Despite the bomb that was Evan Almighty, millions of devout Americans are still waiting to be invited into a theater to see a film that is entertaining, affirms their values and doesn't trivialize their deeply held religious beliefs. If Hollywood continues to create films like Evan Almighty, millions of traditionalists may grow to rue the day when Hollywood, with dollar signs in its eyes, began courting them with wilted flowers and stale chocolate.
Mixing religion and entertainment has been long avoided for a reason:
It's difficult to do well. But if the result of this grand new experiment is films that are neither faithful nor funny, millions of traditionalists will likely find less expensive ways to be entertained and inspired.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
A Persepective on Hollywood and Christians
Tim Challies has posted some thoughts on why Evan Almighty has flopped after being marketed to Christians. Tim's comments are sparked by an article on the FoxNews.com. That article concludes with the following:
A Visit to Vanity Fair
A Visit to Vanity Fair is a book of essays by Alan Jacobs. Jacobs calls them moral essays, subtitling the book "Moral Essays on the Present Age." I recommend this book to you. The book, in my second listen through its audio form from Mars Hill Audio (near the bottom of the page), is the inspiration behind this blog.
While I'm not sure I will be writing what Jacobs' calls "moral essays" I will be providing some critique on the culture. By using "Vanity Fair" (Vanity is a town in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress where a year long fair was held, hence the full title of "A Pilgrim in Vanity Fair") I am announcing a critical (or counter-cultural) spirit in examining the zeitgeist of early 21st century America.
If the blog has a tag line, it would probably be from Harry Chapin's "There Only Was One Choice" where Harry sings, "Harry, Can you honestly believe that the country's getting better when all you do is let her alone."
I'm not sure how frequently I will post here, or what all I will post on. One thought rattling around in my head is to start by touching on at least some of the essays in this blogs inspiration, but I've not committed to that yet.
I want to close with something that should go with out saying, but still needs to be said. The contents here are (generally - I will be posting quotes, etc. from time to time) my own rambling thoughts. Do not blame Alan Jacobs or anyone else for what I write. While the content will be very dependent on what I hear and learn from others, realize that it has been filtered through my brain which may or may not return faithful and/or agreed to conclusions from the source material.
While I'm not sure I will be writing what Jacobs' calls "moral essays" I will be providing some critique on the culture. By using "Vanity Fair" (Vanity is a town in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress where a year long fair was held, hence the full title of "A Pilgrim in Vanity Fair") I am announcing a critical (or counter-cultural) spirit in examining the zeitgeist of early 21st century America.
If the blog has a tag line, it would probably be from Harry Chapin's "There Only Was One Choice" where Harry sings, "Harry, Can you honestly believe that the country's getting better when all you do is let her alone."
I'm not sure how frequently I will post here, or what all I will post on. One thought rattling around in my head is to start by touching on at least some of the essays in this blogs inspiration, but I've not committed to that yet.
I want to close with something that should go with out saying, but still needs to be said. The contents here are (generally - I will be posting quotes, etc. from time to time) my own rambling thoughts. Do not blame Alan Jacobs or anyone else for what I write. While the content will be very dependent on what I hear and learn from others, realize that it has been filtered through my brain which may or may not return faithful and/or agreed to conclusions from the source material.
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