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Jesus Christ superstar?
Movie industry warms up to Christian market, but will the trend last?
By Steve Arney
sarney@pantagraph.com

Oscar Isaac, left, stars as "Joseph" and Keisha Castle-Hughes, right, stars as "Mary" in 2006's "The Nativity Story."
On a Saturday morning in 2005, at an hour before the theaters usually open, more than 300 people packed two auditoriums at Bloomington's Parkway Cinemas for a special screening of "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."

The event was an unqualified success as elementary school children brought parents, grandparents and school friends to see the adaptation of the C.S. Lewis novel, said Brett Miley. He helped orchestrate the event as associate pastor of children and family at Evangelical Free Church of Bloomington-Normal.

Further, it was among a string of films that, for Miley, represents a refreshing turn from Hollywood as it acts on what Mel Gibson taught them with "The Passion of the Christ": There is a market among church people.

Nowadays, Miley is getting mail from FoxFaith, a division of Twentieth Century Fox begun last year to provide releases and DVDs with a spiritual message -- sometimes explicitly from Bible stories, other times with a faith overtone and/or undercurrent. Other companies, like Columbia, also have made an effort to get faith films into their mix.

Film long has been recognized as a viable teaching tool, within and outside houses of worship. What wasn't quite as appreciated, perhaps, is that religious people have discerning taste. Stamping a faith label on a film isn't enough.

Above everything, "Narnia" and films like them will succeed only because they are good movies in their own right, said Miley.

"Faith films have long been kind of low budget and a little hokey," he said.

"The Passion" opened a gate to faith films from the mainstream filmmakers, distributors and theater chains because it was raw, gutsy, of supreme quality and profitable, he added.

Film critic and Presbyterian minister Edward McNulty, who lives outside Cincinnati, struggled with "The Passion." He found the gore excessive and questioned why Gibson deviated from Bible text into segments based on "Passion of the Christ" visions of an 18th century Catholic nun.

But its reverberation in the industry is unmistakable, said McNulty.

Creation of the FoxFaith division and release of movies like "The Last Sin Eater" and "One Night with the King" show Hollywood overtly targeting believers.

"Amazing Grace," which opened last weekend, is the story of a British abolitionist, and Christians are using the movie to draw attention to the fight against modern world slavery.

These have modest budgets in filmmaking terms but A-quality production, McNulty said.

But even the football film "Facing the Giants," made by a Baptist church in Georgia for $100,000, received national distribution in 2006. Said McNulty, "I don't think, before Mel Gibson, they'd even have a ghost of a chance to get a distributor."

Perhaps they didn't deserve one. Christianity Today magazine applauded the effort but panned the film as shallow and clichéd, with a storyline in which all goes well for the recommitted Christian coach. It underscores the point that schlock doesn't sell with many Christians.

In "For Pete's Sake," starring the Rev. Billy Graham as himself, a gas station attendant gets harassed by motorcycle thugs.

McNulty took his church youth group to see the film sometime around its 1966 release. The kids laughed -- not at the parts that were supposed to be funny. Clean-cut bikers who never cussed added to the implausibility and the sterile action in the indy release, turning the film into a joke among the teens that the adult Christians had corralled into the theater, said McNulty.

McNulty started using film early in his ministry 40 years ago, taking groups to movies and renting film reels to show at church. He gravitated to the secular films because of their quality.

And when it comes to quality storytelling, the pastor's ultimate model is The Master. Jesus largely taught through parables, not abstract podium lessons, he said.

"Jesus knew we are visually oriented," said McNulty. "Modern humanity is even more visually oriented."

In his magazine Visual Parables (www.visualparables.net), McNulty spends most of his energy on mainstream film. For a movie he finds valuable as a church lesson, he sometimes includes study questions with his reviews to aid preachers and teachers.

One of his friends, producer-director Michael Rhodes, is pursuing a project in which movie clips would be distributed along with study guides. Rhodes wanted to use the same clips, but different study text, to make a Christian guide, a Jewish guide and, for public schools, a non-religious guide that would teach character and values in a general context.

Consider, he said, the universal values lessons that might arise out of a scene from "Bridge to Terabithia," in which two friends discuss empathy for a school bully who they hear crying. The girl protagonist comforts the bully.

McNulty finds spiritual education through a movie about genocide, "Hotel Rwanda," and of church scenes in "The Pursuit of Happyness."

