry , as internet give away the whole industry almost free as DVD and CD are gone to less than half the sales and cut the business in half ............... Majors films in the future will be gone , Like look at Rock and Roll is gone today to just a few groups in their 70s ...........Christian music may be feeling the pinch today as new songwriters and performers cannot get a job because investors in the recording industry are saying no.
How many christians went to see the movie Behind the Mask?
And as for the christian music industry, what they call christian music today is a far cry from the 1980s and 1990s. I find very little uplifting in today's christian radio selection when the songs all have similar melodies and the majority of lyrics are about how we are so bad, evil, and a great disappointment to god-n-the-tiny-box..
The Top Ten here in the Detroit Market---
1 Drops in the Ocean ---- Hawk Nelson
2 Great & Mighty --- Alive City
3 Micheal W. Smith
4 Flawless Mercy---- Me
5 Stars in the Night10th ---- Avenue North
6 Walk on Water Family ---- Force 5
7 All We Need ----- Newsong
8 Through All of It -----Colton Dixon
9 Grace -------August Rain
10 Til I Met You --------Laura Story -
I think you have misinterpreted what happened. The Christian film industry had always been active but if they were lucky the film got one screen at the sixteen screen mega-plex for a week before going to the direct to home video market. Captive was another effort in that long list. Only in this case you got the double whammy of being based on a dramatic true incident so many reviewers won't be judging on religious levels or the Christian reviewers complaint that movies are always bogged down by the testimony and "we win road to Damascus scene". Secondly and perhaps more importantly since making the movie the antagonist David Oyelowo, went on to become a big star from Selma and is one of four actors always in consideration for the lead in Black roles of major films so Paramount bought the distribution rights.
While there have been several attempts by Hollywood to reach conservatives in the last couple of years, those offerings haven't broken the law mentality that is so prevalent today. We always had Moses and the 10 commandments, but it's refreshing to show Jesus Christ to millions, right?
Wrong - they still don't show the separation between the old and new covenants, and people still see God as a slave owner. So I don't think Hollywood has "gone Christian".
why would Hollywood be willing to take such risks now if so many people are truly leaving the Christian faith?
Jeff, hi. I don't believe that Americans are generally 'leaving the Christian faith'. I think the polling shows that Americans are leaving traditional mainline churches. That doesn't necessarily mean they are no longer spiritual, or have lost faith in Jesus (?)
Anecdotally, seems to me that people are just as interested in Christianity as they've ever been. It's just that Atheists & other religions have gained a stronger voice in the marketplace of American religion/philosophy.
Anyways good thread, I'm hoping we got some good Biblical movies on the horizon. take care.
Lately, the common sentiment from my family and friends has been that our world just seems upside down lately. What was once good is now called evil, and what was once evil is now applauded as good.
I saw a trailer today that makes me feel like Hollywood is trending opposite which I find pretty interesting. In the early days of motion pictures, Hollywood held much respect for the Bible and Christians. Biblical based movies were made, often in epic scope. People had high moral standards of what was acceptable to be shown on film and tv. The example that comes to mind was shows like I Love Lucy where a married couple couldn't even be seen sleeping in the same bed together. Obviously much as changed. My first experience of seeing Hollywood trend anti-Christian was the praise given to Last Temptation of Christ which is the first time I saw a move to boycott a film for being so religiously offensive.
It only got worse from there with movies that rarely touched on faith. And if religion was seen in a movie,it was usually a Catholic priest having doubt. But things started to change with "The Passion of the Christ". That movie shook Hollywood and showed that a Christian movie can make big bucks. We live in an era where more people are turning away from Christ according to the polls yet we are seeing more faith based movies than ever before. But most are on an independent level with B level Hollywood actors and laughed off by the critics.
Hollywood seems to be trying though. Attempts to bring back the biblical epics were made last year with movies about Noah and Moses. And now I am seeing a faith based movie produced by a major film company and starring some pretty big Hollywood names like Kate Mara. This is great, but why would Hollywood be willing to take such risks now if so many people are truly leaving the Christian faith? Maybe that isn't the reality at all.
The movie hinges on the book, "The Purpose Given Life" by Rick Warren? I've heard a lot of Christians berate that book and Rick Warren for not focusing on sin and judgment and hell, and being a scripture-twisting, feel-good, self-esteem preaching, New Age sell-out. It'll be interesting to see if the same group of Christians will now embrace this movie as "Christian".
Movies with great or mediocre acting and great cgi along with things that blow up are always on my radar. I go to the movies to be entertained. Watching Jesus being beaten is not entertainment.
I might entertain a biblical comedy. Jesus doing stand up.
The film industry is in to making money. Cashing in on Christ has always been popular--more so now because religion based bible thumpers feel oppressed and are more likely to spend money on Hollywood escapism.
Look at the money "bible believers" sent those law breaking bakers in Oregon. I promise you it will happen again, as others see ways to cash in on Christ. Any time now the bakers will have a sympathetic TV movie made portraying them as deeply spiritual and overwhelmed by the "gay agenda" of five percent of this nation's population.
That way Hollywood gets their share of money "bible believers" are willing to throw away as opposed to helping the poor and disadvantaged. Their beliefs are always more important than people---unless it is a conservative Christian caught up in a self-made scandal.
Here's the ironic thing. Noah and Exodus: Gods and Kings were rejected by evangelicals. Those movies had the strange effect of causing people who had long been clamoring for more mainstream Bible-based movies from Hollywood to start demanding that Hollywood simply stay out of the Bible business. Why was this? The movies were not up to the standard of Biblical literalists because of embellishments. Evangelicals are like spoiled children who can never be pleased and are only happy when they are angry about something.
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Jesus doing stand up.
