My problem with Christian films and shows

[michaelcla]

Christian Movies or documentaries are the good source of inspiration or motivation in an entertainment way. Enjoy Christian inspired movies on Crossflix Channel. You can watch latest movie Christian based movies "God’s Compass: Finding the North of a Life’s Purpose". This inspirational film depicts a walk of faith among the characters who explored God’s direction in their lives.

[TraceMalin]

Hacksaw Ridge was a film about a 7th Day Adventist Christian made by Hollywood. You can imagine if a Christian film company made it how much different the story would be. Christian films have a certain look and formula like independent films have that indie look.

If you haven't seen it, I think the movie Raid on Entebbe with Charles Bronson is a modern day Bible story. I think God was totally with the Israeli commandos during Operation Thunderbolt on July 4, 1976. You can watch it for free on YouTube.

[Repose]

As a forewarning, for sensitive types, this post will have a few gruesome details. 

Issue there would be balance. In my opinion, in a decent movie, there needs to be a good balance between what you see and what you don't see. Some things are better off shown due to the emotional impact of it (such as Passion of Christ), while at other times, it can work volumes to let things be done behind closed doors, to remain unseen until a proper time. Take horror movies for example. Older movies had less to work with, and so to often get around that, they would use alternative means, often letting things be off-camera. Such as a woman getting attacked; they would show the guy raising and stabbing with the knife, and her screaming face, but they wouldn't actually show her getting gored by it. Now you've got movies that push it forward and use chainsaws to cut a man in two. You can see it clearly; they even zoom in on it like you'll somehow miss it. If you aren't using 2 bathtub-fulls of blood in the scene and you aren't able to see the anatomical correctness of the insides, what's the point? But this is rather tasteless and lacks creativity, as now it's nothin more than a violent gore fantasy that's rather devoid of anything that actually scares the viewer. Finding a good in-between is important if you want to movie to work and flow well. In a scene from the OT, let's say it's the book of Judges and Abimmelech with the men of Shechem are going to do in his 70 brothers. It can drive the point home to show the brother being done in, but you'd have to be mindful to not let it be all about the gore, as Hollywood and it's horror movies are often not. You  would need characterization to show that these brothers were indeed people. You would need to depict in such a way where it evokes sadness in the viewer, rather than catering to the violence-enjoying audience.

On a side note, i've always been interested into looking at Christian video games. They have a reputation for being terrible, and it's had me wonder what a decent (aiming for "good" might be a stretch) Christian video game might be like. Most I can think of is something a bit like Animal Crossing, but with options on how to engage your neighbors, like a choice between being good or being wicked. Choosing either or affects not only how your neighbors feel about you, but also affect your character as well. Say like, helping your neighbor paint his house improves your reputation, and he might give you a gift later as a thank you. Then the other choice would be agreeing to it, but then after it's finished, you demand excessive payment for your services. Basically bully your neighbor into paying you. This damages your reputation and (rather than having the neighbor seek revenge) your "luck" goes down, making it more likely that something will go wrong that pertains to YOU, like getting sick, or your kitchen table just randomly breaks when you try to use it.

[wrightfamily]

We are trying to fill the gap with our new film ministry. Take a look We are on Amazon and hear www.wcbtv.org/wfm we will try to do 6 films a year to give some fresh christian content to the world. Thanks everyone.

[BeauJangles]

40 minutes ago, wrightfamily said:

We are trying to fill the gap with our new film ministry. Take a look We are on Amazon and hear www.wcbtv.org/wfm we will try to do 6 films a year to give some fresh christian content to the world. Thanks everyone.

Attempts to access this link: http://www.wcbtv.org/wfm looked legit, had the Dove seal and included the amazon.com logo as well, but it was also a bit spamish. Are you selling specifically, or wanting some sort of commentary input? I'm reluctant to click on links. Sorry, but even among Christian sites it can be risky. What exactly is your angle here? Thanks! 

[wrightfamily]

Nothing Asked for specifically Just sharing. No Spam we are actually a credited christian film company in the industry. We are trying to repair the opinion of christian film with our content for all ages. The .org will show that it is not spam. Thanks for the time.

[BeauJangles]

3 minutes ago, wrightfamily said:

The .org will show that it is not spam. Thanks for the time.

I appreciate the clarification. Once accessing the site however, the first thing it directs one to do is 'buy'. 

[wrightfamily]

Just shows the trailers of their youth film ministry, and some reviews. Buy is an option but not required. You can review them on amazon also. The Lord provides for what he ordains. If the Holy Ghost moves you to buy then we thank you for your donations. The buy option is for them to help them fund what they are doing since it is all out of pocket for the family to combat the need for secular entertainment for families begging for modest material that does not sell out. If I did not give them a option to be blessed by others to help fund the film ministry then it would limit their blessings since God uses many to bless those who give it all they have to glorify him.

[TraceMalin]

14 hours ago, Repose said:

As a forewarning, for sensitive types, this post will have a few gruesome details. 

