Why Christian Movies are BAD | The Problem with Christian Media
Why Christian Movies are BAD | The Problem with Christian Media
As Christians who believe in a limitless creative God, should we demand better films or settle for what is given to us because its Christian? This video will discuss the problem with christian movies, their impact on christianity, and why christian movies are bad on a multitude of levels.
CHRISTIAN MOVIE BOX OFFICE VIDEO:
REVIEW ANALYZING THE LEGALITIES OF GND2:
ARTICLE DEBUNKING GND CREDIT CASES: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/04/08/lets-debunk-the-christian-persecution-court-cases-that-inspired-the-gods-not-dead-films/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/josh_keefe/
The movie Inherite The Wind was enjoyable to watch. The trial was loosly based on the 1925 Scopes Monkey trial. It is also condemnation of McCarthyism and its chilling effect on the US.
What about The Robe and Ben Hur ?
I’ve only seen one good christian movie and it was The Prince of Egypt
I follow Jesus, and I gotta say, most members of his fanclub are HORRIBLE
If you guys want you can check out the christian movie called
"Victor"
Its based on a true story and has a pretty realistic portrayal of substance abuse and being saved through faith in general.
If I remember it doesn’t crap on atheists, but shows the nightmare of drugs and how it hurts the people around you. It’s really good and definitely worth a watch.
That’s why I recommend Corpus Christi. It’s a Polish film, and I wouldn’t exactly call it a "christian movie". It’s about a man from a reformatory who wants to become a priest but isn’t allowed to do that because of his criminal past. He goes to a very small city to work, things happen and he ends up pretending to be a priest in a local church.
There is absolutely no reason for an atheist or a person of different faith not to watch this. Because it’s just a movie that deals with that specific topic, and it does not shove this unrealistic propaganda up your face.
Just a recommendation, you can keep scrolling now.
I think the main problem with the Christian argument towards atheism is that the don’t understand this: It’s not that they hate god, its that they hate organized religion. Many atheists are people from oppressed minority groups, like the LGBTQIA+ community, who are not oppressed by god, but by organized Christianity. I’m not saying that Christianity is inherently bad, and I’m not saying that I can provide a good perspective for atheists (I’m Jewish), but I think it really shows the obliviousness of the people who make these movies, that they can’t bear to think of themselves as the bad guys despite all of these ideas of forgiveness and kindness that God (not them) spreads.
I like what Fritz Lang said about basically the violence in his films: "It is an evil, but I cannot change it, I can only point it out."
I love the points you make on editing. Good editing can tell such a great story. I remember taking an art class in 7th grade and we were doing a unit on comic book art, and we were shown two sets of panels. One of them had everything from a pretty perspective, and everyone almost looked the same, and there were no close-ups on the action. Then, the second said was much more interesting. The monster crashing through the wall was drawn in a way where the "camera" so to speak was below a monster’s waist, making them look much bigger. When iron Man rushed the monster and got thrown away, there was a close up showing the intense action, making this little scene look a lot more riveting and exciting because it looks more like a huge monster was crashing through and attacking the heroes versus this pretty normal sized monster throwing iron man. These same concepts apply to movies. Where the camera is, when it cuts, how quickly it cuts, or if it doesn’t even cut at all, can help tell the story in such unique ways.
I think the problem with Christian movies is that they’re trying to convert people with them instead of giving people who are already Christian a good movie.
"but Left Behind was so good." said no one
As the screenwriter of a number of PureFlix films, I could hardly agree more with your perspective. I grew up watching indie films of the 80s and 90s, those filmmakers managed to make art with small budgets because they had a passion for the medium. It’s not the budgets. It is a disregard for the art of filmmaking. And faith films will not get better until the audience demands something better, but they tend to evaluate films solely on the message itself. As for the counterproductive hatred of atheists and other non-believers, I tried to buck that trend. In Hidden Secrets, the first film produced by PureFlix (but its second release), my co-writer and I sought to create a fuller, more sympathetic portrayal, and, if the following review is any indication, we succeeded:
"But don’t dismiss Hidden Secrets as The Big Chill rewritten from a Christian perspective. It has the nerve to make one of its most appealing characters, a stem-cell researcher played by John Schneider, an atheist and the least appealing a scripture-spouting hypocrite. While its proscriptive tendencies might not sit well with some moviegoers, it does strive to distinguish between sinner and sin. Even the death merchant and the homosexual – played by Arkansan Corin Nemec – are worthy of love and respect; it’s their actions that God despises."
Nowadays, however, the audience reward films that fight the Culture War for them. It is easier to generate anger than compassion. I have no interest in that.
As for the muddled purpose of Christian films, I think you will appreciate my recent blog:
http://seanpaulmurphyville.blogspot.com/2017/09/building-faith-based-film-ghetto.html
@Josh Keefe I’m aware that you’ve long since moved away from making content concerning Christianity. I just have one question: What happened to part 1, where you discuss the problems within Christian music and the industry that was built around it? Was it taken down or made private?
What about the pastor raptor?
The bible is one of those movies that they play again and again in tv when its holy month and by god its beautiful
There is one obscure Christian children’s direct-to-video show I have a soft spot towards, and it is "Secret Adventures". While it does have some Christian themes, it wasn’t preachy and doesn’t shove viewpoints down others’ throats.
