Mar 18 2007
‘Ultimate Gift’ Being Bashed for ‘Hidden Religious Content’
[From Christian Post]
Fox Faiths most recent film release was greeted by a barrage of abrasive reviews over the past week, which the films producer has found both surprising and wrong.
The new family-friendly movie distributor of Twentieth Century Fox last weekend released The Ultimate Gift, starring Academy award nominee James Garner (The Notebook) and rising newcomer child actress Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine).
In a recent statement, movie producer Rick Eldridge expressed his surprise when critics began to attack the movie for hidden religious and social messages that he had not intended for the film.
“Reeking of self-righteousness and moral reprimand, Michael O. Sajbel’s Ultimate Gift is a hairball of good-for-you filmmaking, read one review by Jeanette Catsoulis, writer for the New York Times. The movie’s messages - pro-poverty, anti-abortion - are methodically hammered home.”
Lou Carlozo, critic for the Chicago Tribune, wrote, There’s an anti-abortion message jammed into one scene with all the subtlety of an avalanche. Just in case you miss it, it’s repeated in the credits too. Some gift, eh?”
Read about it here.
[From me]
O give me a break. What about all of the pro-abortion, pro-homosexual, pro-wild lifestyle, pro-sex all of the time and anti-Christian Messages the movie industry crams down our throats. Let’s be consistent. Unbelievers just can’t handle truth. The American Idol judges blast every contestant when they sing a Christian song. Hollywood is a mess.
What do you think?
36 responses so far
Freedom of expression, I suppose. Watch what you want to watch, and we will watch what we want. The next time a “pro-gay” show comes on TV, reach for the remote control unit and your problem is solved — just as I did when portions of “Jesus Camp” were shown recently.
Kevin,
Two quick notes:
1) We should expect “lost people” to act, behave, and respond like LOST people, shouldn’t we?
2) If “Christians” who tout “christian moral values” DID not patronize all of Hollywood’s wares (movies, DVDs, etc) then we would STOP sending the “double-tongued” message that we have sent for the last many, many years.
If we disagree with their “message” then we need to stop “feeding” the messengers…it’s that simple.
Phil,
You are right. That is why we rarely go to see movies. But I want to support “good” Christian movies. Now if it is poor acting and not worth my time & $ that is a different case.
Even Christianity Today gives this movie a less than great review with 2 1/2 stars out of four. We can certainly assume that the reviewer there would have a sympathetic eye for a good film with Christian Values. So likely it should or would not be more than 2 out of four stars if the audience were not sympathetic.
Maybe it is worth watching to study how it misses the mark. I think it is critical that our Worldview include some understanding of how we are viewed and how we can best present our faith.
I think I will pass on this one.
My mother-in-law recently moved in with us and sometimes that can be hard for all of us. I bought A Trip to Bountiful. My nine year old and I watched it together the other night. She was very much affected by it. I think it calls out to us to love each other and to try to treat others well. Hopefully, it will encourage Lydia to be patient with her Grandmother and….with me.
I think the strong faith of the older woman clearly gives her strength and gives her a great deal of peace even though her life has not been the happiest.
On the otherhand my seventeen year old watched this film and thought the older woman was irritating. She thought the daughter-in-law was irritating as well, but the reactions gave me some insight into two of my daughters. The elders lack of patience was pretty par for the course for her. I will have to get the 15 year old to watch it with me sometime.
Maybe some of the posters could talk about movies that they feel have really been helpful and that might appropriately contrast values in the characters.
James Garner was the keynote speaker at my college graduation (Oklahoma University). I’ll never forget what he said.
“There are four stages in an actor’s career.
1. Who is James Garner?
2. Get me James Garner.
3. Get me someone like James Garner.
4. Who is James Garner?”
A true synopsis of many peoples’ fifteen minutes. Although, Mr. Garner could possibly add a fifth stage to this: Now we can afford James Garner.
You said, “Hollywood is a mess.” The film industry is a field that to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. That’s why I spend time with film people. We need more Christians to see the film industry as a mission field.
Les
I meant “The film industry is a field that NEEDS to hear the …”
Sorry.
Les
Les,
I’m glad for guys like you who are ministering to the film industry. That is what we should be doing. I know my parents work for Campus Crusade and there is a branch of Crusade that ministers in Hollywood.
