LANGLEY, BC-Christian artist Erica Grimm-Vance is philosophical about having produced paintings and sketches for Catwoman-a movie that some reviewers have panned as little more than sadomasochistic fantasy.

"It wasn’t as good as it could have been," she says.

"But each painting that I produce I don’t think is as good as it could have been, either. Every creative process has ways in which it succeeds and ways in which it could yet be better."

Grimm-Vance is an assistant professor in the visual arts department at Trinity Western University. She is also a highly acclaimed artist with works in galleries and collections around the world, including the Vatican.

Parallel to the start of filming last fall in Vancouver, Catwoman’s director, Pitof, commissioned Grimm-Vance to create original paintings and a sketchbook that reflected the soul of the film’s main character, a graphic designer played by Halle Berry.

Released in July, the $100-million movie immediately came under withering fire from film critics generally for having a predictable plot, bad acting and a terrible script.

Christian reviewers were especially critical of Berry’s highly sexualized Catwoman character-"a role that reinforces damaging female stereotypes for sex-obsessed male viewers," wrote Jeffrey Overstreet in Christianity Today.

Gene Edward Veith, writing in World magazine, even accused the film of promoting sadomasochism, which he called "the next trendy perversion" in pop culture. "Thus, we have Catwoman in full dominatrix gear-black leather, mask, stiletto boots-with a hard look and wielding a bullwhip. Only those who enjoy torture-like what cats do to small animals-will appreciate this movie."

Adam R. Holz of Focus on the Family’s Plugged In magazine likewise denounced filmmakers for turning a popular comic book character "into little more than a violent advertisement for S&M-style lingerie."

Disappointing product
While Grimm-Vance feels the movie is not as bad as some have made it out to be, she admits to being "disappointed" by the final product.

"By and large," she says, "it could have been a very powerful piece that talks at a very deep level about a strong female character and role model. But it was kind of told from a male point of view, and it wasn’t really as authentic or as multi-layered as the story that I first heard about."

Grimm-Vance says the script was still being written and revised in major ways while filming was underway, so that in the end "other people’s visions…predominated." At one point, she had to produce another painting to fit a new ending.

And as the story line evolved, she says interest in what she had to contribute to the film appeared to wane.

"Initially, [Pitof’s] notion was that the artwork would function almost like a character in the movie. It would reveal what was going on inside of [Berry’s character]," says Grimm-Vance.

Still, she is pleased with the works she created for Catwoman and the way they were presented in the film. Nor did she have to compromise her art.

"They weren’t asking me to work like someone else," she says. "They were very enthusiastic about the work that I do with the body and with showing some of the inner landscapes of the soul."

Grimm-Vance hopes that her experience with Catwoman will not deter other Christians from becoming involved in the movie industry.

"Indeed, the opposite needs to be true," she says.

"The appropriate [Christian] response is not to flee this field, but to participate and transform it by creating powerful transformative art, film, drama and so on. It is a far too important task for us not to."