{"id":174,"date":"2011-02-17T02:44:28","date_gmt":"2011-02-17T02:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/02\/when-it-comes-to-movies-what-do-christians-want-plus-tv-headlines-starring-charlie-sheen-dawson-wond.html"},"modified":"2011-02-17T02:44:28","modified_gmt":"2011-02-17T02:44:28","slug":"when-it-comes-to-movies-what-do-christians-want-plus-tv-headlines-starring-charlie-sheen-dawson-wond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/02\/when-it-comes-to-movies-what-do-christians-want-plus-tv-headlines-starring-charlie-sheen-dawson-wond.html","title":{"rendered":"When it comes to movies, what do Christians want? Plus TV headlines starring Charlie Sheen, Dawson, Wonder Woman and Watson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hollywood and Christianity.<\/b> The Hollywood Reporter
\nchronicles the movie industry’s sometimes awkward attempts to appeal to
\nChristian
\naudiences<\/a> without turning off the mainstream. But with 76% of Americans
\nreportedly identifying themselves as Christians<\/a>, when are the Tinseltown
\ngeniuses going to realize that Christians are the mainstream?<\/p>\n

From The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

\nPRAISE BE WITH YOU: Films marketed heavily to faith-based audiences <\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \nThe Passion of the Christ<\/em>  (2004) $370.8M<\/li>\n
  2. \nThe Chronicles of Narnia: Lion, Witch and Wardrobe<\/em> (2005) $291.7M<\/li>\n
  3. \nThe Blind Side<\/em> (2010) $256M<\/li>\n
  4. \nBruce Almighty<\/em> (2003) $242.8M           <\/li>\n
  5. \nSuperman Returns<\/em> (2006) $200.1M<\/li>\n
  6. \nElf<\/em> (2003) $173.4M<\/li>\n
  7. \nThe Pursuit of Happyness<\/em>  (2006) $163.6M<\/li>\n
  8. \nThe Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian<\/em>  (2008) $141.6M<\/li>\n
  9. \nWalk the Line<\/em> (2005) $119.5M<\/li>\n
  10. \nThe Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader<\/em>  (2010) $103M<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    Not a bad track record, if you ask me.<\/p>\n

    So, what makes a film Christian? Strange Herring blogger Anthony Sacramone<\/a> offers a pretty good definition. He writes that “the criteria for what makes for a Christian film can include
    \neverything from the positive portrayal of Christian clergy and a
    \nfair-minded accounting of some episode in Christian history to merely an
    \nuplifting story about someone who prays and finds strength to do the
    \nright thing. It may also include no explicitly Christian iconography or
    \neven references but merely concern the plight of a broken soul who comes
    \nup against the limits of his or her internal resources and is
    \nconsequently “redeemed” by some “external” salvific force.”<\/i><\/p>\n

    BTW, commenting Big Hollywood’s John Nolte’s quest to name the 25 Greatest Christian Movies<\/a>, Sacramone nominates<\/a> B<\/em>illy Bob Thornton’s Sling Blade<\/em><\/a>. I haven’t actually seen the movie but the fact that he recommends it, suggests to me that it probably belongs.<\/p>\n

    Meanwhile, I have few titles to add to my previous list of nominees that includes Jesus of Nazareth<\/i><\/a>, Schindler’s List<\/i><\/a>, It’s a Wonderful Life<\/i><\/a>, Joe Versus the Volcano<\/i><\/a>, Tender Mercies<\/i><\/a>, Planes, Trains and Automobiles<\/i><\/a>, Raiders of the Lost Ark<\/a>, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade<\/a>,<\/i> The Bells of St. Mary’s<\/i><\/a>, Doubt<\/i><\/a>, Signs<\/a> <\/i>and Amazing Grace<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n

    New to my list, drum roll please, are Bruce Almighty<\/i><\/a>, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington<\/i><\/a>, Gran Torino<\/i><\/a>, The Wizard of Oz<\/a><\/i> and Titanic<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n

    What are Christians looking for at the movies? Good stories. Good Characters. Good values. It’s not a hard formula. <\/div>\n

    TV News:<\/b><\/p>\n

    Update: Charlie Sheen returns to Two and a Half Men<\/i>.<\/a> <\/b>The show will end the season with 20 episodes, down from the 24 originally planned before his latest round of drug-related headlines.   <\/p>\n

    TV’s crass-title mini-trend continues.<\/b><\/a> James Van Der Beek (Dawson’s Creek<\/i>) is set to play himself in an ABC (supposed) comedy pilot called Don’t Trust the Bitch in Apt. 23<\/i>. I’m guessing he’s not playing the title role. Anyway, too bad the pilot isn’t at CBS. They could pair with $#*! My Dad Says<\/em>.<\/i><\/p>\n

    NBC casts a Wonder Woman<\/i> for this generation.<\/b><\/a> She’s Adrianne Palicki of Friday Night Lights<\/i>. This updated version of the iconic female superhero by David E. Kelley (Boston Legal<\/i>), so something tells me it’s not going to be written with kids and family viewing in mind. BTW, the new Wonder Woman<\/i> series (if it gets picked up) will be called simply Wonder Woman<\/i>, not to be confused with the 1970’s Wonder Woman <\/i>series starring Lynda Carter. The official title of the old one is The New Adventures of Wonder Woman. <\/i>Got that?<\/p>\n

    Watson the Computer beats the human champions on Jeopardy<\/i>.<\/a> <\/b>Possibly the most depressing story of the day. But, on the other hand, Watson wouldn’t stand a chance on Wipeout<\/i><\/a>.
    <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Hollywood and Christianity. The Hollywood Reporter chronicles the movie industry’s sometimes awkward attempts to appeal to Christian audiences without turning off the mainstream. But with 76% of Americans reportedly identifying themselves as Christians, when are the Tinseltown geniuses going to realize that Christians are the mainstream? From The Hollywood Reporter: PRAISE BE WITH YOU: Films…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1,2,27,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-media","category-movies","category-technology","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen it comes to movies, what do Christians want? 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Kennedy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/d80\/d801bc09698c0995d9ae402b4b55ab61x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/d80\/d801bc09698c0995d9ae402b4b55ab61x96.jpg","caption":"John W. Kennedy"},"description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media & Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations & Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}