Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 2, 1994 TAG: 9410220009
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The critics come from across the religious spectrum - conservative and liberal, lay and clergy, Christian and Jew and Muslim - and at the end of this column you're going to get an opportunity to be a critic yourself.
In truth, pop entertainment - and the news media - are all too often insensitive, intolerant or ignorant of religion.
While the criticism comes from everywhere, the loudest voices are those of conservative Christian preachers, commentators and radio talk-show hosts.
The Donald Wildmons and Marlin Maddouxes can be counted on almost any day of the week to point to music, television, motion pictures or the news media as either the cause or the symptom of a godless society run rampant.
With the possible exception of Wildmon and Michael Medved, I doubt these commentators spend any time to speak of listening or watching or reading the pernicious influences they so glibly denounce.
If the charges weren't so serious and so widely repeated, a scenario I've witnessed over and over would be comical: The self-righteous critic climbs to the podium, denies that he watches television - perhaps even pointing out that he doesn't allow one in his house to avoid contaminating his wife and children - then launches into a fiery excoriation of the current offerings of that medium.
Would anyone pay any attention to a theater critic who didn't bother to go see the play she was reviewing because she'd heard it was no good? Would criticism of a new, unseen work be valid if it was based on a play the reviewer attended five years ago and didn't like? Of course not. That critic would soon be out of a job.
Why Christian critics who don't go to art galleries or movies or the theater or watch television or listen to any but Christian radio stations have the following they do confounds me.
Unfortunately, the motives of most of them become suspect because so many cynically use the entertainment whipping boy as a favorite fund-raising tool. They know they can count on the contributions of those they've outraged with what is frequently incomplete, misleading and third- or fourth-hand information.
Fortunately for the great majority of us who like to watch television and listen to the radio and go to the movies, religion or religious impulses are at least sometimes treated satisfactorily in the media.
For today, let's consider film.
One of the common criticisms leveled at the entertainment media is that they overlook the pervasive, if often subtle, influence of religion on our day-to-day lives. It seems to me that some movies that deal with religion best, deal with it in understated ways that some critics miss entirely - or misread as attacks on orthodox religious belief.
An example is the "Star Wars" movie series. The binding fabric of "the force" is hardly standard Judaism or Christianity, but it is a religion with striking similarities to orthodox belief. The supernatural "good" religion of the oppressed ultimately overcomes technology, superior forces and evil itself.
It may not be specific enough to shove viewers directly into churches or synagogues, but it may open them up to mystical thought.
"Willow" is a less-subtle but charming fantasy of a messiah. Evil forces attempt to kill a child born under a mysterious sign. The child is protected by angels and other unlikely companions to live for the benefit of her people.
"Yentl," based on an Isaac Bashevis Singer story, tells the story of a young turn-of-the-century Jewish woman who is so driven to study the Torah and God that she pretends to be a man so she can attend yeshiva. There is a human love story in there, too, but the religious love story is the core.
"Places in the Heart" is a wonderful, warm drama about human resiliency and relationships. Except for the hymn being sung behind the opening credits, the film does not have any overt religious reference until the final five minutes - but that ending is among the most powerful confirmations of the doctrine of redemption on celluloid.
A lot of religious people who are critical of movies of the last two decades long for a return to the days of "It's a Wonderful Life," "The Ten Commandments," "The Robe," "The Sound of Music," "The Greatest Story Ever Told." Those are fine movies, some among my favorites, but their theology is not above criticism, either.
We shouldn't forget that even when those movies were being made, there were some much darker, and equally powerful, religious themes being explored.
"East of Eden," James Dean's last film, is a slightly dated but still powerful retelling of the Cain and Abel story made in 1955. "Elmer Gantry" is a biting story of a corrupted evangelist preying on the innocent faith of simple believers. The theme is strikingly up-to-date though the film was made in 1960.
The list of films I'd say religious believers ought to have seen - whether they reflect their own beliefs or not - could go on and on. "Star Trek" and "Star Trek V," "Sister Act," "Crimes and Misdemeanors," "Driving Miss Daisy," "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Schindler's List."
This is where I'd like for you to join in. What do you think about some of these movies? What movies would you nominate for inclusion on a must-see list based on their religious elements - however subtle?
Remember to explain - if it's not obvious - the way a religious theme is played in the movies you suggest. Feel free also to point out movies that you believe do a particular disservice to religion.
Send your lists to The Back Pew, c/o Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010. We'll give you a couple of weeks to get your lists in, then put together a column based on those responses.
by CNB