I was pretty frustrated when Boundless wrote up their very profuse endorsement of this movie.
I just listened to the Plugged-In guy and what he had to say about movies that are out and I think I finally can answer Ted's question to me on why I am so opposed to it.
Here it is - I can not stand the blanket approval given to something without question.
Yeah, this movie is put out by a church. Woohoo! But does that mean its going to be perfect?
Countless times, I've seen Plugged-In and Boundless come down REALLY hard on movies that were good with some negative elements (I'm not talking about Sex in the City, here, as I completely agree with Boundless's views on that particular movie...but Prince Caspian and The Dark Knight?)
And yet this movie gets a free pass? No where will you hear tell of the fact that there's an adulterous relationship going on in the movie. No where will you hear tell of the husband's porn addiction. Lets gloss over those for the sake that this movie is about redeeming marriage through thick and thin.
Oh...but yes...when any other movie has those elements (even for the sake of the plot line) the movies are painted with a red X and people are told "not recommended".
Never mind that Prince Caspian managed to hold on to the theme of trusting in that which you can't always see. Never mind that The Dark Knight had an incredibly profound story of self-sacrifice with the intent to redeem.
I just sometimes really wish Boundless and other Evangelical Christian mainstream outlets could actually manage to let go of their biases long enough to question. Long enough to seek truth and be willing to acknowledge when something that comes from a place they "should" endorse might actually be wrong, might actually have a negative element, might actually be worth questioning instead of blindly accepting.
Maybe that's why I was so vehemently opposed to Fireproof.
7 comments:
"But does that mean its going to be perfect?"
I went and saw it. And it wasn't perfect.
For one thing, the Christian imagery is a bit heavy handed. Not that I mind per se, but I found myself cringing in a way that says "here's a movie that can relate to the unsaved, and they blow it".
And yes, the husband has a porn habit. Much ado is made in the movie about that. But not much mention is made about how wife scorns and disrepects husband regularly and hasn't had sex with him in God-knows-how-long. And the portrayal of the wife's (emotionally) adulterous affair seems almost to justify it.
I sense home-field bias here. Evangelical outlets would endorse a bucket of horse manure if it were produced by a church.
I sense home-field bias here. Evangelical outlets would endorse a bucket of horse manure if it were produced by a church.
And THAT would be my beef.
excellent, christina. you put into words what i couldn't. i really think you should email this post to them, and see what they say.
Considering Ted sent me a couple emails asking why I had such a problem with Fireproof, I was actually thinking of sending this as my reply.
Thinking about it...
The inequitable presentation of depravity--minimizing the wife's while emphasizing the gravity of the husband's--is telling.
And that is not a petty matter, when you consider the Headship Theology backdrop that seems to dominate American evangelicalism.
I didn't see "A Walk to Remember" partly for this reason. I was irked that the guy on "Life in the Edge Live" said that the girl in the movie "never compromises" when it is clear from all reports that she shares a kiss with her non-believing male companion (who has not, at that point, made his airbrushed, movie-style profession of faith). It makes a cute movie, until you imagine your own 16 year-old daughter doing that.
I'd rather see a movie where bad people do bad things and we all know that its bad, than to see, or have children see, one of these movies that are declared to be perfect when the nature of "good" is portrayed so shoddily.
Sylvia,
Ok...I've seen A Walk to Remember.
I've also read the book.
The book is one of the only Nicholas Sparks books that's based off a true story.
Christian salvation is not one of the central themes of that movie. Its obvious what she believes (and she doesn't share a willing kiss with him in the movie prior to his overall change), the point of that movie was having faith in someone's goodness.
The movie also wasn't put out by a Christian organization. So it IS in a different ball-park than Fireproof (and other Christian organization media products).
The book wasn't written by a blatant Christian, either (if he IS even a Christian). Having read some of this man's other novels, he writes clean, romantic novels. A Walk to Remember is the only one I read where faith was involved...and that wasn't the central motif of the book. It was just an aspect of one character's character.
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