To add specifically faith-targeted cinema -- done well -- adds potent tools for Christian teaching through movies, said McNulty.

Rhodes said the acceptance of Christians by movie makers and distributors -- and the relationship between churches and film -- is a 180-degree reversal over five years after decades of hostility between Hollywood and organized religion.

But he and McNulty don't know that the movie-faith initiative will last. What sounds like a sea change may in fact be a trend, an experiment, and they have no illusions about Hollywood's agenda: Money. But along with that, they see storytellers and artists who want to say something important and raise the right questions about life.

If the faith films don't generate revenue, the trend will fade, they predict, but they said it won't stop the Almighty from touching movie audiences through art not marketed specifically for churchgoers.

McNulty said, "God is the God of surprise who pops up in all sorts of places -- one being the theater."

Christian film sites



• review.gospelcom.net: Reviews by Phil Boatwright.

• www.christianitytoday.com/movies: Reviews by 10 critics, edited by Mark Moring.

• www.movieguide.org: Reviews from the Rev. Ted Baehr's Christian Film & Television Commission.

• www.americancatholic.org: Reviews from Sister Rose Pacatte's Pauline Center for Media Studies.

• www.usccb.org/movies: Reviews from the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops.

• www.visualparables.net: Reviews by critic and Presbyterian minister Edward McNulty.

Other family-friendly sites

• movies.yahoo.com/moviemom: Movie Mom Nell Minow's reviews and analysis.

• www.mediafamily.com: Parents rate the movies in KidScore from the National Institute on Media and the Family.

• www.kidsfirst.org: Reviews from the Coalition for Quality Children's Media.

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Take a look
Jesus, played by Jim Caviezel, sits with the apostles at The Last Supper in a scene from "The Passion of The Christ," a film by Mel Gibson that opened the door to a range of faith-based films.
Leslie Burke, played by AnnaSophia Robb, and Jess Aarons, played by Josh Hutcherson, star in 2007's "Bridge to Terabithia."
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Reader comments on this story - 6 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Mabel wrote on Apr 14, 2007 12:44 PM:

" I agree with what Mommy May wrote on April 12. Cecil B. DeMille put out some of the greatest Bible stories. My husband and I just saw the film "Amazing Grace". It was entertaining as well as inspirational. We hope this is not a trend. God Bless America. "

to Mommy May wrote on Mar 12, 2007 9:38 AM:

" If only that were true, I'd watch more movies. Hollywood exists to make money. They do have religion, its called money. "

Mommy May wrote on Mar 12, 2007 9:25 AM:

" I remember many good Christian films with Charlton Heston, they Hollywood forgot how to make anything that wasn't drug related. It's good to see some clean entertainment coming back. A word of warning though. Hollywood is a left wing, athiest place. Beware the spin on these stories. "

to Tom Terrific wrote on Mar 12, 2007 6:19 AM:

" Sounds like religion to me! The same old story: "Give us your money and we'll get you a better afterlife! Oh and don't enjoy sex, either or we'll send you to hell." That'd make a good movie, don't you think? "

Marilee Alvey wrote on Mar 11, 2007 9:00 PM:

" If anyone would like to see some tremendous Christian films, please note that Eastview Cinema is making excellent films available for free, the 3rd Friday of each month. I hope they'll come out to Eastview Church next Friday, March 16th, to see "Joshua." Come to the small auditorium in the lower level, east side, and enjoy this film FOR FREE. Children 13 years and older will be admitted with a parent or adult present. Theatre popcorn and fountain drinks, as well as bottled water will be available at $1 each. The movie starts at 7 but you'll want to come at 6:30 for the fun. We've got campy old advertisements and concession stand ads, as well as screen trivia and much more. (DUE TO A DATE CONFLICT, THERE MAY BE A CHANGE OF DATE FOR THE APRIL SHOWING OF "FACING THE GIANTS." LOOK IN THE PANTAGRAPH'S ONLINE COMMUNITY CALENDAR FOR AN UPDATE, SOON!) Come on out and see Eastview Cinema - Where Movies are Looking Up! "

Tom Terrific wrote on Mar 5, 2007 10:39 PM:

" Films of faith really have come along way. True they used to be low budget jokes, but there has been major improvements. Most movies today are a waste of time to watch anyways. Every storyline you can think of has already been done and redone multiple times. "
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