Generally, I don’t spend a lot of time watching movies, or going to the theater. And I must say that in the past, some movies that have been billed as having a “Christian” theme have been disappointing. Left Behind wasn’t bad, though I thought it probably included too much content for a movie, and got kind of hard to follow. A couple of the rapture themed movies that followed it were downright silly and embarrasing.
I must be on a Fox Faith mailing list because I get a preview mailing with information on using the film in discussion group. I had planned to see this movie this weekend, but some changes in plans prevented it. I’ll go Monday or Tuesday.
I agree with Phil Hoover’s remarks above. The entertainment industry is not exactly geared to promote Christian values and morals, but, like most other mediums of expression in America today, is staffed and directed by people who aren’t Christians.
It may be the subject for another discussion somewhere else, but I don’t see that utilizing the entertainment media has done much, if anything, to add to the Kingdom. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind watching movies that have characters who show Christian values, and I’m very much a lover of the broader genre of CCM, but while the Christian book, music and video industry has expanded to a multi-billion dollar a year business, the church in America has declined. A few segments of it experience growth as shifts occur in style, but the overall number of people involved in the church, and the number of those being converted, has declined steadily during the same period that the Christian entertainment industry has grown. What does that say?
I’ll say it again- you cannot find any more anti-life attitudes than the OT with its incessant commands to slaughter, rape and enslave.
As for unbelievers being unable to handle truth-you are incorrect. What we can’t handle are fables being taught as historical facts.
Francoise,
I can’t make you believe in God. You can call them stories or fables. It doesn’t offend me.
But one thing you can’t argue with is what I have seen God do in my life & most recently in my church. I’ve seen God heal people thru prayer. I’ve seen God restore marriages. We had a need to renovate our children’s wing @ a cost of $6500 & we didn’t have it. God not only provided the money but he gave $4K more. Two people who gave aren’t even members of our church. Two others gave and they don’t even have children!
You may call it chance, I call it God!
Kevin, it doesn’t surprise me, but this doesn’t just happen in Hollywood or in mainstream media; this kind of criticism gets leveled in this blogosphere .
Hi Kevin- I don’t understand your reply. I was wondering why you insist on “wholesome” entertainment, when your own Bible seethes with sex and violence. Do you practise selectivity, or perform cerebral gymnastics to handle these contradictions? Why do you expect the film industry to be different from the Scriptures? You surely must be aware of Lot’s incestuous daughters, and how their vile father wanted to hurl them to a mob of pack-rapists? The story of the Levite’s concubine et al- what moral lessons do you draw from these disgusting tales? And take a look at Judges! Do you preach them in church? Do you teach them to your children? They are, after all, from the “inerrant” Bible. If not, why not?
My point is that Hollywood can’t hold a candle to the Bible in terms of viciousness and salaciousness.
How do you handle the conflict between what is actually contained in the Scriptures, and your desire to see “wholesome” entertainment?
I just don’t get it.
As for what God has done for you- great. If you want to attribute good fortune to God, I won’t argue with that.
So who/what is it who made my life emotionally and financially secure? It wasn’t God. I learned as a child that God does not listen to prayers. Hubby and I created the life we have- if we’d waited for God to shift a finger, we would long ago have starved to death
God never answered my pleas as a brutalised and terrified child, so I saw no reason to worship him. Still don’t.
Kevin,
People will respond where there is a need. It’s good that kind people gave so much money to your project at church, but your appeal was the motivation behind the response. It’s the same as any other cause or charity when people feel to dig in and provide support. Our AIDS hospice here has frequent charity drives, and since so much of the funding comes from private sources, people respond because they recognize a worthy cause when they see it. If you wish to say the money came from God, that’s your opinion but I think it is obvious that the money came from people who care about various causes, whatever they are.
Francoise,
The Bible is infallible but I don’t need to see sexual scenes to get the gist of a story. Those scenes lead to lust.
Both you & Brian can belittle my testimony but I have a relationship with God. I am His friend & He takes care of me. I also know for certain I will spend eternity in heaven. You can too when you are ready to trust in Him.
But, Kevin, why are those scenes in the Bible? What purpose do they have? If Lot was such a fine man of God, then why did he fool around with his daughters? And then his wife turned into a pillar of salt. What was her horrible crime, compared to that of Lot & the girls? Not to mention, people love to talk about the gay scenario in that place, but yet here we have a Godly man and Daddy’s daughters going at it.
