A Kingdom criteria for reviewing movies
What should be the Christian criteria for reviewing movies? This blog is about the good news of the kingdom of God. So, here we evaluate things in the context of what God intended them to be–in other words, what they should be as the Kingdom advances and transforms the world into the place God intended it to be.
And that brings us to the subject of movies. We are only a few weeks away from the American Academy Awards, so it seems an appropriate time to address what makes for a good movie in the kingdom of God. Mind you, this does mean we are asking what Christians like, but what they should like in a movie.
If you are are like me, before you watch a movie, you check Rotten Tomatoes to see how the movie is rated. I look at both the audience rating and the critics rating, and rarely are they the same. That is because the audience evaluates movies for their entertainment value, while critics evaluate them on their technical merit. In terms of the kingdom of God, both are right and both are wrong, or better, both are incomplete.
As I have suggested above, settling on a Kingdom criteria for evaluating movies starts with a teleological question: What is the purpose of movies in the kingdom of God? I think there are three primary criteria.
A good movie is entertaining
Movies are a form of entertainment first and foremost, just as professional sports are a form of entertainment. Movies don’t exist so movie stars, directors, and grips can make a living; they exist primarily for the purpose of entertaining an audience. If a movie fails to entertain, it has failed fundamentally. End of story.
Too many modern movies are too message laden and story light.
Too many modern movies are too message laden and story light. They are frankly boring. The message should be inherent in a communicated by an entertaining story. If I just want a message, I can watch a documentary or read non-fiction. The medium of film is unique in that allows a message and story to be communicated in a visual medium. Too many filmmakers today have wrongly concluded that message alone can carry a story, and it is the opposite.
A good movie is engaging
A two hour chase scene might be entertaining, but it wouldn’t be particularly engaging. The best movies should engage us on an emotional, intellectual, or spiritual level so we can be transformed as humans, or as theologians say, be sanctified. This doesn’t mean the message has to be religious, but to the extent the movie helps us grow, the movie has done more than merely entertain.
The technical aspects of a movie, such as the acting, the cinematography, and the script, which critics so often focus on are not the goal, but the means by which the movie is made entertaining and engaging. Too much focus on the tools rather than the sculpture misses the point.
A good movie is honest
Lastly, movies should not lie to the audience. This means movies should not represent a false worldview as true. That doesn’t mean a movie can’t have profanity, or address difficult topics, or must have happy endings. But a good movie should not mislead its audience by promoting as true something that is false. If I lied to you, you would be right to judge me for it. We should be as demanding of our movies.
When you consider these three criteria, you can see why Christian moviemakers have so often fallen short. A movie isn’t “Christian” because it preaches the gospel. So often, such movies do only that, are not very entertaining or engaging. And worse, the message is often so in-your-face to be off-putting to non-Christians, the very people it should be trying to reach.
What about nudity, profanity, and violence?
Agreed: nudity is almost never necessary in movies, and there is too much profanity and definitely too much violence in movies today. But recognizing this should be a no-brainer for Christians, and I’m guessing you don’t come to this blog for me to tell you what you already know. I will leave that to others, who review movies for just these reasons. They provide a service, especially for those who take their kids to the movies.
But back to the point–all nudity, profanity, and violence aside–when the world is functioning as God intends, movies will be entertaining, engaging, and honest. You won’t watch a movie and be bored by the story. Movies will engage our mind, will, and emotions, nudging us toward personal transformation. And there will be no gender confusion evangelism. Movies will not give the impression that every woman has sex with a man on the first date, or that it’s impossible for people to be chaste before marriage. Movies will not not mislead viewers about reality.
Until then, Kingdom citizens can move the standard in that direction voting through what they pay to watch. GS
