Everything That's On My Mind

I received my alumni magazine from Anderson University the other day and found a great surprise. Some of my fellow alums are the creative minds behind the new movie “Hoodwinked”! So I had to take Bekah to see it tonight. Gotta support da homies. The verdict? Great script (loved the “Fletch” references), good score (John Mark Painter!), but an undersized animation budget. Not Oscar material, but a good start for these 30-somethings. I’ll be on the lookout for their next effort. 

As a life-long fan of the cinematic arts (yes, I own copies of "Citizen Kane" and "Casablanca"), I’m excited to see Christians finally getting back into this business. I believe that the decline of morality in Hollywood movies is partly the fault of the church, which abandoned the industry for years. Christians retreated into their sub-culture and created sub-standard fare only for themselves, just like we did in the music industry. Lately, we’ve seen a resurgence of quality movies made by Christians or informed by the Christian faith. I hope this trend continues, and I hope the church wholeheartedly supports these movies. Hollywood is controlled by box office receipts. If family-friendly and faith-based movies do well in the theaters and on DVD, they will make more. 

I’m encouraged by people like Philip Anschutz, a Christian billionaire who has invested his wealth in creating such films. One of his companies, Walden Media, is developing the “Chronicles of Narnia” movies, as well as other family-friendly films based on great books like “Charlotte’s Web”. His other company, Bristol Bay Productions, was involved in the movies "Sahara" and “Ray”, which wasn’t necessarily family-friendly but was a very worthwhile film.

Another example is Every Tribe Entertainment, who created “End of the Spear” which is being released next week. This movie tells a different perspective of the story made famous in the book “Through Gates of Splendor”. Next month brings the release of “The Second Chance”, a movie directed by one of my personal heroes, Steve Taylor. I just hope and pray Michael W. Smith can actually act. 

We cannot reach our culture with the gospel by hiding from it. Jesus did not come so that we might have our own sub-culture and have it more abundantly. He commanded us to be salt and light IN the world. Christian doctors don’t treat Christian patients exclusively, why should Christian artists be restricted in such ways?

Now if someone would just have the courage and vision to make a Stephen Lawhead book into a movie…