Hollywood in fact appropriates a lot from the Bible. They just couch it as something else, repackage it as something non-Christian. They can't make a movie giving Christians due respect as they would anyone else, but they're happy to rake in millions appropriating from the source.
Nice to meet someone else who's seen the light but - sigh - where were you 20 years ago when 2 reporters - Terry Mattingly and Doug LeBlanc - began GetReligion.org, which was 2 decades of columns by multiple journalists citing examples of how journalists don't 'get religion.' (Terry has begun his own substack 'Rational Sheep' which is some of the same albeit w/more pop culture references). There's been a *lot* of us talking about the need for decent portrayals of religion in movies for years and years and years. But when someone gets it right, ie Mel Gibson's "The Passion," they get eviscerated in the media to the point they never try it again.
It's a horror movie for people who understand that William Friedkin and Bill Blatty were men of faith who didn't set out to make a horror movie with The Exorcist.
A good article. I have been wracking my brains for good reason portrayals of religious faith (whether or not "positive). a Serious Man by the Cohens and the TV show Ramy do come to mind.
Well damn. Now I'm even more interested in this. I might go check it out this weekend. Also major props for the First Reformed reference; that was the first film I saw that made me appreciate the complexity of faith for a lot of people. You also got me thinking about the (largely accurate, in my opinion) observation that the hyper-woke types are religious zealots and yet define themselves as secular; I wonder if it's because they HAVE that cartoonish view of religion so when they begin to act religiously, it's so, well, cartoonish. Regardless, thanks for the recommendation and getting me all thoughtful.
This has been a complaint of mine for a long time, so thanks for writing about it. I look forward to seeing Heretic. Cabrini, a recent film about Mother Cabrini,and Silence, a Martin Scorsese movie, are two excellent movies centered on religion and faith.
Thanks for the movie recommendation, I'll give it a try. Your description sort of reminds me of 2023 'Freud's Last Session' (CS Lewis visit to Freud on eve of WW2). I watched movie 'Conclave' recently. I went in not knowing anything about the movie, except for all the big names. With the big reveal at the end, I walked out of the theater in disgust. I'm not Catholic, but the movie came across as a middle finger to them and I didn't like it.
This sounds like a good movie! Is it scary or suspenseful or more of a drama? I'm in early pregnancy so hesitant to get too worked up for a horror movie.
Another work that I thought depicted religion fairly was Midnight Mass (Netflix series). It's a horror show, and there's one character that's the typical judgmental, overzealous, church lady type, but otherwise I felt like it was a faithful depiction of Catholics. I'm not Catholic myself but most of my family is and I've always resented the fact my dad left the church to become a born-again fundamentalist, and I was never confirmed as a child.
Have there been similar treatments of Islam? What are the corresponding films, foreign or domestic, that look at Islamic faith in the same or similar way? Or is Mormonism, with it's unorthodox, but nonetheless Christian dogma meant as a stand in for all faiths?
Hollywood in fact appropriates a lot from the Bible. They just couch it as something else, repackage it as something non-Christian. They can't make a movie giving Christians due respect as they would anyone else, but they're happy to rake in millions appropriating from the source.
Thanks for the recommendation! Will give Heretic a whirl.
Nice to meet someone else who's seen the light but - sigh - where were you 20 years ago when 2 reporters - Terry Mattingly and Doug LeBlanc - began GetReligion.org, which was 2 decades of columns by multiple journalists citing examples of how journalists don't 'get religion.' (Terry has begun his own substack 'Rational Sheep' which is some of the same albeit w/more pop culture references). There's been a *lot* of us talking about the need for decent portrayals of religion in movies for years and years and years. But when someone gets it right, ie Mel Gibson's "The Passion," they get eviscerated in the media to the point they never try it again.
It's a horror movie for people who understand that William Friedkin and Bill Blatty were men of faith who didn't set out to make a horror movie with The Exorcist.
A good article. I have been wracking my brains for good reason portrayals of religious faith (whether or not "positive). a Serious Man by the Cohens and the TV show Ramy do come to mind.
I love Ramy and did a review here some time ago: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/magazine-life-arts/424710/ramy-and-the-virtue-of-anti-fragility/
Well damn. Now I'm even more interested in this. I might go check it out this weekend. Also major props for the First Reformed reference; that was the first film I saw that made me appreciate the complexity of faith for a lot of people. You also got me thinking about the (largely accurate, in my opinion) observation that the hyper-woke types are religious zealots and yet define themselves as secular; I wonder if it's because they HAVE that cartoonish view of religion so when they begin to act religiously, it's so, well, cartoonish. Regardless, thanks for the recommendation and getting me all thoughtful.
This has been a complaint of mine for a long time, so thanks for writing about it. I look forward to seeing Heretic. Cabrini, a recent film about Mother Cabrini,and Silence, a Martin Scorsese movie, are two excellent movies centered on religion and faith.
Heretic looks great, I'm excited to check it out.
Another recent movie to seriously handle religion would be Silence, about Portuguese missionaries to Japan in the 1600s after Christianity was banned.
Thanks for the movie recommendation, I'll give it a try. Your description sort of reminds me of 2023 'Freud's Last Session' (CS Lewis visit to Freud on eve of WW2). I watched movie 'Conclave' recently. I went in not knowing anything about the movie, except for all the big names. With the big reveal at the end, I walked out of the theater in disgust. I'm not Catholic, but the movie came across as a middle finger to them and I didn't like it.
This sounds like a good movie! Is it scary or suspenseful or more of a drama? I'm in early pregnancy so hesitant to get too worked up for a horror movie.
Another work that I thought depicted religion fairly was Midnight Mass (Netflix series). It's a horror show, and there's one character that's the typical judgmental, overzealous, church lady type, but otherwise I felt like it was a faithful depiction of Catholics. I'm not Catholic myself but most of my family is and I've always resented the fact my dad left the church to become a born-again fundamentalist, and I was never confirmed as a child.
It’s definitely a thriller and has some tense sequences. Not as many jump scares though.
Have there been similar treatments of Islam? What are the corresponding films, foreign or domestic, that look at Islamic faith in the same or similar way? Or is Mormonism, with it's unorthodox, but nonetheless Christian dogma meant as a stand in for all faiths?