Christians in Film

One of the discussions that has come up time and time again in this course has been something along the lines of "how do we make Christian film that appeals to those who are not Christian?" Just yesterday during coffee hour at my church back at home, I was sitting with a retired professor from Sienna Heights University and we were talking about film, and this same idea popped up in the conversation. We discussed Christian symbolism found in many popular films, but besides that there are very few forms of film and media that promote the actual Christian faith. It came up that one of my dad's favorite shows on TV is the CBS police show with Tom Selleck, Blue Bloods. While the stories, writing, and acting is great, the thing he likes best is that the family on the show is Christian - they have all three generations around the table and pray before their meals and discuss their faith and values. The topics that they cover are all handled very intelligently and respectively. Interestingly, the reception of this show has been very good, the rating is high, and it's going into its 5th season.

Irish-Catholic family from the CBS show Blue Bloods praying around the table

The night before, my dad and I were watching The Fault in Our Stars - one of the biggest and most talked about blockbusters of 2014. We both rolled our eyes at the one dorky and aloof Christian character in the film who is just an embarrassment to the faith community which is so often the case in Hollywood portrayals. Other than that, there was a brief discussion between the two main characters about whether they believed angels and an afterlife existed without ever even mentioning God. In my opinion, given the nature of this story, it would have been fitting for a Christian viewpoint and discussion throughout it, but I wonder how that would have affected its popularity? I'm not bashing the story or the movie (I liked it!) but it left me feeling a little uncomfortable when it came to their portrayal of Christianity, given their audience.

The Literal Heart of Jesus from The Fault in Our Stars: Tragically comedic or tragically mocking?