BAFTA, Emmy, and Golden Globe award-winning actor Brian Cox has been all over Christian media lately thanks to a hot anti-Christian opinion he shared with the world on “The Starting Line” podcast.
Host Rich Leigh prepared a direction for the show to go, and his research did not disappoint if that’s your thing.
Cox condemned the Bible as “essentially patriarchal” and “propaganda.” The “Succession” leading actor also said belief in God “holds us back.”
“The Bible is one of the worst books ever, for me, for my point of view…because it begins with the story of Adam and Eve, in which Eve is descended from Adam’s rib…and [people] believe it, because they’re stupid enough.”
Interested in the remainder of his cantankerous musings? The interview is at the end of the scroll. Yet, Cox’s idle atheistic prattling begs the question, which gets brought up every few months these days, “Why does Hollywood seem to have such an anti-Christian point of view?”
This week, we hit “Close to Home” on Hollywood‘s perception of Christianity. Do they really have an anti-Christian stance, or are they simply churning headlines with proven tropes bound to get attention? Also…
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On with the show…
Is the Anti-Christian Banner Just Business?
Face it. The only permissible prejudice and easiest target for hate is toward Christians. People who say they follow Christ and don’t act like it makes it easy for people to take sides. In fact, they practically lay out a welcome mat for anyone to throw spoiled fruits and vegetables in our direction.
Think about the motion pictures or TV shows you’ve seen with a “real” Christian person in the role. (No, Charlton Heston as Moses or Jim Caviezel as Jesus doesn’t count.)
- Warden Norton (Bob Gunton) in “The Shawshank Redemption”
- Mary Cooper, Sheldon’s mom (Laurie Metcalf) on “The Big Bang Theory”
- Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz) from “The Legend of Tarzan”
- Mother (Piper Laurie) from “Carrie”
- Angela (Angela Kinsey) from “The Office”
- Max Cady (Robert De Niro) in “Cape Fear”
- Silas (Paul Bettany) from “The Da Vinci Code”
- Eli Sunday (Paul Dano) in “There Will Be Blood”
These are not conflicted and compelling Christians. It would be welcome to see people like Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) in “First Reformed” or Rev. E.F. “Sonny” Dewey (Robert Duvall) in “The Apostle.” People of faith are nowhere near perfect, but at least they should personify a path and zeal toward perfection by grace.
Shoot, even Rev. Shaw Moore (John Lithgow) from the classic film “Footloose” is real in his walk with Christ. He was a little closed-minded, with his Fruit of the Looms on too tight, but real nonetheless.
That is authentic! A force of faith in his community is now faced with his fears. That created a crossroads, and he chose the right path. (That, and we got a sweet high school prom from it, too.)
Typifying Christians with stereotypical tropes makes for a good enemy in Hollywood, but why do they have to be anti-Christian? Dunderheads. Hypocrites. Child abusers. Criminals. Even the random psycho. Why make them wild-eyed, closed-minded and lunatic God-fearing folk?
It’s easy to do. The classic battle is good versus evil, life over death, and God against Satan. The Christians portrayed in movies and TV shows take on many faces, but most of them aren’t great reflections of Jesus.
Or, Is It Personal?
Think about any drama, thriller, suspense or horror project you’ve seen. If the villain is Muslim, there’s usually a terrorism connection, which isn’t fair to them. There aren’t many Jewish, Hindu, or Buddhist baddies out there. But a Christian? They populate big and small screens like rabbits with an attitude problem.
Pastors to priests, preachers to parishioners, if they walk with Christ, Hollywood will give them two left feet and cause them to stumble. There are so few “President Josiah Bartlets” (Martin Sheen, “The West Wing”), “Father Quintanas” (Javier Bardem, “To the Wonder”), or “Homer Smiths” (Sidney Poitier, “Lilies of the Field”) out there.
To be fair, even Christian movies underscore the same tropes on PureFlix and Hallmark and are scattered among mainstream Hollywood. There is a slant against the Church in Hollywood, but here’s the news flash: It’s because of us.
As Christians, we all have a role to play in this movie—being an effective and fervent witness for the Lord. That means when you think they are looking or not, listening or not. Some upset people in Hollywood are burned by some Christian people in the world, so the angst is there.
Stereotypes and tropes exist for a reason for any marginalized group–people have seen those in real life. If faced with them enough, people take the bad apples of a bunch at face value and generalize an entire group of people.
If we are tired of seeing those same manipulative, deceitful portrayals of Christianity on screen, we need to pray for better representation in real life. Ask God for moviemakers of any walk of life to meet more authentic Christians; they’ll begin to provide more authenticity to roles.
So, business or personal? It’s both, and it can change. It’s all up to us.
(P.S. Don’t worry about all those satanic nuns floating around. They’re not going anywhere no matter how good we act.)
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