The Deficiencies Of Christian Films

It usually does not require a great amount of effort to get many Christians to admit the deficiencies of Christian filmmaking at large.  The atrocities of Christian cinema are renowned in both Christian and secular circles, and yet there is seemingly little done about them.  There is a very small Christian presence among the creators of video games (if there is one at all).  Christian authors are relatively common, and their work is often quite hit or miss when it comes to quality.  In the world of film, though, Christians almost always produce horrid offerings that deserve mockery, indifference, or hostility.

At the core of the problem is the tendency for certain Christians, almost invariably conservative evangelicals, to eagerly rally around even the most pitiful movies as long as they are made with the evangelical audience in mind.  Even many Christians recognize that Christian filmmakers can intentionally put subpar effort into their scripts, performances, and visuals and yet still expect the support of evangelicals to be given to them simply because they made Christian movies.  Unfortunately, they often do receive evangelical support just because their movies are explicitly Christian!  The generally poor production values of their works are often coupled with severe repetition: many Christian movies cover the same small handful of Biblical events or themes.  In fact, it usually takes secular directors to create movies about Biblical stories that both take the stories seriously (at least as perceived mythology) and grapple with major concepts.

The most thoughtful and artistically excellent movies about Biblical events that I am aware of have not even been made by Christians--Darren Aronofsky's Noah and Ridley Scott's Exodus, for example, are vastly superior to Christian-made Biblical films not only when it comes to production values, but even also when it comes to philosophical depth.  Of course, the vocal evangelical world can be quick to demonize such movies because of the additions of certain subplots that are not mentioned in the Biblical narratives, despite how clever or thematically significant they are.  Whether or not this demonization is motivated by a frustration that non-Christian directors tend to handle Biblical material better than Christians themselves do is unclear, but it is not uncommon for evangelicals to reject Biblical films made by non-Christians for the most pathetic reasons they could argue from.

How should Christians who desire to create movies respond to these facts?  One of the most intelligent approaches to movies for Christian filmmakers doesn't even involve the making of "Christian" movies.  Doctor Strange, part of the incredibly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe, was directed by Scott Derrickson, a Christian whose film emphasized the elements of the Marvel mythos that coincide with Christian metaphysics (mind-body dualism and a denial of naturalism) and ethics (humility).  It is not difficult to see how Derrickson's Christian worldview in part parallels the concepts Doctor Strange explores, but his movie is clearly not about Christianity.  This is perhaps the best way for Christians to influence cinema.  They do not necessarily need to make Christian movies, but should instead craft movies that present ideas which are consistent with Christianity without sacrificing artistic excellence in the process.

If Christians in general cared about using cinema to impact those outside of the church, they would refrain from endorsing Christian films of abhorrent quality.  They would perhaps even contribute to the mockery of what Christian entertainment often amounts to.  Instead of perpetuating abysmal standards, they would either offer their support to promising Christian projects or take the Doctor Strange approach.  It is asinine to expect secular people to take Christian movies seriously when it is clear that many of the Christians who make that entertainment do not.