A while back I was driving down the road listening to the radio program, Breakpoint, hosted by Chuck Colson. It’s a show geared towards assisting listeners in developing “a Christian perspective on today’s news and trends.” The subject dealt with that day was a review of a movie entitled The Ultimate Gift. The movie is about a young man named Jason who is due to inherit a trust from his recently deceased grandfather. However, in his grandfather’s will is a cleverly devised plan to teach Jason a valuable life lesson. The plan includes 12 gifts that are designed to teach him to decide what’s really important in life, money or happiness.
A Trip to the Video Store
After hearing Colson’s recommendation I stopped by the video store to rent the movie before heading home. When I got home it was going to be about 15 minutes until my wife would arrive so I had a few minutes to kill. I decided I would go online and find out what the critics had to say regarding the movie, knowing that they would not be as kind as Mr. Colson had been. What I found was nothing short of vitriol with a disdain for anything wholesome. For instance, Louis Carlozo from the Chicago Tribune said, “Be prepared to be hit over the head by the message.” Entertainment Weekly’s Gregory Kirschling offered a most telling comment regarding Hollywood’s animosity towards Biblical values and its infatuation with anything that would defame those values, when he deemed the movie to be nothing more than “a feel-good Saw for churchgoers.” Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to see the movie in order to compare Colson’s review with those of the critics.
Being Hit Over the Head
As mean spirited as Kirschling’s comment was, what troubled me the most was Carlozo’s comment about being prepared to be “hit over the head with the message.” Not only was this an unfair comment, it clearly showed a bias that is reflective of Hollywood’s worldview. Why do the critics not accuse makers of “The Da Vinci Code” starring Tom Hanks of attempting to hit us over the head their message and purpose: undermining the Christian faith? How about other movies that portrays a sexually promiscuous lifestyle as being perfectly normal? There is no charge of hitting us over the head with those messages.
All of this begs the question, why the concerted effort to undermine Christian based films? The answer, I believe, is that Hollywood understands the power of the arts. Andrew Fletcher once said, “Let me write the songs of a nation - I do not care who writes its laws.” He understood that he could make an incredible impact on society’s thinking by using the arts as his mouthpiece. Hollywood understands this all too well.
Coming at You at Three Levels
Ravi Zacharias illuminates for us the idea that a philosophy comes to us in three levels. Level one is theory. This level deals with the foundation of one’s philosophy at the theoretical level. This is what the writer believes on a theoretical level. For instance, in the movie “The Ultimate Gift”, the writers and producers of the movie attempt to communicate a distinctly Christian worldview. However, in order to advance such a theory requires that it be communicated in understandable ways.
This brings us to the second level which is the arts. According to Zacharias the second level “does not feel the constraint of reason or come under the binding strictures of argument. It finds its refuge in the imagination and feeling.” The arts then become the persuader that attempts to sway people to adopt the philosophy that is being communicated. It illustrates for the audience the philosophy being communicated. Consequently, it is imperative that we must rid ourselves of the idea that movies are simply for entertainment. They are often if not always made to convince viewers to a way of thinking or believing.
To convince is exactly what level three is all about. The third level is practical application. People now apply the theory (level one) to daily life, resulting in the new found theory governing how they view the world.
The Archie Bunker Example
An example of how these three levels play out can be best illustrated by examining the 1970’s sitcom All in the Family. The show compared the conservative views of a blue collar family man named Archie Bunker with his college educated son-in-law, Mike. Archie, who was to represent conservative thinking, was portrayed as a bigoted, homophobic, uptight person who was uneducated and in need of enlightenment. Mike, the politically liberal son-in-law was portrayed as informed, educated, and as having views that are founded on intelligent, rational thinking. The producer of the film, Norman Lear, intentionally chose to attempt to influence beliefs in order to further an ideological agenda. He did this through these two characters for the purpose of trying to promote certain stereotypes of liberals and conservatives.
Hollywood – The New Evangelists
Indeed, Hollywood’s goal is to evangelize America. However, Hollywood has not only been successful in reaching the general population, it has been successful in propagating its message to the Church as well. According to the American Family association, “In 2005, roughly $8.8 billion was spent on movie tickets in the U.S. How much of $8.8 billion do you think came from those who call themselves Christians? According to The Barna Group, it was a massive $6.94 billion. Over 70% of the box office intake comes from people of faith.” Thus, it is important that we learn to be discerning and seek to “demolish (rather than embrace) arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God” (II Cor. 10:5a).