I am not belittling your testimony about the funds your church received. If you want to believe as you do, that is your right. But I see many people giving from out of the depths of the goodness of their heart for a variety of worthy causes (including your remodelling project) — simply because mention is made of a need, and people feel a sense of responsibility. If people had not given to your project, then would it have been God’s fault that the money did not come?
Brian and Francoise, you have good points here. I think the difference is the purpose behind the material. I’m not God so it is hard for me to know how God’s mind works. But, I trust Him and believe that His purpose for including the very human stories of Lot, Rahab, Tamar, David, Samson, and so many more was to bring us to Him.
What I am unsure of are movie producers or book authors who write and create to sell and make a profit off of our humanity. Are movies better with a vivid sex scene? Or is it simply better to know what is happening but not see it. We don’t see it in real life, but we know that our neighbors do it. Why do we need to see it?
You will say that you believe that religion does the same (profits off of our humanity), and I would agree with that, too. I simply don’t believe God does, however. He simply loves. He is love. Point away at all the tragedy in the world and say that’s not love; I will point to it and say it is.
Thanks, Bryan, but that is totally over my head — I cannot see any purpose in the stories of Lot and the others, especially with respect to bringing people to God. Who is drawn to God, after reading the story of Lot and the daughters, particularly when so many people ignore that and focus on the gay stuff of S&G (with Lot offering his daughters to the visitors, too)? And saying that tragedy in the world is love escapes me. Who enjoys seeing people suffer?
Kevin, I am not belittling your testimony at all- I just want to know how you cope with the Bible’s horribly graphic stories, yet claim to want wholesome entertainment. I think you don’t know the answer to my question:-)
If you can’t answer me, just say so.
Who would want to have a father like Lot- who was only too happy to toss his VIRGINAL daughters ( probably still children) to a mob of raping curs? What morality is imparted by reading this pornographic drivel? Or that of the Levite’s concubine? Or of Abraham prostituting his incestuous wife?
Would YOU behave like this towards your own family Of course not!
So, please tell me how you manage with these contradictions. Do you employ Orwellian doublethink? I’m not having a swipe at you- I am genuinely curious. It has always puzzled me why Christians want insipid entertainment when their own holy book is so full of disgusting people and their heinous actions.
Brian,
S & G are in the Bible so we see that there are consequences for our sins.
Francoise,
I don’t try to hide from those stories. Those men were fallible yet God still loved them just like he does you and me. What I am saying about movies is we don’t need to see sex on the screen. All it does is lead to lust which leads to action. We are called to be pure and Holy.
Likewise, Bryan, I can’t , for the life of me, see how the world’s manifold miseries is an indication of love. I am still haunted by the Sri Lankan orphanage for blind mute children- all swept away by the tsunami- those poor, poor kids- imagine their horror and terror, their inability to articulate their need, unable to comprehend what was happening to them…and you’d call that LOVE?????????????????????
Are movies better with sex scenes? It depends. I find the implied sex in Gone with the Wind to be very erotic indeed- but then, I have more respect for clever film-making than directors who shove everything down your throat. But watching sex scenes doesn’t bother me one iota- why on earth should it? We are all sexual creatures, and most of us have experienced it. If it’s OK to engage in it, why should it be wrong to witness others having fun? It might give you some new ideas
Well, Kev, “holy” only means being apart, separated. Can’t see how that’s achievable as long as you are a human being living in a human society.
Woud you be OK with implied sex on screen? The Iranian film industry excels at this. So did old Hollywood. Far , far more erotic to suggest it. Would eroticism bother you? If so, how do you manage reading Song of Solomon?
Francoise,
I don’t have a problem with implied. Even in Samson and Delila implied is fine. Song of Solomon too. I’m not against sex. God isn’t either because He invented it. But it was designed for marriage between a man and woman.
Kevin,
What consequences did Lot and Daddy’s daughters face for their incestuous romp? Did they escape the burning cities? People are very good at selectively pointing to passages, while ignoring others of importance. If anyone is suggesting the sin of S & G is the gay situation, I would like to remind people of another post from this site, which discussed overlooked details from the book of Ezekiel:
http://kevinbussey.wordpress.com/2007/01/12/cant-we-just-all-get-along/#comments
Monk-In-Training (15:12:26) :
Keven,
âWhy did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah?â
Here is what the prophet Ezekiel has to say about the matter.
Ezekiel 16:49 This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. v:50 They were haughty, and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them when I saw it.
