Posted on 12/31/2023 12:15:23 AM PST by Morgana
It should go without saying that The Gospel Coalition (TGC) has absolutely nothing to do with the gospel or any other biblical teaching or exhortation. The Gospel Coalition is nothing more than an outlet for the carnal consumption of worldly influence into the Church by compromised Evangelicals who are bound together by their propensity toward embracing the culture. It is, in fact, The Gospel-less Coalition.
As with previous years, Brett McCracken, a prominent author at The Gospel Coalition has released his “Best Movies” of the year list for 2023, and just like previous years, it’s filled with sex, violence, foul language, and blasphemy. First up is McCracken’s recommendation of the movie, Killers of the Flower Moon.
According to Common Sense Media, Killers of the Flower Moon is filled with violence and blasphemy, presenting an unsettling cinematic experience steeped in vulgar language and gratuitous brutality. The film’s rampant use of profanities, including incessant “----” and “----,” and even taking the Lord’s name in vain, coupled with racial slurs, tarnishes the dialogue and diminishes its historical significance. Its depiction of violence—marked by guns, shootings, and bloodied corpses—is excessive, making this movie a perfect fit for the carnal-minded TGC world-lover.
Next up is McCracken’s recommendation of the movie Past Lives. According to Common Sense Media, Past Lives delves into a romantic narrative yet is marred by inappropriate elements. The film includes scenes of smoking and drinking, along with occasional strong language such as “bitch,” “s–t,” and uses of “f–k.”
And finally, McCracken’s “honorable mention” of The Holdovers, as reviewed by Common Sense Media, is an indecent portrayal of debauchery, laden with a barrage of profanities such as “-----,” “----head,” “nut punch,” and “----.” This film not only normalizes but glorifies crude language, heavy drinking, smoking, drug use among teenagers, and pornography, along with needless sexual references and explicit content. The use of such crassness, especially in a setting involving a teacher, is irresponsible and deeply concerning and has no place in the lives of Christian audiences. This film is a glaring example of the decline in morality in entertainment.
While I didn’t review every single movie on McCracken’s list, I’m sure there’s much more there. McCracken has been known to promote the worst of the worst, including homosexual sex scenes, even claiming that they have helped him become better at evangelism after watching them. But his list for 2023 pretty much fits the bill of what was to be expected.
An excellent movie. Watched it also.
My favorite John Wayne film.
Not a big fan of George Clooney but it seemed to focus on the facts vs. some social message. Bought the book as they typically have details that can’t be captured in the movie. Apollo 13 was like that. If you liked the movie, the book was better as it got into details that the movie couldn’t cover.
The "reviewer" from The Dissenter who trashes these 2023 picks-- he doesn't give his name, naturally -- obviously didn't watch them either. The Dissenter diatribe's only apparent source is Common Sense Media -- and The Dissenter misrepresents what Common Sense Media actually says about the three films mentioned, all of which CSM rates very highly.
Having misrepresented its own source on the three movies mentioned -- ignoring the rest of a much longer list -- The Dissenter then parades its ignorance while launching an unsupported ad hominem attack on the TGC critic:
"While I didn’t review every single movie on McCracken’s list, [actually The Dissenter's author didn't review any of them, which he can't because he's not seen them] I’m sure there’s much more there. [LOL. Watch the #*&% movie, fool, before you publish your brain farts online.] McCracken has been known to promote the worst of the worst, including homosexual sex scenes, even claiming that they have helped him become better at evangelism after watching them. But his list for 2023 pretty much fits the bill of what was to be expected."
Beware of "reviewers" who don't actually watch the movies about which they are ranting. I've not seen Killers of the Flower Moon -- which CSM gives a five-star rating -- but The Dissenter is simply wrong in its characterization of Past Lives and The Holdovers. I'll be glad to debate the point with anyone who has actually watched the movies in question.
If you don't want to watch the movies yourself, at least go to CSM and read their reviews. (Go directly to the movies in question because CSM limits your free views). Then read a couple of other reviews, both positive and negative; there won't be many of the latter for these two movies, but you can find a few. Just don't take the word of a ranter who hasn't actually seen the movies and who doesn't offer any analysis at all of the movies beyond a conclusory accusation.
It would also be helpful if The Dissenter offered any recommendations of its own. It doesn't.
There is far too much of this kind of thing in online discussion. The three leading conservative "message" films in 2023 are probably Ladyballers, Nefarious and The Sound of Freedom. Lefty reviewers are nearly unanimous in hurling denunciations -- and it is very clear that virtually none of them have actually seen the films. This is the equivalent of graffiti on a bathroom stall, but it goes viral on the internet and becomes the dominant narrative in online echo chambers, where people get offended at the slightest independent opinion, especially from people who show up the rest of the participants by actually knowing what they are talking about.
The Dissenter seems to be mostly interested in anathematizing The Gospel Coalition and, in this case, TGC's movie reviewer. I have no idea what that is about, but with regard to the movies under discussion, TGC's reviewer has actually watched them and offers some intelligent commentary with which you can agree or disagree. The Dissenter isn't even in the game.
Those probably are some of the better movies of the year.
Unlike Dissenter’s, your post was informative and pelucid without being prolix.
We saw BOYS IN THE BOAT on Wednesday withe the grandkids who learned about the Depression. Great movie about the rowing team that went to the 1936 Olympics.
Ummmmm it is a true story about guys who committed a string of murders for money.
They were not the type to go around singing "Jesus Loves Me".
Have no idea who either of the people in this little slap fight are but the complaints by the party of the first part against the party of the second are a bit on the silly side at least in this case.
