Taking a Christian Gander at Celluloid Faith

Judge David Johnson

September 11th, 2005

Christianity and film: a de facto powder keg, or two great tastes that taste great together? As an evangelical and a movie fan, I have long been interested in the portrayal of my faith -- or tenets of my faith -- on screen.

With the recent box-office cleansing that The Passion of the Christ wrought, as well as the looming controversy that The Da Vinci Code will certainly bring us, it is more than clear that American moviegoers find Christian films lightning rods -- something that electrifies their beliefs and lays bare their wallets or gets them fired up and protesting at the ticket counter.

I happily support both those positions. That's the beauty of our society. But that doesn't necessarily mean I'm down with the protestors. Most of the time they don't speak for me. For that reason, I thought I'd take a moment and shed the impartial mask of a film reviewer and look at some Christian films through the lens of the belief system and worldview that define me -- evangelical Christianity.

• The Last Temptation of Christ
When this super-controversial Martin Scorsese film was unleashed in 1989, I wasn't paying too much attention, being in middle school and all; I was worrying more about perfecting my Street Fighter 2 skills and avoiding the ill-timed erection sneak attack that puberty was so keen on launching than what was happening to a small film from some famous guy that garnered a lot of attention from a lot of wackos.

As a result of the controversy, I grew up thinking that the film was an abomination that defecated on the person of Jesus and basically besmirched every aspect of modern Christianity. Years later, I came across the source novel by Nikos Kazantzakis and devoured it; I found it an engaging, moving meditation of faith, and clearly not intended as a history lesson.

In a nutshell, I had the same opinion of the film adaptation when I finally viewed the film. Clearly marked as fiction from the onset, the film is more a case study in perseverance and spiritual refinement than a biopic on Christ. If you go in looking for theological insights, yeah, the movie will disappoint, maybe even offend. But as a piece of art, taken seriously by a gifted director -- himself Catholic -- The Last Temptation of Christ proves to be a powerful investigation into being forged, Christ-like, in the fires of faith.

• Dogma
Kevin Smith's very funny and highly scrutinized comedy got a lot of people riled up. While I'm not a Catholic, and the themes tackled in the film had more to do with the Vatican's approach to Christianity, I found much value in Smith's religious musings/fart jokes. The notion of a God that transcends human gender, the accessibility of redemption and sanctification by the Creator, the clear delineation between spiritual good and evil -- all good stuff, cleverly written.

Heck, maybe I'm reading too much into a movie where our heroes battle a monster made out of excrement, but from watching the film and reading Kevin Smith's remarks, it's obvious he takes his faith seriously. Why this film received the barrage of criticism while authentic Christian claptrap like the Gnostic Stigmata received a pass, I have no idea. Probably because the former was a good film and the latter sucked ass.

• Constantine
Though this was not really a box-office success and was hit fairly hard by fanboy criticism, I really dug this flick. About an occult investigator who has the inside scoop on spiritual warfare, Constantine surprised me with some intriguing elements that touched on the nature of good and evil and the role of selflessness in the Christian walk.

Sure, it's packed silly with orthodoxy mumbo-jumbo (God and Satan wagering for the souls of mankind, for example), but for someone who believes in the metaphysical, personal God, well, it's part of the package to recognize that there's another major player in this game. With typical Hollywood glitz, but imbibed with some kernels of truth, I think Constantine turned out to be a surprisingly effective big-screen statement of faith. And those demons were scary!

One of the great things about evangelical Christianity is the willingness to debate and ask questions. As a Bible-based strain of Christianity, it offers much room for discussion. While rock-solid cores are still unshakable (the deity of Christ, the Trinity, the means of redemption), and departures from such tenets would render that respective faith no longer evangelical, the tent is indeed big, in my opinion. What I'm trying to say is that while I'm sure there are many perfectly awesome enlightened, God-fearing Christians out there who would vigorously disagree with my takes on the above films... well, that's cool. All have been led to different points in their lives and have arrived at a variety of opinions about what they feel clicks with their faith, be it film, book, television show, or any other piece of art. And any condemnation of such art should be looked at closely; a greater statement of Christian faith is not necessarily springing a film from a theater, but may in fact be the avoidance of alienating nonbelievers through poorly reasoned bloviations.