Brokeback vs Narnia
Hello, all!
I just received a blanket email from The Center for Reclaiming America for Christ. The director, Dr. Gary Cass, has written a letter to the Hollywood industry head honchos, taking them to task for their favoring of the film Brokeback Mountain, particularly in light of the “shoving aside” of The Chronicles of Narnia, a blockbuster success that unequivocally presents the gospel message.
I sent him a reply (though I have no idea whether he will actually ever see it), and to make it short, I’ll just post what I sent him…
Dr. Gary Cass,
I received your e-mail/letter against Hollywood, and had to comment.
I also believe that Brokeback Mountain is an abomination. I have made a point of not seeing it, of course, and I completely agree with your assessment of the film. If left at that, I would sign your letter with enthusiasm.
However, there is that bit about Narnia. While I agree that Narnia carries with it a distinctly Christian worldview, and I have a great appreciation for the message it conveys, I also do not think that it is award-winning material. As a film, it was merely “pretty good,” which places it right in the category of mediocrity for me. Granted, it’s on the higher level of mediocrity, but it cannot rise above that. And the simple fact is, mediocre films should not win awards. Period. A good message does not necessarily make a great film.
The fact that Narnia was a box office success does not make it a great film either. I think the enourmous success of a merely “okay” movie like Narnia reveals a deeper issue. A problem, shall we say. American Christians have grown accustomed to mediocrity. Only the secular world is supposed to be able to rise to artistic greatness. Any possibility that a Christian message might be produced by even slightly competent hands is good news. No, it’s great news.
But in the end, “slightly competent” isn’t going to cut it. If Christians want to see tales and films with good messages entering the mainstream of the culture, they must rise above mediocrity. A truly great Christian film must meet or rise above the artistic standards of a film like Brokeback Mountain without compromising its message. Christians must stop thinking that the good message can somehow compensate for substandard method. Mediocrity in method makes it easy for the world to ignore the message.~Christopher Kou
Having written that, I promptly went and signed his letter anyway. If we could win any sort of victory here, it might pave the way to better quality in Christian filmmaking.
February 27th, 2006 at 11:00 pm
Well said. Even though I enjoyed Narnia more than you obviously did, I wholeheartedly agree with the premise that Christians are all-too-eager to tolerate, or even embrace poor quality entertainment (or literature, or education, etc) as long as it has a Christian message. “Left Behind” comes to mind…but I already know how you feel about that.
Matt and I discussed this just last night when we were talking about gender roles and how they are defined Biblically vs. culturally. We were reading a Christian book which put forth gender stereotypes as a generally good thing, but did not make a distinction between those that exist because of a Godly precedent and those that godless society has hijacked. That bothered me. Matt, for example, is commonly assumed by those meeting him for the first time to be gay, because he is an artist and works in Walt Disney Entertainment. That is a stereotype reinforced by the fact that most of the other male artists in his department ARE gay. In this case we’ve allowed the world to define a certain profession as effeminate, and I know Christian parents who are likely to steer their sons away from creative careers or hobbies in art, drama, or (most dangerous of all) dancing, because of a stereotype the world has created, rather than reclaim those pursuits as the rightful heritage of Christians to use their God-given gifts. Quite frankly, it ticks me off.
Why have we allowed the pagans and heathens to set the cultural standards, when we are the ones who should be setting the bar in every realm of excellence?
Anyway…just my ramble. ~dawn