"Those movies?" To which movies are you referring? Yes, there is gratuitous nudity and sex in movies. That's a long-running story going back to the earliest days of the film industry. (There has been a dark underside to the theater business since forever, going way back before movies appeared, but that's another story.) Abuses led to great public pressure and the U.S. film industry responded with the Hays Code.
Decades later, the industry abandoned the Hays Code and switched to a ratings system. It's a long and tangled story; there's a serious argument today that theatrical movies, broadly speaking, are less raunchy than they were in the 1970's and 80's because the really raunchy stuff has migrated online to subscription based streaming services.
That's an argument for another day; I'll just say that I'm generally on the prudish side of that debate, and I will note that the vast majority of contemporary movies do NOT (and never have) involved nudity and highly revealing sex scenes. Some do, and that's legitimate ground for a debate, but there are many films (and whole genres) where sex is not the point.
But put that aside for the moment. The topic here is a rant from The Dissenter about The Gospel Coalition/Brett McCrackens "best of 2023" list. McCracken sets out to identify the best of the current crop from a Christian perspective. Good movies are still being made. Finding them is the challenge. That's why McCracken is trying to do.
Does McCracken get it right? Well, of the three movies on his list denounced by The Dissenter, I've not seen Flowers of the Killer Moon, so I will punt on that one. I have seen three others on his list: Living (technically a 2022 film), Past Lives, and The Holdovers. Zero sex. Zero nudity.
I think there is one very tame kiss in The Holdovers; there might be a couple of others because this is all at a Christmas party, and there's mistletoe. Whatever. Everybody is fully clothed, and nobody dives under the tables or heads to the bedrooms. And ... take a deep breath here ... Past Lives does have a couple of scenes that put a couple in bed together. That of course would have been prohibited under the Hays Code. FWIW, however, in this case said couple are married to each other. They are snuggled up affectionately, and both are clothed. They are talking, and about serious things, not sex talk or flirtation. The other film from the list that I've watched is Living, which has no nudity or sex.
Living, Past Lives, and The Holdovers are all profoundly conservative films with uplifting moral messages. That is McCracken's point. So why does The Dissenter misrepresent them? Well ... for starters, The Dissenter's writer hasn't actually seen any of the movies which he is denouncing. Start there.
Based on the movies I've seen, McCracken and TGC are off to a pretty good start. His list reminds me of a couple more movies that have been on my watchlist. But I will check them out before recommending, or denouncing, them.
Good movies are still being made. Not as many as you and I would like, but some people haven't given up the fight, and honest storytellers sometimes make quite conservative movies despite their own personal politics, because reality is conservative.
Those movies that you see today. those movies. thats what i am referring to.
“The film includes scenes of smoking and drinking,”
Oh Noes! Was there dancing too?
Ditto on George Clooney. One of my sidebar interests is good films from unlikely sources. Movies about communism and the cold war are one of my go-to food groups. There are many looping trails, one of which is the scandalous neglect of the Cambodian holocaust in U.S. cinema. Obviously the American left went pro-communist in the latter part of the Vietnam War, and it was profoundly embarrassed by the killing fields and the boat people. The Killing Fields was made decades ago. Then ... crickets, until First They Killed My Father was released in 2017. That was an Angelina Jolie passion project. Go figure.
Here and there, liberals get red pilled. Or short of that, they run into a story that leads them out of the darkness at least momentarily. That’s an opportunity for engagement and dialogue, which sounds pretentious on a small online discussion forum, but still ... we should at least acknowledge good stuff when it is made. And if there is a conservative underground in Hollywood, people should make connections and work to move the Overton Window our way.
So ... not the movies on Brett McCracken’s recommended list. Check a couple of them out. You might be surprised. Good movies are still being made. We just have to find them. If we want more of them to be made, we should watch the good ones when they appear, but we have to find them first.
Furthermore, I find foul language and sexual depravity utterly unnecessary in most of these movies.
For example, in a movie a version of one of Leo Tolstoy's masterpieces, I saw a hump scene. Tolstoy didn't find it necessary to include anything like that. Not only was it tasteless and unnecessary, but it was distracting.
I don't go for that sort of thing.
Fair enough. I also make a point of boycotting movies with objectionable content ... usually. On occasion, however, I will watch an “enemy” movie (in the culture war sense) as a matter of opposition research. I am trying to be disciplined about not ranting about movies I’ve not seen. Sometimes a movie is making a big stir and, being combative, I have an itch to weigh in. So I put on my big boy pants and watch it, because if I’m going to rain fire and brimstone on something, I want to be sure that I understand the target.
Sometimes I have been surprised. More often, my initial prejudice is confirmed, but at least then I can rant with a clear conscience. Conversely, what really gets my goat is when people trash a movie that I like — or at least respect — and it is clear that they haven’t seen the film and don’t have a clue what they are talking about.
FR skews old. Not all of us are in our dotage, but most of us ain’t spring chickens. If someone is content to coast on rewatches of old movies, that’s fine. Personally, I still like to see new movies. Finding the good ones is the trick.
That’s why I read a lot of reviews.
Have you seen the movie “The Blind Side” ?
How about “Take Shelter” ?
Yes. Enjoyed it. I am very sorry to see that Michael Oher has quarreled with the Tuohy family. I don’t understand the inner workings of that dispute, but it’s sad that the issue arose in the first place and that they were not able to work it out amicably.
No, I’ve not seen Take Shelter. Do you recommend it?
I had to sensor it for the religion forum but if you REALLY must know it was f*ck and sh!t.
LOL! Sorry, I was just being snarky!
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