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Posted on 04/08/2026 7:35:33 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
Film excels at metaphor — Show, don’t tell, is the rule of cinema. Christians, however, can’t seem to resist using film as a high-tech flannel board. The result is more akin to propaganda than art, and propaganda has a nasty habit of hardening hearts.
Jesus began many of his parables with the phrase, “The kingdom of God is like …” He would respond to questions with parables — instead of stating the answer outright, he allowed his audience to make the connections themselves. The things of heaven are too large to be fully grasped by the human mind. They are mysteries, in the classic sense of the word, and can only be hinted at through symbols and metaphors.
Christian filmmakers seem to dislike mystery. Rather than using Jesus’s construct, “The kingdom of God is like …,” their films often proclaim, “The kingdom of God is.”
Nothing is left to the imagination. Audiences are told what to think...Ignoring life’s complexities, they paint a simplistic, unrealistic portrait of the world.
If we, as a community, can embrace and learn from what non-Christians are doing with the art form, then perhaps our next generation of filmmakers will be different. They will have to learn to make films for the mainstream, to embrace metaphor and eschew propaganda, and to be more objective observers — to wrestle with tough questions and to portray sin as it really is...
(Excerpt) Read more at catholiceducation.org ...
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Best Christmas film is Wonderful Life. That was made by Frank Capra. A legal immigrant, Catholic, Republican, Anti FDR -anti government intervention- successful family and business man.
The linear Christian films are documentaries. They have nothing in them to think about. They preach. To the choir
They just need an artistic twist. It is also difficult to fit a good film around a true event. It takes a certain viewpoint.
“If you want to send a message, try’ Western Union,” said Frank Capra, a Christian who made hugely popular mainstream films.
Gods word is better than all that. It cuts through the cultural milieu and is sharper than a two edged sword. Jesus said the truth about Himself. He knew that many would reject Him.
God will bring those who are ready, to salvation, and it won’t only be caused by a movie or a book that was presented artistically.
Give God more credit to communicate to those ready to believe.
I don’t know much about Capra himself. He was a good story teller and good at putting story on film.
That is a tricky thing to do. There are formulas and templates going back to Aristotle’s ideas of drama and comedy.
It’s not necessary to put a message in a story per se, as Capra indicates, but every re-watchable, good film has character progression. And he did that.
Most of the films you see have very weak storytelling, if any. There are no good, new Christmas movies. The best are wonderful life, the original grinch and Rudolph. They all have strong protagonist character progression. A story arc
You see a remake or a franchise film and you walk out shaking your head. That’s because there is no story. No story arc, no protagonist heading toward a change or conversely hanging on to his fault and never changing as in a good tragedy
Life lessons sneak in in those stories and they don’t have to do with hating Trump. They have to do with facing our own weaknesses and strengths, which is all we want from a good story on film/play - since Aristotelian times.
Since ancient times people want theater.
I think the author is confusing cause and effect. The problem isn’t that Christians don’t make good films, it’s that too few good film makers are Christian.
The ability to create an engaging narrative on film is a talent that not many have. Christians are a subset of that.
Mel Gibson is one of the few who has all the talent and the will to do it.
That said some really good Christian films are made by heathens, I think for the purpose of exploring the idea. example would be: Babette’s Feast.
Well we’re out of season a bit but personally I think THIS is the best Christmas film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wonsUt5FfWo
I actually find it kind of inspiring and hopeful for those who have lost faith.
But I get it if you don't want Alanis Morrisette to be God and for its mocking of parts of the Catholic Church.
That’s a god one. The kids made me watch Muppets Christmas Carol. It’s actually very well done. That’s another one we don’t miss
Maybe. But that’s not why He spoke in parables.
My favorite Christian movie is “Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ” (1926).
It’s been said that Hollywood fails because they try to make “morality plays”, though they are immoral people. But the fault here is *not* that they are immoral. It’s that they try to teach morality to people that are more moral than they are.
Those who are already moral also fail, because the definition of “morality” is *subjective*, to the point that every church has a different definition. Unlike legal ethics, obeying the laws of man; morality is an abstract written and enforced by heaven.
What is a flannel board?
Thanks.
I cannot count the true Christians I have met on one hand, but it I had a nickel for every professing Christian I have met I would be a very much richer man
I think I met the guy who does this site once, and I think he tries
https://christiananswers.net/spotlight/home.html
Artistic talent is God-given, and for whatever reason the Lord has not very many Christians with movie-making talent.
I write faith-based fiction. My rule of thumb is tell a good story that everyone can enjoy. If reader reaction to my work is any indication, I’ve succeeded. Don’t write a gospel tract. There are ways to present Christ and the gospel without being in your face. Jesus told parables in the same way. C.S. Lewis used analogy.
It's a lie. Maybe heathens like such films because they use the same errant theology as they do.
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