Issue there would be balance. In my opinion, in a decent movie, there needs to be a good balance between what you see and what you don't see. Some things are better off shown due to the emotional impact of it (such as Passion of Christ), while at other times, it can work volumes to let things be done behind closed doors, to remain unseen until a proper time. Take horror movies for example. Older movies had less to work with, and so to often get around that, they would use alternative means, often letting things be off-camera. Such as a woman getting attacked; they would show the guy raising and stabbing with the knife, and her screaming face, but they wouldn't actually show her getting gored by it. Now you've got movies that push it forward and use chainsaws to cut a man in two. You can see it clearly; they even zoom in on it like you'll somehow miss it. If you aren't using 2 bathtub-fulls of blood in the scene and you aren't able to see the anatomical correctness of the insides, what's the point? But this is rather tasteless and lacks creativity, as now it's nothin more than a violent gore fantasy that's rather devoid of anything that actually scares the viewer. Finding a good in-between is important if you want to movie to work and flow well. In a scene from the OT, let's say it's the book of Judges and Abimmelech with the men of Shechem are going to do in his 70 brothers. It can drive the point home to show the brother being done in, but you'd have to be mindful to not let it be all about the gore, as Hollywood and it's horror movies are often not. You  would need characterization to show that these brothers were indeed people. You would need to depict in such a way where it evokes sadness in the viewer, rather than catering to the violence-enjoying audience.

On a side note, i've always been interested into looking at Christian video games. They have a reputation for being terrible, and it's had me wonder what a decent (aiming for "good" might be a stretch) Christian video game might be like. Most I can think of is something a bit like Animal Crossing, but with options on how to engage your neighbors, like a choice between being good or being wicked. Choosing either or affects not only how your neighbors feel about you, but also affect your character as well. Say like, helping your neighbor paint his house improves your reputation, and he might give you a gift later as a thank you. Then the other choice would be agreeing to it, but then after it's finished, you demand excessive payment for your services. Basically bully your neighbor into paying you. This damages your reputation and (rather than having the neighbor seek revenge) your "luck" goes down, making it more likely that something will go wrong that pertains to YOU, like getting sick, or your kitchen table just randomly breaks when you try to use it.

"Jaws" was a perfect example of how scary something unseen can be. Spielberg said, if the mechanical shark worked, it might have been the end of his career. With the technical problems, he filmed it like Hitchcock. I love horror movies, but modern ones are awful. They don't know how to build suspense and they telegraph every jump scare like the worst prize fighter ever. "Here it comes. Listen to the music. Wait for it. Wait for it. Wait for it. BOO!" The video game Red Dead Redemption II let's you play as good Arthur or bad Arthur. They aren't too much different though. I thought they should have made it a more extreme change of fate. Playing good would yield a better outcome than playing bad. In the game, the end is the same, but the cut scenes are a bit different based upon your honor level. The western game does what you suggest. When you help people you are often given gifts. In think the problem with Christian movies and video games is that they preach to the choir and they are boring. They are always very focused on trying to teach lessons that kids already know. "Christian" entertainment can expand itself into just "wholesome" too. For example, a pro paintball video game might have wide appeal because it is a first person shooter, but wouldn't be violent. Trying to put together a championship team, get sponsors, and deal with some of the moral quandaries young people face could make for an interesting storyline behind the action of shooting players in a tournament. The choices you make, friends, dating relationships, etc., will influence the outcome and not all outcomes would be positive even if the player made Christian decisions.

[Repose]

6 hours ago, TraceMalin said:

"Jaws" was a perfect example of how scary something unseen can be. Spielberg said, if the mechanical shark worked, it might have been the end of his career. With the technical problems, he filmed it like Hitchcock. I love horror movies, but modern ones are awful. They don't know how to build suspense and they telegraph every jump scare like the worst prize fighter ever. "Here it comes. Listen to the music. Wait for it. Wait for it. Wait for it. BOO!" The video game Red Dead Redemption II let's you play as good Arthur or bad Arthur. They aren't too much different though. I thought they should have made it a more extreme change of fate. Playing good would yield a better outcome than playing bad. In the game, the end is the same, but the cut scenes are a bit different based upon your honor level. The western game does what you suggest. When you help people you are often given gifts. In think the problem with Christian movies and video games is that they preach to the choir and they are boring. They are always very focused on trying to teach lessons that kids already know. "Christian" entertainment can expand itself into just "wholesome" too. For example, a pro paintball video game might have wide appeal because it is a first person shooter, but wouldn't be violent. Trying to put together a championship team, get sponsors, and deal with some of the moral quandaries young people face could make for an interesting storyline behind the action of shooting players in a tournament. The choices you make, friends, dating relationships, etc., will influence the outcome and not all outcomes would be positive even if the player made Christian decisions.

I actually haven't ever seen Jaws. I probably should.

I've only played the first RDR along with the first game in the series, Red Dead Revolver. Revolver was very linear and was made more with cheesy spaghetti westerns in mind; so no decision making, just taking revenge for your dad's murder. RDR had a similar system, with good and bad variables for Marston. I don't know if it affected the ending, as when I got to Mexico, I got bored of the story and just went hunting and gambling. Still, being good would reward the player with a more peaceful experience, where if you were bad, scores of bounty hunters and lawmen would chase you around everywhere.

I put forward the idea of an Animal Crossing type game only for more sensitive types, to make it more appealing to a broader audience. Not everyone would want to be a gunslinger, or see all the other peculiar things depicted (grave robbing, brothels, etc).

Your paintball game might not be a bad in-between. I'd wonder at the specifics of it, though. If the main appeal and fun of it is the paintball tournaments, how would players deal with the moral and decision-making sequences that seperate the paintball tournaments? I don't mean to rain on the parade, per say, it's just that I can imagine that being like playing an online match of Splatoon, then having to solve a Sudoku puzzle in order to get into another match.