I read an article once that implied
that God’s Not Dead is the Christian’s
50 Shades of Grey. Now, both are indeed bad films (though I’ll
argue that the latter is significantly more awful, especially since the former
has a killer soundtrack) but the idea of comparing a wholesome Christian movie
about a Christian student standing up to his atheist professor to an erotic
romance film featuring BDSM and an abusive relationship is seemingly
preposterous and off-color. However, there’s
actual truthfulness in this. Both have
the sensibilities of fan fiction written to indulge in one’s romantic
imaginations (in fact, the original 50
Shades of Grey novel was literally Twilight
fan fiction). Both came as a result of wanting
fantasies realized. While 50 Shades of Grey allow women to have
their kinky fantasies and curiosities projected through Anastasia Steele’s racy
encounter with Christian Grey, God’s Not
Dead allow Christians to fantasize of ideally overcoming persecution via an
intellectual setting and having their worldview validated by peers or other
people as a result.
The main issue I have with God’s Not Dead and other Christian
movies that take the route of indulging in a fantasized, romanticized scenario
of real-life issues of faith is that it tends to misrepresent them. Moreover, by having a “fairy tale” feel and
resolution, these movies come off as corny, lazy, and stupid. Therefore, they aren’t affecting beyond the
superficial highs and artificial poignancy they elicit, and they definitely
fail to be thought-provoking.
In real life, though there are indeed tons of Christian intellectual giants out there, Christians aren’t always
smarter than atheists. Though they have
the truth, Christians don’t always prevail against atheists in debate. Example, during the Scopes “Monkey Trial” in
1925, the Christian fundamentalist and Democratic politician William Jennings
Bryan clashed with liberal lawyer Clarence Darrow about the teaching of Charles
Darwin’s Theory of Evolution in schools.
Bryan was a great orator but he was out of Darrow’s league when it came
to courtroom debate. Darrow humiliated Bryan,
and ever since, Christian fundamentalists have been stigmatized as ignorant and
intellectually backward.
So here’s a thought: God’s Not Dead could have been about a Christian
student failing to overcome his much smarter professor in debate, and how he
deals with the fallout of being constantly ridiculed and scorned afterwards. It could show him struggling but keeping his
faith, while also inspiring him to study more and develop his intellect. Or I would have actually been satisfied already
if the movie just had raised better arguments.
Because, seriously, there are actually more thought-provoking arguments
from both sides of the issue which have been around for a long time than the
flimsy ones the movie opt to feature. I would
have also preferred it if the film’s main theme is clearly about the importance
of pursuing Christian intellect (something that I unfortunately found lacking in mainstream Christianity). Let’s bring
it a step further: what if God’s Not Dead
is about a Christian student who encounters an atheist professor who is not
only smarter, but also kinder, more generous, and more selfless than him? On
paper, isn’t this a more provocative movie already than what we actually got?
My overall point here is that God’s Not Dead – and other Christian
films for that matter – would have been tremendously more rewarding if it
didn’t pamper Christian fantasies but, instead, provoked genuine, meaningful
reflections through challenging, well-thought-out stories and relatable, well-realized
characters.
Silence is a great example of a Christian film done right – and
beautifully so. Now, I understand why
Christian evangelicals won’t quickly label it as a “Christian” movie and why its
themes won’t easily resonate with them.
It’s because the film involves Catholic characters and a Catholic perspective.
In the movie, the shogunate are
persecuting Japanese people converted to Christianity by Jesuits and their
sufferings are only relieved when they choose to apostate, which involves
stepping on a fum-i, a board or stone
with the image of Mary or Jesus printed or carved on it. Now, “born again” Christians or Protestants will
have no problem with stepping on an icon of Mary, even of Christ. For them, it isn’t apostasy at all, as their
faith is not rooted on man-made objects. In fact, many of them would even
consider these icons to be blasphemous.
However, it’s not that hard to let the fum-i-stepping serve as a metaphor for the actual practice of
denying Christ. Such can be transposed
into being asked to deny Christ with a gun pressed against your head. Besides, persecutors will opt for the method
that will deliver their desired effect.
For the Catholic converts, it was stepping on fum-i. If it had been
Protestant characters, it would have easily been coercing them in some other
way to blaspheme or deny Christ.
Thus, through this outlook, a
Christian would be able to appreciate and ponder on the issues the movie raised. Why is God silent during our sufferings? Or is He?
Do we lose our salvation when we apostate? Is it okay to temporarily apostate, or
“pretend” apostate, that is, to perform the required act but, deep inside, one
isn’t really discarding his faith? Is
“pretend” apostasy acceptable when it’s not about keeping your life but about
saving the lives of others? Can we be
restored when we apostate? If we can,
is one really a Christian when he apostates and repents, apostates and repents,
over and over again? Is it possible to
live out one’s faith secretly without compromising it? These are just some of the thoughtful questions
that a Christian can take from the movie and be prompted to study and reflect about,
especially if he or she doesn’t have definite answers for them yet. And Silence
is able to offer these effectively and emphatically largely because of its
superior quality as a film, as an art form.
In short, Christian movies should
try being more like Silence and less
like God’s Not Dead.
Post-script:
- Christian comedy films. To a degree, that’s what The Resurrection of Gavin Stone was, a comedy. And maybe that’s a reason why it’s easily one of the better Christian movies I’ve seen. I find it shocking that there’s a shortage of humor-centric Christian films out there when Christians have great aptitude in being clever and hilarious, as proven by the several Christian meme pages in Facebook, as well as comedians like Tim Hawkins and Brad Stine, who are legitimately two of the funniest comedians I’ve ever encountered (if you are not familiar with their work, look them up in Youtube).
- Christian biopics. Throughout history, there are many notable men and women of faith whose remarkable lives have cinematic appeal. Since these stories are based on real life, the chance of becoming “fan fiction-y” is minimal. The risk of misrepresenting theological issues is lessened as well. Well, on paper, at least.
- More adaptations of fiction written by devout Christians. As proven by The Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings, the stories and worlds coming from the rich imaginations of Christian authors resonate with – regardless of whether they were intentionally or subconsciously inserted – meaningful Christian undertones. Now, John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress is one epic Christian fantasy story I would love to see beautifully adapted into the big screen.
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