# Why are Christian movies so bad?



## Confounded (Mar 18, 2011)

I guess this is more of a rant than anything else, but bear with me.

I just watched a movie with my youth group (well, part of it...) called Facing the Giants. Apparently everyone else loved it, but I found it very uninspiring.... 

There's such a great message there, but it's presented in an unimpressive way... I tolerate the cheesy moments and the bad jokes because I'm a devoted Christian and I support the message, but if a non-Christian were to watch it, I'm sure they would think it's terrible. And that Christians are crackheads for liking such a movie. And if I weren't Christian, these kind of movies would definitely turn me away from Christianity.

Sorry if you actually like that movie, by the way... =\
But does anyone else agree?


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## Lufausljc (Apr 28, 2011)

I remember watching the movie, yet I practically forgot most of it. In my experience, Christian movies tend to have a low budget, therefore, I believe Christian movies tend to incorporate bad acting. I do agree with you about the message being inspiring, yet the message is presented in a dull and cheesy way that it eventually turns me off. Another thing that I also look in a movie is the script, and many Christian movies tend to lack in that department. I have watched Fireproof and again I liked the message, but I laughed out loud at some(or perhaps many) scenes because of the way the message was being presented. At the end, I end up not liking the movie because I always rate a movie in its execution.


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## cue5c (Oct 12, 2011)

You could always watch C Me Dance and suddenly a lot of christian films seem better than _that_ one.


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## Nutkin (Nov 7, 2011)

_Facing the Giants _was one of Sherwood's first movies. They have gotten better. Their latest movie _Courageous_ is very profesional and well made, with excellent acting. I'll admit that Facing the Giants wasn't as good as their newer ones. I'm not the biggest fan of football, which may have contributed to my opinion of it.


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## pneuma (Mar 22, 2011)

Because Christianity is sad.


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## Zmp (May 22, 2011)

I recommend Faith Like Potatoes


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## EternalNocturne (Nov 4, 2011)

They are so frequently bad because they have a minimalistic budget, and frequently they cover subjects that require more special effects than they can afford.. so they have low quality special effects and low budget acting.

And let's face it.. not everyone can take a $6 million budget and produce a masterpiece like the Usual Suspects.


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## sprinkles (Feb 7, 2010)

Want I want to know is why some Christian _music_ is so terrible. There's a couple of good groups, yeah, but so many that sound like what they are doing is forced. Especially on 'praise and worship' albums.

It's disturbing to hear "Lord I lift your name on high" sung with a tone of "I really don't believe this and I feel completely awkward about it but I'm singing it anyway because everyone else is." Come on, you can't hide that. _I've been there._


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## EternalNocturne (Nov 4, 2011)

Christian music is kind of like inbreeding... there is so little that is fresh and new... it's all recycling.
It's sickening when a song plays some random place and within three seconds you think "Oh.. it's a Christian song"
What people don't realize is that it's not music that is Christian, it's the people.
People try to cram "Christian" lyrics, instead of natural creative flow.
People who constantly condemn people for not appreciating Christian music are simply unaware of the hypocrisy.
Christian music is like a painting, plain, uncreative, but loaded with Christian symbolism.
And some (Definitely not all) secular music is like a beautiful masterpiece, exhibiting the beauty of God's nature.
How can one possibly say that is wrong to appreciate natural beauty found in some music.
Music IS art, music truly is to the ear, what art is to the eyes.
And music with well written lyrics, are not only art to the ears but to the mind as well.. soothing like the waves of the ocean.

Well.. as a musician of 10 years, and a Christian even longer, that's my rant.


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## Palaver (Jan 5, 2010)

Because there is no God!

Kidding. Because it lacks artistic direction? It's the same reason why government propaganda films suck. When the message is controlled, there is less room for creative expression. Hollywood is also becoming quite conservative in that respect. They are willing to put out the same crap so long as it is guaranteed to make a buck.

Creativity suffers when expectations dominate.


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## billymark (Nov 3, 2011)

I can remember playing in praise bands in highschool, but we were freaking awesome with that sexy guitarist they had. I honestly did have a problem with most bands we would play with and stuff. It was like "oh, this guitar riff again" or, of course, the same songs over and over. I can also remember that movie coming out and hating it due to it's hype amongst the youth group and how I thought of them all as inferior due to their taste in movies and inability to recognize that. Then there was the judgement and alienation for not following the social que...anyway, yea. Even narnia sucked...


