The Christian genre as a whole is sometimes cheesy, labeled for only conservative families, and generally doesn't appeal to adults that want more depth than a simple bible lesson. I'm not saying there isn't good stuff out there for adults, but I am saying that the secular movies of quality outweigh this genre's quality films. The rules that go into a Christian genre of film or fiction can hold serious writers and screenwriters back. Let's talk about that.
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| Photo by Roger Ebert |
Tolkien and Lewis are in fantasy, by the way, so think about that one for a split second. While being known for Christian content, they are not even in the genre for their most famous works (technically). Christian audiences tend to be into "safe" TV and G or PG rate their content. Is that wrong for kids? No, but addressing serious issues will cause some of the Christian bubble to rate their stuff R. It upsets people who are dangerously comfortable in safe, Hallmark territory. You don't rock the boat in this genre. Mysteries and thrillers are hard to write if you can't do that.
The danger of getting too comfortable with "safe" TV is that you forget what reality is. It may be an escape from real life (and that is perfectly okay), but I don't want to live there forever. Some Christian audience members bristle at what doesn't fit their comfy, cushioned entertainment. These same people are buying everything that is labeled for Christians. Unfortunately, the entertainment industry knows this and pops out movies that are fake Christianity. At times, they don't even make it quality. Fireproof and Prince of Egypt and several other films like Veggietales and The Passion are exceptions to this rule. That said, be careful what is labeled "Christian" out there. People are trying to get your money for a movie that isn't worth a dollar, most likely ripping off other movies in the process.
The truth about the Bible itself is that it isn't rated G or PG when you get into the Good Book and dig in. The life of David, a man after God's own heart, was rather bloody in nature. He even killed one of his best warriors to get Bathsheba for himself (and paid for it dearly). Furthermore, take a good look at the Kings, Judges, and the prophetic books of the Bible. Even Paul's life was a bit violent. Should we portray every violence in the Bible on film? No. Should we pretend Biblical times were all G-rated? No. There is a line of what to show and not to show to audiences of varied ages. Of course, kids do need to have some of it tempered until they are mature enough. Christian films should go deeper into the Bible while being careful of that line. History should be tastefully and carefully told to us. The sad thing is that most "safe" TV apps would cut out part of that history in the process when they trim the movies for us.
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| Photo by Faithlife TV |
I am not trying to say that "safe" TV should disappear. I want to make that clear. The app has a place and time. When you want your kids to be okay on their own you set limits on TV, which is perfectly fine to do. No five-year-old or ten-year-old needs to find accidental adult content on their streaming services. Mature people (without addictions), however, don't need to be depending on the guidance of an app that cuts out intense parts of movies. You can skip a scene you can't handle all by yourself. My point? Kids and people with addictions need it, but adults can generally judge for themselves what is within their conscience. As an adult, you should be responsible enough to know what you can't handle and be able to step away from that content. Only in the case of addictions should you need extra support from a Christian app or software, and there is no shame in needing help, so get that help if you need it. Like I said before, there is a time and place for Christian TV apps.
The Rules of the Christian Genre
Writing within rules that don't allow x, y, or z is sometimes hard. Writers know the struggle of fitting into a mold (any mold), only to have a scene that you loved and thought was important killed for being "too intense". The Christian bubble mostly wants comfort films and TV. Films that made big points were sometimes not truly appreciated by the audience it was aimed at due to the content (abortions, etc...) of darker nature. I don't advocate ignoring or banning films that try to point a mirror at society in any way. Dark being pierced by the light and highlighted serious issues do need to be let into the club if we are truly trying to be truthful in Christ.
To be set in the Christian genre you have to have Christian themes strongly built into it. It has to be obvious. The wholesome, faith-based content has to be there for you to fit the mold. Your main character has to behave biblically and morally, but the others characters can be total heathens. The writers tend to not make the target audience uncomfortable because the bookstores only stock what readers like. Christian readers are told to not read sex in books, so this virtually rules out sexual content of any kind (even if the authors themselves do write it). I have a whole blog on this topic of sex and Christian fiction, so check that out
here. Depending on where you live the genre may shift to conservative views. The bottom line, the writers and filmmakers have to heed their audience. An author may push for intense like Ted Dekker or go for guidepost-y stuff. It varies to a slight degree. The publisher ultimately sets the standards and it may change if you switch to another company.
The cons of that list are that Christian audiences alone find it, negating the way they are trying to spread the gospel. Here we are preaching to the choir when the world is skipping the genre altogether (even some Christians dislike the Christian fiction section to a degree). Christian writers outside this genre do better because of the lack of rules and amped up creativity. Seriously, Tolkien and Lewis are in fantasy and not here, unless we are talking about Bible study books (we aren't). Another problem here is that portraying real people means that we need to skip the goody-two-shoes characters that Hallmark likes to steal from the Christian genre. Yet, if writers and authors have to fit the genre to be stocked in stores they can't skip that character, which means showing their faith struggle is still harder to do. Addressing sex is nearly impossible (depending on how you do it), so if your character struggles with sexual temptation and has sex that part could get chopped in editing. The major issue I see here is that trying to please the Christian Bubble means not rocking the boat, making it nearly impossible to point a mirror at our Christian Bubble. Making characters border on perfection is also a trend that makes it hard to relate to the character in front of you, which leads to some readers putting the book back on the shelf or returning the movie.
