12 Comments

• Okay, so personally, I really enjoyed this movie, despite its flaws. While there was definitely a message there, it seemed pretty subdued compared to your standard Hollywood fare. Or at least better disguised.

  So what’s your opinion on how “preachy” movies should be? Christian movies are generally very intent on getting a message across (good) but the result tends to be preachy, and at expense of the story (bad). I sort of thought that Avatar was a good lesson in how to avoid beating your audience over the head – I was pretty involved in the story, and the message felt pretty organic.

  But if you felt it was preachy, how much message do you think Christian films can contain? I mean, I loved Fireproof, and it still seemed a little more preachy than Avatar.

  Love the blog btw, thanks for keeping it up!

  Posted by Alex King on January 8th, 2010 at 9:27 pm

• Thanks for the review. Yet another evidence that if story loses, nobody wins.

  Posted by David Bowman on January 11th, 2010 at 11:29 am

• Excellent review and analysis! I’ve been curious about the film but did not plan on seeing it, and this review answered many of my questions.

  Thanks

  Posted by Hannah Mendenhall on January 11th, 2010 at 4:09 pm

• Thanks for that wonderful review Isaac! My uncle just watched this film a couple days ago and was telling me how amazing it was (since he and I both are really into animation), but after hearing the story line from him (even with a the good-glasses filter on), I knew it wasn’t something I’d want to watch.

  Without even watching it myself, I started explaining to him the world-views, biases, and “issues” a lot of producers like to slip “unnoticed” into their films. After reading your review and putting two and two together, I see that Avatar has a very negative spiritual impact. Although it sounds very “spiritual”, the main story line can spiral – especially youth – into a spiritual journey that ends nowhere near the Christian’s destination. I could be wrong, but from your review it sounds like this film gets into the realms of spiritualism.

  Also if I may throw my opinion out for Alex, it’s this. You basically have to know who you’re preaching to. With Fireproof, it was focused (whether intentionally or not) towards the Christian audience; those who knew that stuff already but needed encouragement in the time of need. Every time I watch it, their statements really hit home and leaves me with such an inspiration to do what’s right. For someone coming right off the streets of Hollywood, it would be quite different. Since they’re coming from a completely different world-view, they would laugh at the “counsel” Caleb was receiving, and in the end probably still opt for Terrel’s point of view; simply because it leaves people with the least “guilt”.

  I believe that every film is a “preachy” film; even the shoot-it-up sex and violence shows. Even if they were made for pure entertainment – even the producers had no intention of getting anything across (which is extremely rare) except for sensual entertainment, they still convey a message of lawlessness that is too loud to ignore. To me, making films that portray Christian values yet without being “preachy” means creating exciting stories that capture people’s attention while upholding strong Christian values at the same time. I believe there is a place for films such as Fireproof for encouraging fellow Christians (and also leading people to Christ), and there is also a place for films which are more geared towards the larger public audience while at the same time not violating any of God’s principles. People will see a difference in these films, and as they come to realize the motivation behind creating these films, they’ll be drawn to understanding more and more of what Christians are all about; who we are and why we’re here.

  And since that is the entire purpose of what we do, it is a must that we understand the best strategies in reaching out to the public audience! So if I could hear your answer to that last question also Isaac, that would be great!

  God bless!

  Posted by Seth Sutherland on January 12th, 2010 at 12:45 am

• Antother great review Botkin. I actually laughed a few times throughout the article. Thank you. Keep it up.

  - Loser Buddy

  Posted by Daniel Bittner on January 23rd, 2010 at 2:37 pm

• Another great review Botkin. Very well written a great perspecitve. I actually laughed a few times throughout the article. Thank you. Keep it up.

  - Loser Buddy

  Posted by Daniel Bittner on January 23rd, 2010 at 7:38 pm

• Its so easy for all movies to be preachy.

  When you make a movie, you should always have a message that you want to get across the screen.

  Was Avatar preachy? Yes. Does that mean I’ll never watch it again? No.

  Was Fireproof preachy? Yes. And you can be sure I’ll watch it again.

  Everyone wants to be right. Only a few of us are. We should be careful, and pray about how we write in the message’s we want to portray. Nobody wants to get beat up in a movie theater by someone’s legalistic finger pointing views on the screen.

  And that applies to everyone. Christians, and Hollywood.

  Inspirational films are sometimes the best way to get across good messages. When people see examples of happy, kind, christian families, they start to wonder. “What do they have that I don’t?”

  In the movie “The Blindside”, even Sandra Bullock (the star of the film)was ministered to by the real life story of Leanne Touhy.

  God bless all of you, I am glad I found this site, because I am very interested in the movie making process and I still have a lot to learn about christian film making.

  Posted by Hannah King on January 26th, 2010 at 6:59 pm

• Loved the review. Sounds like a Star Wars for this generation. That, too, had some painfully wrong worldview.

  Great insights.

  Posted by Gabriel H on February 4th, 2010 at 10:53 am

• I was drawn to the comments regarding being “preachy” in a film. I just had this conversation with a friend the other day.

  Being “preachy” in a film, I think, is something to be avoided at all costs. You run the risk, however, of being too vague; of having your audience miss the point or drawing the wrong conclusion. But that’s the nature of the beast. And that’s where the paydirt is at. You release attempts to control the audience and instead invite them to discover the truths on their own terms. And when they get it, they own it.

  “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter” Proverbs 25:2

  We treat our audiences like the royalty they truly are when we don’t get too preachy in our stories and trust what’s in God and in them to come through.

  Posted by Peter Steffen on February 21st, 2010 at 9:23 pm

• I loved your review! My wife and I went to see it in theateres and found ourselves bored, I do beleive it was because the story was lacking so much, there is more to a movie then looks.
  Without a good foundation a house will not turn out right, so without a good story a film will not turn out right!
  Thanks and God bless

  Posted by Remington mallery on March 1st, 2010 at 1:16 pm

• This movie looks like I would laugh all the way through. Who wouldn’t when given protaganists who are not only rubbery-blue-faced-cat-shaped-big-yellow-eyed-fat-nosed, uh, things; that do a lot of waffling, polythestic tree worship (sounds like the Asherah, eh?), and fire dinky little pieces of wood.

  I used to watch Star Wars as a kid, and cheer for the Storm Troopers. Why? Because untrained “Rebel” soldiers could kill dozens without breaking a sweat, kill dozens of these ‘elite’ ‘well-trained’ soldiers. In this movie, I have an even better excuse. What possesses James Cameron? The ’spirit of the tree’ maybe.

  All in all, I don’t think I’d see this movie without earplugs (that way I can get the only good part: the visuals, and ignore the bad: all the audio).

  E.S.

  Posted by Edmund Skye on April 26th, 2010 at 2:45 pm

• I had to turn it off due to nudity and eroticism. I wish I would have been warned about these two issues.

  Posted by Peter Rowell on May 6th, 2010 at 9:51 pm

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