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## Kilgore Trout (Jun 25, 2010)

Yes, this is a real movie. Yes, it's starring Daniel Baldwin as that oh-so-cranky atheist, and Ted McGinley, who's known for his role in Married With Children. If you want to enjoy a good laugh, this movie is perfect.


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## billymark (Nov 3, 2011)

Oh Good Lord. Do christians actually think we behave like this? And if so, do they question "why" ever? I guess I know what I'm watching this christmas as I fire up another one. Also, why are most atheists' offended by manger scenes and such? I have never once cared what was in front of my neighbors lawn (I grew up in alabama).


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## Decay153 (Dec 31, 2009)

The same reason Christian Rock is sub-par.
"Christian" is first and foremost more important in these works than either being movies or music.


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## TheWaffle (Aug 4, 2010)

Kilgore Trout said:


> Yes, this is a real movie. Yes, it's starring Daniel Baldwin as that oh-so-cranky atheist, and Ted McGinley, who's known for his role in Married With Children. If you want to enjoy a good laugh, this movie is perfect.


 The Athiest Who Stole Christmas.


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## PurpleProse (Oct 2, 2011)

because the majority of the creators/directors lighten the truth so that they dont offend neone. everything is so watered down.


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## Thalassa (Jun 10, 2010)

Well, I think Catholics in general are more educated (they just are...their church makes sure of that, and their priests have advanced degrees) and you'll notice that Catholic movies and music may be of a higher quality in many cases than mainstream American Fundamentalist Protestant music/movies.

There are two simple reasons for this:

1) Catholics value aesthetics. Beauty and art are part of their worship. They consider music, architecture, painting, sculpting, et al...all to the glory of God. Many American Fundamentalist Protestants utterly reject aesthetic interests and art, much like their Puritan ancestors, as a "distraction" from God. This kind of philosophical hostility toward art is well....going to make their art bad.

2) Catholics are more educated. Many American Fundamentalist Protestants reject things like university education on principle, in fact some groups of them seem to aspire to be as shamefully ignorant as possible.

My apologies to Episcopalians and Lutherans, who are two sects of American Protestant Christians who don't seem to delight in boredom and stupidity.


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## Thalassa (Jun 10, 2010)

PurpleProse said:


> *because the majority of the creators/directors lighten the truth so that they dont offend neone*. everything is so watered down.


Not Mel Gibson!

See my post about Catholics.


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## Konstantine (Aug 30, 2011)

C Me Dance is by far the worst one I've watched. It will make Facing The Giants seem like an Oscar winner, haha.


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## Aedesia (Nov 17, 2011)

Decay153 said:


> The same reason Christian Rock is sub-par.
> "Christian" is first and foremost more important in these works than either being movies or music.


I completely agree with this. 

Also, the audience is to blame. Most Christian viewers will not knock a Christian film, it just doesn't happen. If you voice that you dislike the film, that makes you unChristian. There is no demand for quality, only a Christian message or theme.


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## Death Persuades (Feb 17, 2012)

It's funny in the very low budget ones where there is a pause in between what each person says and they stare at the camera and say everything in a way that you can tell it's just memorized. Too bad secular movies have way better acting :/


I like some christian music, though. Living Sacrifice, Demon Hunter, Flyleaf, etc.


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## stephiphi (Mar 30, 2012)

This is an amazing read: http://gungormusic.com/2012/12/christian-pizza/


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## Falling Leaves (Aug 18, 2011)

I watched a Christian film a few weeks ago called 'Fireproof'. It certainly wasn't a good movie by any means of the imagination, but it was pretty interesting in the ideas it tried to purvey.


...of course, it helps that the whole Christian dogma only played a minor role in the plot, acting as food for thought rather than trying to force it down the watcher's throats.


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## Chascoda (Jul 12, 2012)

Arbite said:


> Am I the only one that listens to the analogies to God and Jesus in Christian rock and finds them ludicrously ****-erotic and weirdly arousing?


You get turned on by God?

To answer your question...yes.


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## Aislinn (Jan 21, 2013)

Blue Like Jazz was actually a really cool one, but other than that I'd have to be with you. You can be Christian, and you can be an artist, you can even create art with Christian influences and be very respected for this (for example Sufjan Steven, Sinead O'Connor, Bob Dylan, or Leanord Cohen) but as soon as people use Christian as a marketing label things go down hill. When it's a label people use it as a defense or excuse for lack of quality.


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