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Immorality, self-destruction, crime, vulgarity, graphic sexual scenes, and other such elements plague most contemporary movies. “Why can’t people make a Christian movie?” people rhetorically question. It’s like preaching to the choir. Who went to see Evan Almighty? Christians.  Who went to see The Nativity? Christians. Many people--even authors--argue that movies currently have a greater influence over the mass public than books. However, this doesn’t mean that a single movie will influence a single person more than a single book will influence a single person. America, as a whole, does not have time to pick up a rich book such as The Scarlet Letter or The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and learn about the mechanisms of the human mind and its values because we’re too caught up with our other tasks and obligations from daily life. Given a free afternoon, most Americans are much more likely to watch a movie than read a book--unfortunately.

 

Most of the thought involved in a story is lost when we translate it into a movie. Nearly all story books do not tell stories simply about actions but the thoughts that the actions provoke. What a book could simply say in: “The stage lights fell on him, and for a moment, he thought he felt the inferno of Hell, cast down on him from above. He felt no heat energy--but spiritual, his conscience and guilt burned against the public image his 'sinless' appearance had created like a corrosive acid placed on a white table cloth, he felt his knees weaken, and the weight of the light fell on him. Then, the thunderous applause of the crowd shattered his reverie and he once again indulged in the love his congregation had for him,” simply cannot exist in movies because books assume a dimension of description that movies do not have. Movies have sight and sound; they cannot accurately portray emotion through description of thoughts in the way that books can.  

 

Consequently, a lot of “Christianity” is lost in movies. Christians are called to reach out to other people and bring them to God. Movies such as Evan Almighty and The Nativity which are advertised as “Christian movies” are not likely to attract many atheists because of their nature. However, Christianity isn’t a style or a genre; it’s a way of life and interpretation of our world based on certain premises. Since much thought in stories is lost when we translate them into movies, the Christian thoughts are lost.

 

There is more to Christianity than thoughts, however; charity, honesty, kindness, and other such actions and behaviors are traits that Christians aspire to perfect. God calls us to have a burning love for Him and for one another and to realize that materialism (popularity, riches, fame, glamour) will not fulfill us in the same ways that friendship, love, kindness, and charity do.

 

Often times, we become too functionally fixed on the meaning of Christianity and, when asked if someone acts like a Christian, we immediately think, “Does he pray? Does he look to the Bible for truth? Does he go to church?” When someone asks if a man is evil, we might similarly ask, “Does he steal? Does he worship Satan? Does he disregard the Bible? Does he burn crosses?” Often times, we get so caught up in the first set of questions that we forget about the second. Although, when we examine a character in a movie, say one who gets involved in a bloody gun fight to save his wife, we often figure, oh, he does not believe in Christianity. He, however, does not answer “yes” to any of the questions about being evil.

 

God works in many mysterious ways, and, just because we do not see someone blatantly expressing his Christian faith, we cannot assume that he is “evil.” The man in the previous example shows some very Christian traits: bravery, love, and sacrifice. We need to learn to look for Christian traits, then model ourselves to have such traits. The Guardian, a wonderful movie, teaches values about bravery, commitment, friendship, and selflessness, even though none of the characters are explicitly Christian. A lot of the time, explicitly Christian movies do not relate Christianity in the way that other movies with Christian values do. I learned much more about what it means to be a “good person” from watching The Guardian than I did from Evan Almighty or The Nativity. Look for signs of Christianity, not blatant professions of faith.

 

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