Oh, I am a conservative, Reformed Christian, and I am the first to say that these films are excruciatingly awful.
-Preaching of the prosperity gospel (Facing the Giants, Flywheel)
-Badly mangling and poor interpretation of scripture (Gods Not Dead)
-Working alongside false teachers (War Room, Moms Night Out)
-And as for the acting…let’s just say they’re not exactly Daniel Day-Lewis.
What about this movie: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057251/
Lillies of the field is great. Also a lot of you ( not all) have extremely poor taste in movies all you thinks is of guns like bruhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Also you picked on only bad movies and ignored good works.
Brideshead revisited: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412536/
these are only 2 examples of great movies Catholic movies.
Yes I do admit there are bad movies.
Even though I am an Atheist, Joshua and the Promised Land is the best movie in all of existence
i had to watch gods not dead wiht my mom and it really was one of the worst movies ive ever watched and it kinda made me believe in god not at all?? i wasnt completely atheist before watching it and afterward i was like wow umm no there isnt a god huh lol
It’s honestly insulting when Christian movies try to depict us atheists as some kind of devils who feel no love or remote care for other humans. Isn’t it the Christian parents who kicked out their lgbtq kids? Isn’t it the Christian people who want to deny abortion rights even though some women may need an abortion to save their life? And I’m not saying all christians, how’s there are plenty of good ones out there, I’m just saying that a lot of the time, Christians can do some pretty horrible and immoral things, and then use their religion to justify it. Weren’t the crusades also Christian as well? It is moronic and hypocritical to paint atheists like truly evil people with no care for others, while so many Christians out there commit horrible things and say horrible things about people and act like that’s okay.
I’d argue that Ben Hur is a christian movie and also a cinematic masterpiece.
Honestly the best Christian movies are the ones that stick the Bible stories, i like book of Eli too, but that movie is a bit of a grey area on if it even counts.
Every time a Christian propaganda film is made an angel loses it’s wings
As an atheist, I often get told I would go to Hell for "not having faith" and that I’m a dirty sinner. It honestly infuriates me with these movies because it just shows Christianity as "the only way" and stating that if you don’t believe in God, you’re simply wrong. Atheists are painted in this bad light of being self-righteous and total jerks (which are the Reddit "atheists" if I’m honest) and Christians being all knowing.
Just by watching parts of Gods Not Dead I feel like the guy in Dark Star who gets tickled by the alien while hanging on the ledge for dear life!
Veggietales is okay
Jesus fucking Christ lol
Bible movies on the other hand are awesome and that one Muhamnad movie was cool too, i mean that from the seventies or eighties.
There’s lots of chances of how to make a Christian movies better.
Less white people
Don’t depict atheists as hateful
Make creative artistic concepts
Be Less Disrespectful
Understand for BOTH sides
The Chosen is a great show lol hat I recommend everyone watch. Accurate and entertaining depiction of Jesus
IS THAT THE BOYFRIEND FROM GOOD LUCK CHARLIE??????
Fun fact, one of my online friends is a pastor somewhere in the US, one day, I asked him this question: « which kind of people do you believe should never be allowed in heaven? » His answer kinda surprised me: « Atheists are ok, they might not believe in god, but they generally respect his teachings by loving and respecting everyone, just like you: you’re a great dad and you help society by helping design, build and renovate houses and skyscrapers, so even if you’re a non-believer, your place in heaven is guaranteed. The real sinners are the fake believers who hide behind Jesus to justify racism, homophobia and transphobia. » needless to say, he wouldn’t like seeing all those « fake believers » who try to defend these movies as well as the people who argue with atheists in the comments
I think I can speak for most Christians and say we agree that Christian movies suck massive dongs
PRINCE OF EGYPT
that’s my argument
you can’t use art for its convincing powers, not set out to do good art at all but to preach, and then expect your art to actually be convincing. Like the fact that art is good is what makes it convincing in the first place
i think, the best christian movie that i had seen was the prince of egypht.
When is my religion gonna get a bad movie?
Totally agree their songs also suck. Really stale and lifeless.
As a Christian who believes that A LOT of our media is hot garbage, it’s nice to hear and see fellow believers talk about why that is and how we can and should improve on it. There’s still gonna be hardcore believers who won’t listen to people like you, but those of us who do understand this.
LOL I remember the church had youth night christian movie night. Worst ever!
30% of them feel like Dhar Mann videos in terms of production values, dialogue and acting, but not in messaging.
I have to say (as an atheist) your perspective and deconstruction of the medium was incredibly thought provoking. I can’t say that I’ve actively watched a lot of Christian films, but then, a majority aren’t made for me. What really struck me is that there are so many Christians who disagree with a lot of the substance of them. I know some incredible people who are believers, and I know some intolerable ones. By the same token, I know some great atheists and some absolutely insufferable ones. The negative experiences stick out more in our minds. It’s human nature. We also make excuses based on perceived similar ideologies. So maybe the reason for many Christian films being solely based on preaching is because there are movies for Christians to fully appreciate. They’re just called "Movies". Only thing that differentiates the two is that one centers its entire premise around one facet of one group of people.
I saw gods not dead in the movie theatre as a field trip with my entire private Christian school. It was so boring
Let it shine was FIRE stfu
0:30
Is that fucking Spencer for Good luck Charlie? Poor dude got sucked into this crap
Prince of Egypt was fire end of story