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:
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2 comments:
Eddie,
Just wanted to say how cool it is to meet another Christian blogger who digs the Dark Tower. What an amazing series. Yes, I think the last few books were not quite up to the same caliber as the first few, but wow- they were still great.
There'll be water if God wills it.
I've often thought of doing a series of blogs on how Stephen King as a stronger view of providence and sovereignty in the midst of tragedy than do most evangelical Christians.
Let me know if you'd ever want to blog on that topic, maybe we could dialogue a bit.
BTW, Desperation had some of the most provocative things to say about God than most books I've read either.
Greg,
I'm almost finished with Bev Vincent's "The Long Road to the Dark Tower" which has me seriously interested in rereading (or, more likely, listening via audio book) to the series. That said, there isn't as much discussion of ideas as a recap of the series and characters. For example, there is an assumption that Roland's ka-tet are the same each iteration. While that may be likely, there is no discussion of another possibility and why that would be the same.
King is fascinating in many ways as a writer. I'm not a "read everything" kind of King fan (Desperation is on my list of books I'd like to read, but haven't gotten to) but I've read a lot. I'm probably unusual in some respects because The Dark Tower series made me a fan (I'd read maybe 1-2 of his books before The Gunslinger). I understand there are a lot of his "constant readers" who do not like even the beginning of the series.
I saw 1408 this weekend (I had read the story before) and it seems typical of King in many ways to me. The protagonist is past being a skeptic to being a thorough going disbeliever in anything until he encounters something he cannot explain.
Like you I've met few believers who will admit to being a fan, and would like to discuss King and his work more if you're really interested.
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