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| Photo by The Christian Broadcasting Network |
The pros for this are that your kids can pick this up and read or watch it without being overly worried about finding sex scenes, too much violence, and getting bad examples. I do read some Christian Bubble mysteries (for pallet cleansers between other books). There are good ones. Much like Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys (though those are secular), you can pick these up and read them in a day with no language, sex, violence, or gore (depending on the Christian publisher standards). I do enjoy a book I can read in one day and cleanse my pallet with. Film-wise, there is the same almost guarantee of wholesome content (usually). Minus the books and movies broadcasting fake Christianity, you are okay to let your kids roam this section of the library without too much stress. Even if they find a terrible quality film. I'm pretty sure they'll find a few good ones and a few badly made ones.
Christian Films
The real struggle with filming and movies is that bad Christian films have outnumbered the good, high-quality ones. That means the Church is not getting taken seriously in the film industry as a whole. The amount of influence a movie or TV show can have is staggering. I want to challenge Christians who are good filmmakers to get out there and show the world we can make good movies and shows that include Christian struggles and real life. Rise up! I know several excellent filmmakers that have already made good movies and documentaries. Don't let movies like Joshua and The Promised Land or Finding Jesus ruin the reputations of good, quality ones like Prince of Egypt and The Miracle Maker. I'm calling and challenging the Church to put forth the effort and get their work out there. Show me the life of David or Paul in a mini-series. Give the kids an action cartoon of Jesus (with accurate content). The Bible is not a boring book. Go find the story of Elisha and Elijah and the Apostles.
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| Photo by Christian Film Review |
Christian genre movies are known for "sanitizing" pop culture movies, which is stealing the concept and making it appropriate for the Christian Bubble. An original plot? No, let's take Fifty Shades of Grey and counter it with a movie about chastity called Old Fashioned. It makes the genre look so bad. While some places have original content, most don't. On top of that, low budgets mean fewer big names, which leads to fewer viewers drawn in. It represents the world not as it is and sometimes avoids all darkness. Films are known for preaching with dialogue, too. If it feels forced and unnatural you are looking at bad writing. Unfortunately for this genre, writing forced and unnatural dialogue to get your point across shows up in the knockoff movies some people make. If you have the choice of a big, well-acted, well-written film and a cheap knockoff that is marketed to Christian families do you choose the knockoff? No! That is precisely why this genre of film has little to no budget - it barely makes anything!
While I support
Veggietales all the way, I can't support cheesy imitations of secular films that will inevitably do worse than the original. We need to fix this! To be fair though, it should be known that Hollywood seldom treats the Christian Bubble well. Christian characters are often portrayed as nuts or off-base. If you want some interesting, big-name films to watch click
here. Some of these look good. These were not aimed at Christian Bubbles, either, so that's kind of cool. Check out the behind-the-scenes of
Holy Zombie here if you want a non-cheesy storyline by a Christian director.
Conclusions
I was bored with cheesy, Hallmarky books from a young age. If I got one as a young kid it collected dust. I read dinosaur books, mysteries, romances, and adventure. I was also a gifted reader, avid too. I found "Women's Murder Club" somewhere between Jr. High and High School. I loved Veggietales as a kid, was forced to watch The Passion (which is good), and liked The Chronicles of Narnia. The Christian genre movies I liked aside, I'd say most of the films and TV shows I enjoyed were secular, even today. Given all this information, you can see that the Christian genre of media, in my opinion, lacks depth. As someone who loves depth in movies and books, I needed more mental challenge than this genre generally gives me.
To summarize the above, I'll simply say this; the Christian genre of fiction as a whole can do better than this and should be actively trying. I give full credit to those that are. Faith should have depth and be challenged to strengthen us. If you are not seeing that in your family-friendly films that your app deems safe, shut off the app and explore the options out there yourself. While kids and those with addictions may need the guide rails, I'd say that the average adult does not. If you do need those apps and software take advantage of them, please. There is no judgment for that.
Filmmakers, you know what to do. Writers, you can do this! I believe in you all. Go forth and make me proud!
Sources:
https://www.vox.com/2015/2/15/8038283/christian-movies-bad-old-fashioned-fifty-shades
https://mikefrost.net/christians-in-the-movies-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/
https://www.filmcon.net/post/holyzombie
http://www.cinemablography.org/blog/the-christian-film-genre-a-dangerous-and-pretentious-label
https://australasianchristianwriters.com/fiction-friday-acceptable-content-christian-fiction/
https://www.maryjmoerbe.com/2016/01/13/rules-for-christian-writing/
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