Monday, October 5, 2009

Christian movies try to be better, but still. . .

For all you cultural warriors out there Gene Veith has a short and thoughtful piece today on Christian filmmakers.  We can be grateful for Christians laboring in this field, but we must also apply objective standards to the final product. 

He writes,

OK, I’m glad the filmmakers are focusing on better quality. I salute you. But take some lessons from the past. I am currently teaching a course entitled “Major Christian Authors,” covering such authors as Dante, Spenser, Herbert, Bunyan, Hopkins, Chesterton, T. S. Eliot, C. S. Lewis, Graham Greene, Flannery O’Connor. NONE of them wrote about people’s personal problems...These classic Christian authors–who actually did influence their cultures–saw Christianity as being rather more than a means of solving life’s problems, and none of them lapsed into the deadly aesthetic sin of SENTIMENTALITY.

Sentimentality.  Isn't that how you would summarize the Hallmark Channel?

Christian movies try to be better, but still. . .

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