{"id":701,"date":"2014-05-06T12:38:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-06T12:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/gods-not-dead-a-film-review-essay.html"},"modified":"2014-05-06T12:38:00","modified_gmt":"2014-05-06T12:38:00","slug":"gods-not-dead-a-film-review-essay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/gods-not-dead-a-film-review-essay.html","title":{"rendered":"God\u2019s Not Dead: A Film Review Essay"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
The Pure Flix Entertainment production\u00a0God\u2019s Not Dead<\/i><\/a>\u00a0has done remarkably well at the box office for a \u201cChristian drama film,\u201d ranking 4th in the U.S. on its opening weekend and turning an approximately $2 million budget into a gross of over $50 million to date. Heck, it even made it to theatres as far north as Winnipeg, Manitoba, where I caught its name in bright lights, nestled in between Johnny Depp\u2019s latest sci-fi drama,\u00a0Transcendence<\/i>, andCaptain America: The Winter Soldier<\/i>.<\/span><\/div>\n
The same curiosity that led me to the cinema remains as I type out a first draft of this review essay upon returning home: how is a low budget, niche market film with a hackneyed narrative doing so well?<\/span><\/div>\n
While I can only offer a few preliminary thoughts here, I suspect that the timing of its release on March 21, 2014, just prior to the release of Aronofsky\u2019s\u00a0Noah<\/i><\/a>\u00a0and nearly one month after the $22 million History Channel adaption\u00a0Son of God<\/i><\/a>, has lent it some rather fortunate by proxy publicity, especially among conservative evangelical audiences to which the film\u00a0was primarily targeted.<\/span><\/div>\n
Pure Flix Entertainment, which defines itself\u00a0in opposition to Hollywood<\/a>, had the filmscreened for 8,000 pastors<\/a>\u00a0two months prior to its debut and conducted an aggressive media blitz on Internet radio sites like Pandora, which features Christian rock bands such as\u00a0Newsboys<\/a>, who appear at the film\u2019s end. A cameo by Willie and Korie Robertson of \u201cDuck Dynasty\u201d fame also helped to boost its profile among certain Christian communities. \u00a0According Pure Flix co-founder David A.R. White, recent homophobic remarks by family patriarch Phil Robertson in an\u00a0interview with GQ<\/a>\u00a0may have even\u00a0contributed to<\/a>\u00a0the film\u2019s success:<\/span><\/div>\n
That incident greatly elevated the family\u2019s profile among Christian conservatives and heightened interest in \u201cGod\u2019s Not Dead,\u201d White said.<\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
\u201cIt couldn\u2019t have been better for us,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
Read the rest here<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Pure Flix Entertainment production\u00a0God\u2019s Not Dead\u00a0has done remarkably well at the box office for a \u201cChristian drama film,\u201d ranking 4th in the U.S. on its opening weekend and turning an approximately $2 million budget into a gross of over $50 million to date. Heck, it even made it to theatres as far north as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nGod\u2019s Not Dead: A Film Review Essay<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Pure Flix Entertainment production God\u2019s Not Dead has done remarkably well at the box office for a \u201cChristian drama film,\u201d ranking 4th in\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/gods-not-dead-a-film-review-essay.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"God\u2019s Not Dead: A Film Review Essay\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Pure Flix Entertainment production God\u2019s Not Dead has done remarkably well at the box office for a \u201cChristian drama film,\u201d ranking 4th in\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/gods-not-dead-a-film-review-essay.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rhetoric Race and Religion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-05-06T12:38:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/gods-not-dead-a-film-review-essay.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/gods-not-dead-a-film-review-essay.html\",\"name\":\"God\u2019s Not Dead: A Film Review Essay\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-06T12:38:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-05-06T12:38:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\"},\"description\":\"The Pure Flix Entertainment production God\u2019s Not Dead has done remarkably well at the box office for a \u201cChristian drama film,\u201d ranking 4th in\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/gods-not-dead-a-film-review-essay.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/gods-not-dead-a-film-review-essay.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/gods-not-dead-a-film-review-essay.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"God\u2019s Not Dead: A Film Review Essay\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/\",\"name\":\"Rhetoric Race and Religion\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\",\"name\":\"Guest Contributor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest Contributor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/author\/admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"God\u2019s Not Dead: A Film Review Essay","description":"The Pure Flix Entertainment production God\u2019s Not Dead has done remarkably well at the box office for a \u201cChristian drama film,\u201d ranking 4th in","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/gods-not-dead-a-film-review-essay.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"God\u2019s Not Dead: A Film Review Essay","og_description":"The Pure Flix Entertainment production God\u2019s Not Dead has done remarkably well at the box office for a \u201cChristian drama film,\u201d ranking 4th in","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/gods-not-dead-a-film-review-essay.html","og_site_name":"Rhetoric Race and Religion","article_published_time":"2014-05-06T12:38:00+00:00","author":"Guest Contributor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest Contributor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/gods-not-dead-a-film-review-essay.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/gods-not-dead-a-film-review-essay.html","name":"God\u2019s Not Dead: A Film Review Essay","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-05-06T12:38:00+00:00","dateModified":"2014-05-06T12:38:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2"},"description":"The Pure Flix Entertainment production God\u2019s Not Dead has done remarkably well at the box office for a \u201cChristian drama film,\u201d ranking 4th in","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/gods-not-dead-a-film-review-essay.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/gods-not-dead-a-film-review-essay.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2014\/05\/gods-not-dead-a-film-review-essay.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"God\u2019s Not Dead: A Film Review Essay"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/","name":"Rhetoric Race and Religion","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2","name":"Guest Contributor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest Contributor"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/author\/admin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}