I was supposed to like the movie. Not only was I supposed to like it, I really should have been cheering it on. Considering the film’s message, I should help move its Metacritic score above sixty, and leave a review to bump up the Rotten Tomatoes audience certification to Fresh.
The critics trashed it, but they always trash these kinds of movies. Along with dollars, the audience rating is one of the few weapons we possess in promoting certain movies. So it’s on me to advocate for the film, to get the word out and support it with one of the two things Hollywood cares about: making money, or advancing a social agenda. If it can generate enough profits then maybe, just maybe, Hollywood might start green lighting more productions like it.
There’s only one problem: It was bad.
A few dozen movies fall into this category, including the one I watched the other night. I thought about calling it out, but I remembered movie recommendations are completely arbitrary. Some people I highly respect have awful taste in movies; other friends I disagree with on everything else are cinematic soulmates. You can just never tell how a person will view someone’s art. For proof, try asking my wife and I what we think of Guardians of the Galaxy.
The movie in question isn’t important, nor the motivation for promoting it. Both sides of the cultural battlefield are invested in making their messages attractive. Our side latches onto a movie that highlights a cultural or spiritual truth we want others to experience. Their side showers a project with accolades and awards in order to broaden its appeal, and advocate or normalize a value system. That both films are garbage is completely beside the point.
There is a serious danger in placing advocacy ahead of quality. For one thing, it dilutes the message. The Christian filmography is top-heavy with unwatchable productions that insinuate following Jesus means you check your creative standards at the door. The films that advocate homosexuality are not much better, regardless of what the BBC, or The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences would have you believe. Great source material cannot compensate for bad screenwriting or lousy acting.
Another problem is that boasting about sub-caliber work diminishes the brand. There are only so many times we can say, “It has a great message,” before that recommendation gets translated as, “They couldn’t afford to hire Robert Downey, Jr.” Quality matters, but so does the message, and there are few things more universally consumed than modern film. We need to get this right, because if we don’t, they will. They already have.
I don’t claim to know what God thinks of any of this. How does He feel about The Avengers? Captain America once gave Him a nod eight movies ago, but Chris Evans is famously known as a potty mouth, and Scarlett Johansson is a Planned Parenthood apologist, so there’s that. Our side has Chris Pratt, but he doesn’t take on our side’s projects (See the Robert Downey, Jr. clause above). We still have Sean Astin, so I know God is cool with The Lord of the Rings, never mind Ian McKellen’s politics. I mean, Tolkien was a Christian, so was C.S. Lewis, which is why we need to be cheerleading for Netflix’s new Narnia franchise. Right? But if it ends up being horrible, where does that leave us? But it has a great message!
As I think this through, I become more and more convinced that the things we watch matter, but only in how it shapes our relationship with Him or with others. The drama playing out on the big screen is less important than the conversation in the car on the way home. That’s not to give license to things that are foul, like pornography, debauchery, and such, but it also doesn’t mean a diet of biblical exclusivity in our entertainment is required. At least I hope it’s not, because the secular world — for now — has most of the best content, shelved right alongside some of the worst.
Does that mean we need to water down our message? Certainly not. Nor do I believe we need to scream it from the opening crawl to the after credits scene. Our message can be all the more powerful for its subtlety, and realistic characters interacting within a plot that mirrors truth is far more effective than caricatures and tired stereotypes. Good marketing can sell anything but quality sells itself, and we need to stop promoting inferior products. Every captive audience brings a new opportunity, and we owe them the hard work required to tell our tales eloquently, with heart and truth and sometimes a little bit of pain, because the shallow, lazy narrative will never appeal — even if it’s wrapped around a great message.