When it comes to judging Hollywood, critics in pulpits and pews have been chanting the same mantra for decades.<\/p>\n\n
All together now: There\u2019s too much sex and there\u2019s too much violence. Amen.<\/p>\n\n
Then a strange thing happened. An evangelical named Randall Wallace wrote \u201cBraveheart,\u201d which a Catholic named Mel Gibson turned into an Oscar-magnet about freedom, faith, sacrifice and truth. It was bloody violent and its wedding was followed by a nude wedding night. Many conservative believers cheered and began to have second thoughts about their R-rating phobias.<\/p>\n\n
Then Gibson made \u201cThe Passion of the Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
\u201cA movie comes along that is, in the words of one Los Angeles critic, \u2018a two-hour execution,\u2019 and people of faith everywhere are embracing it and being moved to compunction, repentance and spiritual renewal,\u201d said screenwriter Barbara Nicolosi, speaking at a global cinema conference last week in Valencia, Spain.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWhat we are learning from all this is that the problem is not with violence on the screen. It is meaningless violence that is wrong in entertainment. The Passion reconnects violence to its source in rebellion against God. It never objectifies the subject of the violence, nor does it dehumanize the perpetrators of violence. It shows the effects of violence in all its horror.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Aftershocks continue in the marketplace and in churches, while Gibson\u2019s epic keeps climbing toward the $370-million mark at the U.S. box office. Meanwhile, Hollywood is trying to learn how to mine this bizarre demographic Gibson has discovered \u2014 Middle America.<\/p>\n\n
Nicolosi has argued that the big lesson is that masses of the faithful will buy tickets when a talented, name-above-the-title superstar finances, produces and directs a theologically sophisticated movie. But there\u2019s the rub. How many celebrities make that A-list?<\/p>\n\n
Meanwhile, debates about the Passion may help traditional believers learn more about the craft of making movies for the modern marketplace, she said, in her written text. Questions about the film\u2019s shocking use of violence were highly symbolic.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThis movie will challenge future filmmakers to make the violence in their films just as meaningful,\u201d said the former Catholic nun, who leads the Act One screenwriting project. \u201cIt will also open the people of God to a broader artistic sensibility. \u2026 My young filmmaking students are very concerned about the place of the artist in the world. They want to talk about an ethics that would go along with the power of the mass media.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThey want to know what is good for people to watch and what might harm people to watch. This is very good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Anyone can make violent movies, she said. It takes talent, skill and vision to show violence that means something. The same thing is true of sexuality, after 40 \u201cshameless years\u201d in which \u201ccinema has shown us every possible permutation of two naked bodies writhing around.\u201d The same thing is true of symbols and themes of faith and spirituality.<\/p>\n\n
There are signs of change in Hollywood. Nicolosi called it the \u201cDon\u2019t Show How Things Look, Tell Us What They Mean\u201d movement. Are religious leaders paying attention?<\/p>\n\n
Nicolosi is not the only conservative arguing that filmmakers must stop assuming that safe, squeaky-clean predictability is the same thing as artistic quality.<\/p>\n\n
Even Christian consumers would rather watch \u201cSpiderman\u201d than \u201cLeft Behind \u2014 The Movie\u201d and they would choose \u201cToy Story\u201d over another \u201cTouched By and Angel\u201d rerun on a family cable channel, according to Dallas Jenkins, president of Jenkins Entertainment. He created the company with his father, Jerry B. Jenkins, who is best known as co-author of the bestselling \u201cLeft Behind\u201d novels.<\/p>\n\n
At some point, religious critics must humbly study the art in films such as \u201cTaxi Driver,\u201d \u201cTraffic\u201d and \u201cPulp Fiction\u201d as well as criticize their moral content, he said. It is even more important to study edgy films that combine personal storytelling with issues of faith, such as \u201cSchindler\u2019s List\u201d and \u201cThe Pianist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWhy can\u2019t we make movies like that about our faith? \u2026 Great films, no matter how specific their subject matter, have universal appeal,\u201d said Jenkins, writing in Relevant Magazine.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWhere are the thought-provoking, morally important rated-R films? Every year there are dozens of big, successful family films, but only two or three landmark, important films for adults. Can\u2019t at least one be made by a Christian?\u201d<\/p>\n\n
NEXT WEEK: Hollywood struggles to understand the church.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When it comes to judging Hollywood, critics in pulpits and pews have been chanting the same mantra for decades. All together now: There\u2019s too much sex and there\u2019s too much violence. Amen. Then a strange thing happened. An evangelical named Randall Wallace wrote \u201cBraveheart,\u201d which a Catholic named Mel Gibson turned into an Oscar-magnet about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[79,1534,431,544,1542,1545,856],"class_list":["post-1281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-art","tag-evangelicals","tag-hollywood","tag-mel-gibson","tag-movies","tag-popular-culture","tag-the-passion"],"yoast_head":"\n