Christianity in Modern Movies

Mandy Moore plays the stereotypical, uptight, evil Christian in Saved!

The United States of America was founded by Christians. The word God appears in our founding documents and on our currency. Today, Christianity is still the most practiced religion in our country. More people in this country identify themselves as Christian than any other religion. Why then, does Hollywood have such a hard time showing Christianity in film? And why when it does mention it, does it so often take the opportunity to point out some hypocrisy, such as in Walk the Line when Johnny Cash is told that his Christian audience does not want to see him trying to cheer up a bunch of murderers and rapists at a prison and he replies "Well they aren't Christians then."

Such little comments on Christians is hardly as offensive as last years Kingdom of Heaven. Director Ridley Scott spared no expense to show Christians as war loving control freaks. Men blindly went to battle and many to their deaths for God.

Doom has a Christian soldier who wears a cross around his neck and quotes the Bible. He also is so nuts that every time he takes the Lord's name in vain he uses his knife to carve a cross into his own arm.

In Saved, all of the Christians are shown to be holier than thou snobs who waste most of their time trying to be perfect. The film is played for laughs but the characters are all shown to be hypocrites and flawed. The social outcasts and non-Christian are, of course, all put in good light as innocent victims.

In fact, Hollywood seems to constantly show Jews as heroes and good people. How many Holocoast movies have they made where Jewish characters are shown being proud of their faith? How many of Woody Allen's or Barbra Streisand's movies mention the Jewish faith? Why are Christians not given the same amount of positive screen time?

Often when Christianity does appear in films you have to look closely to see it. In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Christianity is symbolically everywhere in the movie. From the children being addressed as Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve to Aslan being resurrected. The symbolism is there if you wish to see it.

In Spiderman 2, at the end of his battle on the train with Doc Oc, Spidey is on the front of a runaway train with his arms spread out trying to stop the train. He has a wound on his side and is in obvious pain as he is willing to sacrifice himself for the lives of the people on the train. When he eventually stops the train he falls forward as if dead. The people then carry him back into the train and lay his lifeless looking body on the floor. He then comes to and rises slowly up. Is this not allegorical to Christ dying on the cross, being laid in a tomb and then resurrected after sacrificing himself for man kinds sins?

An even more obvious biblical reference is in the Superman Returns teaser trailer. In it Marlon Brando narrates this line. “They can be a great people if they wish to be. They only lack the light to show them the way. For this reason above, their capacity for good, I have sent them you my only son.” Is that not God talking about his son Christ?

Hollywood often gets religious when it comes to superhero movies. In Daredevil, Matt Murdock goes to confession on a regular basis. When he is severely hurt he seeks the comfort of a church and the Priest that knows his secret indentity. In Other superhero movies God complexs run rampant. In Batman Begins, Batman interrogates a man who says, "I never knew! I swear to God!" Batman then replies, "Swear to me!" In The Fantastic Four Victor Von Doom thinks of himself as a God. At one point Ben Grimm says, "If there is a God, he hates me." Superhero movies are like The Bible in that good constantly struggles, yet always overcomes evil.

Too often when a film blatantly shows Christianity in good light it is labeled as such. The Passion of The Christ was a masterpiece of film but it was ignored by the award shows because it was not a “regular” film, it was a “religious” film. Recently I noticed that Mel Gibson now appears in the press as “Catholic Mel Gibson.” His religion is how many in the media now recognize him.

The Left Behind movie series is based on a series of books about the Rapture and the end of the earth. The first in the series was released in theaters in limited release. It did not make much money in theaters but has gone on to great success on DVD and has spawned two sequels. The Kirk Cameron, Brad Johnson movie series, as well as The Passion of The Christ, are proof that there is an audience for films that tackle Christian themes head on.

Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ.

Another interesting Hollywood stereotype is the black Christian. Blacks in movies are more often shown as Christians than their white counterparts. In Serenity, an elderly black man quotes the Bible. In Last Holiday, Queen Latifah goes to Church on several occasions and even walks by a sign that reads, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Cedric The Entertainer plays a minister in Man of the House. Martin Lawrence's Big Momma raises the church roof in Big Momma'a House. What is that about?

In a country so full of Christians, why is it so rare for Christians, of all skin colors, to be positively represented in mainstream movies? Like the debate about using the word Holiday instead of Christmas, is Hollywood scared to offend non-Christians by showing Christianity in a positive way? They are obviously not scared to offend Christians. The box office has been down for a while now. Perhaps Hollywood should think more about all of their different audiences and make movies as such?