Ezekiel is telling the Jews that they are doing more abominable things than even the Sodomites did, but no one claims that all the Jews at the time were actively homosexual. It is obvious that what ever the sin of Sodom was, universal homosexuality wasnât it. It appears to be closely connected with pride, and not taking care of the poor!
Brian,
I like MIT and he is my brother in Christ but God did destroy S & G for what those men were trying to do to the angels. Obviously there were other sins too as are listed in Ezekiel. But just because there were other sins it doesn’t excuse the homosexual aspect.
And why is the business about the men and the angels so important, but yet incest with Lot and the girls is overlooked? Was God even slightly annoyed with that scenario? And don’t forget that Lot offered his daughters to the visitors, too, but that doesn’t seem to be any big deal.
Even if the Bible had no reference to homosexuality as a “sin”, people would make any excuse to be intolerant.
I’m sure Lot paid for his sins.
S & G’s sin was that the entire community was part of the sins. That is why God destroyed it.
Hi Kevin- do you ever sleeep????? One of my problems with the Bible is the very low view it has of females. The story of Lot’s daughters chills me to my very marrow, yet there is no condemnation of it in the Bible.
Can you giv Rob Slagle a nudge in my direction?
Hi Kevin,
I am glad we can respectfully disagree on the core sin of S & G, we can agree that the community as a whole was involved in it.
Hey, I have a question though. I thought Angels had no gender. How can it be homosexual sex when Angels are genderless?
MIT,
You are correct but the men of S & G thought they were men. Check out Genesis 19
They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
Wow, isn’t it interesting how differently we see the bible? The bible shows a high value for women. Consistently. Way higher than the surrounding culture, but that isn’t even the standard. It simply shows a high value standing alone. And, yes, I see God’s judgment as love. How? You might think why does God get a pass on all this? The things that occur in the world seem so evil. I think to myself, why do any men or women get a pass on our lives? Only through the love and grace of God do we get a pass. I see so much of the evil in teh world as resulting from man’s bad choices, choices we are allowed because God loves us.
If God is who He says He is, then who are we to question? You ask why aren’t certain things called out in the bible… if the bible pointed out every thing that was wrong in every account it would a much longer book, longer than all the books in all our libraries more than likely. That’s part of the reason we have the Holy Spirit and a conscience.
Any excuse to continually blame gay people for the wrongs in the world. If God was so upset with S&G, then why isn’t be causing other major upsets in the world today? Has he gotten over his anger? Or, is Shirley Phelps correct when Westboro Baptist Church says that God caused 9/11, the deaths of US soldiers in Iraq, hurricanes Katrina & Rita, and the tsunami — all because of gay people?
And angels (and demons): that’s another concept that escapes me.
Brian,
Here is where we agree. The ills of the world can’t be pointed towards any group.
Romans 3:23 says “all have sinned.” That means “ALL.” I will have a lot of questions for God when I get to heaven. All sin should disturb us because it bothers God. I am sorry for any pain people cause towards homosexuals as people. I care about you as a person. But homosexual behavior is a sin just as lying, adultery, fornication, cheating, etc…
People on both sides of the issue make it a boiling point.
And this is the one area where Christians love (and prefer) to criticize (gay people). This “love the sinner but hate the sin” is a poor excuse — when have we ever heard of Christians who love gays? There are countless examples of Bible leaders who love to jump up and down about this. It’s fine for heterosexual adulterers to be excused and to get on with their lives (hello, Newt Gingrich), but whatever you do, don’t tolerate gay people!
Brian,
I don’t hate anything or anyone. I truly love people that is why I’m a pastor. I’m burdened to see people spend eternity with God and experience the “abundant life” that Jesus promises here on earth.
Well Bryan, I would say that a father wanting to hurl his daughters to mob rapists shows how little he regarded his female children. Like wise Abraham’s prostitution of his wife, etc. for which there was no tut-tutting from God.
And then there is the Bible’s scorn for women’s natual bodily functions, which render unclean all who touch. What utter rubbish!!
And don’t forget that my birth rendered my mother twice as “unclean” as my brother’s birth did, or that women had to go to the temple and make blood sacrifices after giving birth, as though they had done some great wrong.
And, of course, let’s bear in mind the unfortunate rape victim being forced to marry her attacker….or the bride whose hymen didn’t bleed being put to death….and so on. Bronze Age barbarities.