Hacksaw Ridge is Insanely Bloody. Here’s Why.

November 4, 2016 By Paul Asay

Christianity is bloody. The whole thing started with an execution. If the early Christians had any tact—or, at least, a good PR agency—they would’ve downplayed the religion’s messy, off-putting beginning and encourage prospective newcomers to concentrate on something else. Instead, the cross has become the central symbol of our faith—something we slap on our walls and hang around our necks and embroider on our throw pillows. It’s almost like we’re venerating the electric chair. And when you read the Bible,... Read more

Did The Walking Dead Go Too Far? A Watching God Podcast

October 30, 2016 By Paul Asay

More than 20 million people watched last Sunday’s Season Seven premiere of The Walking Dead. No surprise there, given that AMC’s zombie show has been a ratings winner ever since its inception. The episode was brutal, with new Big Bad Negan killing two popular characters with his barbed-wire-wrapped baseball bat Lucille. No surprise there either, according to longtime fans. The Walking Dead has always been incredibly bloody. But for me, the episode was incredibly hard to watch. It felt more... Read more

What Makes The Innocents So Frightening … and So Perfect for Halloween

October 27, 2016 By Paul Asay

It amazes me how many children show up in horror movies they’re not allowed to see. Kids are everywhere in fright flicks. Either they’re innocent waifs running from horrific, kid-killing entities (The Shining, The Conjuring, etc.) or they’re the horrific entities themselves, bent on ridding the world of a few adults (Children of the Corn, The Ring, etc.). Sometimes, like in The Exorcist, they manage to be both. But most of the time, we at least know whether a kid... Read more

We’re All Fixer Uppers

October 19, 2016 By Paul Asay

A confession: My wife and I watch HGTV’s Fixer Uppers, starring Chip and Joanna Gaines, whenever we can. We dig tinkering with our own house when budget and time allow, and I think both of us occasionally wish we lived in Waco, Texas, so we could get the advice of these home renovation experts. Unlike a lot of folks on reality shows—particularly renovation shows—Chip and Joanna feel real. Their lines don’t feel scripted. Their interactions feel grounded in living life... Read more

Why Is Everyone Scared of Clowns?

October 17, 2016 By Paul Asay

We’re all being attacked by clowns. People across the United States say they’re seeing red-nosed, white-faced Pennywises everywhere, lurking in parks, walking down streets and threatening to do more than stuff several of themselves into a car. The threat of clowns has become so severe that Target has removed some creepy clown masks from its shelves. When I was a kid, clowns were generally thought to be, y’know, funny. But looking back, I was wasn’t immune to coulrophobia. Someone had... Read more

Can a Christian Movie Win an Oscar?

October 7, 2016 By Paul Asay

The Birth of a Nation hits theaters today, but it’s been in the news for nearly a year. It made a show-stopping entrance at the Sundance Film Festival this January, earning raucous standing ovations and a titanic $17.5 million deal from Fox Searchlight. The film, dramatizing an 1831 slave rebellion led by Nat Turner, was immediately dubbed an Academy Award Best Picture front-runner—the perfect tonic to 2016’s still brewing #OscarsSoWhite controversy. But then the film was hit with a controversy... Read more

The Quiet Miracle of Queen of Katwe

September 30, 2016 By Paul Asay

It’s a miracle. The phrase is pregnant with Christian portent. Yes, other religions have their own sets of miracles, but Christianity seems to put a special emphasis on them. Jesus performed plenty of miracles, from killing fig trees to raising the dead, each one used as one more proof of His divinity. And ever since then, miracles have always been an important part of the Christian story—and Christian stories. Christian movies are enamored with the miraculous. Just this year, we’ve... Read more

What the Magnificent Seven Says About American Faith

September 27, 2016 By Paul Asay

The Magnificent Seven begins in a church. It ends in a church. And even though the actual church building is a burned-out shell for much of the movie, the edifice still towers over the little town of Rose Creek—a charred, broken prophet, its shadow casting judgment over those who pass through. Throughout American cinematic history, the Western has long been a lens through which America sees itself—at our best and worst. It’s given us our defining heroes and served as... Read more

Fox’s The Exorcist is More About God than The Devil. Here’s Why.

September 23, 2016 By Paul Asay

You just can’t keep a bad demonic force down, I guess. It’s been 45 years since William Peter Blatty wrote The Exorcist, and more than 40 since Blatty’s work became one of the best-known, most-feared movies in history. Now, thanks to Fox, The Exorcist is back, only with more installments and, hopefully, less pea soup. The story is different this time around, but its dynamics are roughly the same: A young girl from an affluent family is involved. A doubting... Read more

The Heavenly Comedy of NBC’s The Good Place

September 19, 2016 By Paul Asay

Ancient Egyptians thought that life went on after death, as long as you knew the right passwords, their bodies were nicely salted and their hearts were sufficiently weighty. Vikings believed that Valhalla awaited the mightiest among them, where they could fight all day and drink all night. And some Christians figure that St. Peter will be waiting for the dearly departed in front of heaven’s pearly gate, pen in hand. But no afterlife is quite like what we see in... Read more