Hollywood is taking religion more seriously
Hopeful trend still absent in Canada
I had a shocking experience the other night: I went to a movie and saw a positive portrayal of a Christian community and its values. The film was For Richer or Poorer, a comedy about a materialistic, bickering, New York couple, on the run from the law, who take refuge with an Amish family.
Brad and Caroline Sexton (played by Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley) are not unfamiliar with religion. He is, after all, the promoter of "Holyland," a new theme park with a biblical motif where visitors can see the Burning Bush explode into action twice a day or enjoy "Torah, Torah, Torah: The Waterslide." The plan, Brad explains, is to lift their souls and lighten their wallets. But before he can implement his scheme, his crooked accountant lands him in legal trouble so bad that the couple has to flee into the countryside where they end up posing as Amish kinfolk in the home of the godly Yoder family.
During their stay they are not converted to Anabaptism, but what they hear from their hosts and see in the examples of those who shelter them changes their lives immeasurably for the better. They learn that marriage is a life-long commitment, that you reap what you sow, that responsibility for one’s actions is a better course than running away. They hear the strange propositions that God comes first and that love and friendship are to be prized more than possessions. In the end their marriage is saved and renewed and they reject city life for a place in the country where they can raise a child.
For Richer or Poorer is not without blemish. It suffers from the usual case of potty-mouth that afflicts most Hollywood productions these days, but it is part of a new and pleasant trend. Though viewers can still be offered atrocities such as Kingpin (billed as "Not Just Another Movie About Amish Bowling"), we can detect a tendency toward religion being treated seriously and respectfully in American television and film.
Part of this trend can be explained by a faddish fascination with Buddhism and the Dalai Lama (which has recently given viewers Little Buddha, Seven Years in Tibet and Kundun). But much can be attriubted to the influence of critics such as Michael Medved, who have effectively pointed out how badly religion has been served by the mass media. The studios are now taking action.
Wider range
Several years ago it was possible to argue that television’s best portrayal of a Christian was Ned Flanders on the animated sitcom The Simpsons, but now we have a much wider range to choose from. Programs like Soul Man, 7th Heaven, Promised Land, Touched By an Angel and even the controversial Nothing Sacred all show religion affecting the lives of everyday people, and combat the dangerous late-20th century media stereotypes of Christians as rigid, intolerant ignoramuses, child molesters or criminal televangelists.
Unfortunately none of these new, positive depictions of faith communities are Canadian productions. Canadian television continues to be a wasteland for religion, with the notable exception of native spirituality, which is always given a respectful portrayal. Can anyone name an attractive religious character in any offering by CBC, that network that has been so critical of the Roman Catholic church, CTV or Global? While American media companies have made welcome steps to treat Christians and religion more fairly, Canadian television and films lag far behind.
Gerry Bowler, the Culture Potato, loves and fears popular culture. He teaches history at Canadian Nazarene College, Calgary, and is director of the Centre for the Study of Christianity and Popular Culture.
