Opinion on Christian Film

In 2013 I wrote out my opinion on Christian Films and was posted to the blog Alternate Arts. (The direct link to my article here)
Here it is for all of you to read.

I think that most Christian films are a slap in the face especially to non-Christians. They slam Christianity on you and it can make you feel like you’re being attacked. They basically tell you that you area a bad person unless you read the Bible and go to church. I don’t think that reading the Bible and going to church is a bad thing, I just feel like the way they present the Christian faith isn’t done well. I think this is why many people are turned off from films like this. They don’t want to feel attacked they just want to be entertained and it’s nice if they learn something in the process. 

I also think that these films are very predictable and unrealistic. Most Christian films that I’ve seen follow the outline of someone's life that is not going to their plan. They get “right” with God or become a Christian and then all the good things they want to happen, happen. Now being a Christian I know that this doesn’t always happen. Yes, God does bless us but it doesn’t always happen right away or it’s not always what we expect it to be. The other outline that Christian films follow is the Prodigal Son story. This is where someone grows up in the church, then they stray from the church and that life isn’t what they expected it to be. Once they realize this they go back to the church and everything is good again. I’ve seen this happen in real life but it doesn’t happen in everyone’s life. This is what makes these films unrealistic as well. I have also noticed that most Christian films don’t touch on topics like drinking, drugs, sex, etc which does happen in the real world. Now, I guess this would depend on the person making the film and how they feel about these issues but these are important issues that aren’t really addressed in Christian films that often need to be. 

If I were to make a Christian film I would focus on the problems facing many people today. I wouldn’t follow the same guidelines previous films used. I would try to make it as realistic as possible by mimicking daily life as accurately as possible. I would focus them on many problems that people are facing today and include Biblical ways to overcome these problems. Basically, the only way to overcome any situation you are in is with God and I would make that very clear in my films. I would also make them in a way that both Christians and non-Christians can learn from them without feeling like they are being attacked. 

Some people who I feel have done this well are Tyler Perry with his many films like "Why Did I Get Married?", Deitrick Haddon with his film "Blessed and Cursed" and Brian Baugh with his film "To Save a Life."