Related post on the same blog:
http://the-end-time.blogspot.com/2015/09/christian-movies-are-there-any-good.html
Another loser with no real job pretending to know the pulse of viewers and in over his/her head.
Anyone here seen it? Was thinking about it.
He does a whole lot of nit-picking and guilt by association.
My family and I have seen all their films, enjoyed them immensely and recommended them to others.
This reviewer would complain that the Second Coming was too goody-goody.
I just read what she had to say, and I must agree with her analysis. We are looking for “meat” and settling for gussied up soul candy.
I think she makes some good points. Too often Christianity is sold as a magic bullet: Become a Christian and everything will go smoothly for you. Easy answers to all prayers. Ask God in prayer and the answer will pop into your head.
From Dalrock:
One thing which is crucial to understand about Fireproof is that while it is widely considered the preeminent Christian movie on marriage, it is not a movie about Christian marriage. This subtlety is something the movie’s defenders will fairly quickly point out if you ask how the movie managed to ignore (or get backwards) nearly all of the key New Testament instruction on marriage. This they will explain is why Caleb was taught in the movie that his viewing pornography is a form of sexual sin, but Catherine isn’t taught that her denial of sex is in fact creating temptation for Caleb to commit sexual sin (1 Cor 7:2-5). They will further explain that when the movie shows Caleb submitting to his wife, it isn’t offering this as a Christian husband’s role in marriage but as a way for a man inspired by Christ’s sacrifice to win the love of his wife. Likewise, Catherine isn’t rebuked and never repents for lining up the doctor for either an affair or as husband #2 (adultery either way you read it) or for her decision to frivolously divorce, because she isn’t a Christian when she does all of this and her conversion occurs off-screen. If this were a movie on Christian marriage they will tell you, it would of course have to cover the core New Testament instructions on marriage. But it isn’t, so it doesn’t. If you think I’m making too fine a point of this, note how careful they are whenever describing the movie.More at the link.
To fully explore all the side themes she mentions and add material to clearly teach against possible misunderstandings and heresies, as she seems to want to do, would turn these movies into 15-hour long unwatchable messes.
Suffice to say that we shouldn't expect to learn precise doctrine from a movie. This critic would better serve the Christian community by producing a "Questions for discussion" type guide to go along WITH the movies in question, for churches and families and so forth to use as a tool for discussing the movie amongst themselves afterwards, what they can learn from it and what they should keep in mind is not always true in real life.
For example, such a guide could point out that God's blessings do not always come in this life, and may not by cushy prizes that we can sit on our rump and enjoy. But they are things that can help us grow in our faith or grow in other ways.
To give an example, a few years ago I faced debilitating pain from what turned out to be a classic case of a slipped lower lumbar disc. Rather than avoiding physical activities I learned to embrace hard physical labor around my rural property. It strengthens my trunk muscles, keeping my spinal column cinched down, which in turn keeps the disc in place better. And this in turn has made me much more fit and healthy than I as a middle-aged man with a sedentary desk job than I could otherwise expect. Sometimes blessings come with some pain. It's a fair point, and maybe a good one for the next Kendrick film...
There is a great lack of good Christian films today. The Kendrick brothers are helping in a small way to fill that gap.
Maybe the author should show us how its done.
If you want the answer to the author’s “what if” things don’t work out question, then see Courageous. The daughter dies. No, she does not get sick, almost die, and then miraculously pull through. She dies. The family must deal with the aftermath.
Show me any movie that handles such a life crisis better.
Some supposed Christians are so critical of others’ service to the Lord, they would have nothing good to say if the apostles were here as our personal examples.
I have not seen War Room yet, but I intend to make it a priority to do so, now.
She packs a great deal of judgment into her article and then announces she isn’t taking any more comments. I wonder why.
We saw the movie and prayer is now taken very seriously in our home. It is more intense and reaches out to more people.
I read every word in the article.
I.Am.Underwhelmed.
There is nothing substantial in the article. The author just doesn’t like the Kendrick Bros and looks all over for reasons to criticize them.
Note to author: We are now getting terrific Christian movies which are bringing in crowds. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Boy, I am glad I toned down that reply.
I get what this lady is saying AND I enjoy pretty much every movie these men make. They are bold and in your face and uplifting. They are not art films.
Strangely they remind me of Tyler Perry’s earlier live plays with Madea as the main character. Loud and broad comedy-drama with many powerful poignant moments sung by those awesome black voices.
Sometimes you just need your heart warmed and stirred. I am unable to turn off my mind, though, so I can enjoy a good critique of Christian schlock, too.
The author needs to spend some quality time in the Word and in the presence of God, and less time critiquing movies, Christian or otherwise.
Her rambling on Stephen’s stoning and Paul’s thorn, show a profound misunderstanding of the nature of Love Himself, and the role of the adversary.
I have not seen the film. But I am happy that there are people attempting to create positive, family friendly, Christian, and inspirational films. I would strongly suggest the author spend a season meditating on 1 Corinthians 13. It would be far more productive looking for the positives and praying for Christian filmmakers instead of going full Pharisee on them.