Tue, Jan. 10, 2012 Posted: 11:24 AM EDT
Has Hollywood lost touch with Middle America? According
to The Christian Film & Television
Commission, the city of lights and big
dreams does not know how to appeal to the average
American. Yet, other observers insist Christians may be
expecting too much from a sector controlled by
"nonbelievers."
"They don't know how to market to the average American
who is a churchgoing Christian who believes in God,
country, and family," said Dr. Ted Baehr, the ministry’s
founder and chairman, in a released statement
"Year in and year out, our statistics show that
moviegoers prefer family-friendly movies with positive
Christian, wholesome, patriotic, conservative, and
traditional moral values," he stated.
Filmmaker and media consultant Phil Cooke pointed out that
Hollywood does not reflect a significant segment of what
most would call "Middle America." He told The Christian
Post that many of the studio executives he has met were
"politically liberal" – adding that this could also be
said about doctors, attorneys, and most university
professors.
"Perhaps the biggest issue is 'Why do we expect
nonbelievers to act like believers?'" Cooke questioned.
"Why do we get so stressed out when Hollywood doesn't
reflect our values, or create movies we like?"
Cooke, co-founder of Cooke Pictures, explained that
Christians get "distracted" from the real call because so
much time is spent "freaking out over not being able to
say a prayer at the start of a high school football game,
or upset at Hollywood, the gay community, or others, that
we forget that our job is to reach the world,
not complain."
Pastor David Wright, CEO of DOersTV, agreed that
believers should not expect nonbelievers to act like them.
According to Wright, nonbelievers are sinners and sinners
sin. "Because Hollywood is controlled by nonbelievers who
love to sin, we cannot expect a sinner to act like a
saint," he told CP.
"No Christian is exempt from poisoning their mind with
the filth of Hollywood – you can’t play with fire and not
get burned," Wright added.
The Numbers, a box office website, found that G-rated
features grossed $34.6 million in 2011, whereas R-rated
movies averaged about $10.8 million. The typically
family-oriented G-rated films also outranked more
explicit-natured films in 2009 and 2010.
Dr. Baehr noted that the results reveal that these movies
made three or, as in previous years, five times as much
money as R-rated films. He noted that PG movies also
ranked far better on average.
"Middle America wants to see, rent, and buy entertaining
movies with Christian, biblical values that they can show
to their whole family," he stated. "They want to see Good
triumph over Evil, Justice to prevail, Truth to defeat
Falsehood, and Purity to conquer Lust. They reject movies
with explicit, graphic sex and violence."
Pastor Wright added, "True 'Christians' crave and desire
to watch Christian themed movies not because of what’s in
the movies, but mainly because of what’s not in the movie
– sin and immorality."
On the other hand, Cooke suggested that the conception
that G or PG movies rake in more money than R-rated films
is inaccurate. He told CP that when you take out high
budget animated blockbusters like "Cars" or "Toy Story"
the situation changes significantly.
"We'd all like to believe that people are looking for
G-rated entertainment, but the truth is, that's not
necessarily the case," Cooke said. "While protecting
children is critical, I'm not sure Christians are really
called to produce only G-rated movies and TV programming."
He pointed out that much of the Bible, if turned into a
movie, would be R-rated, if not worse. According to Cooke,
God shared "real authentic stories and the Bible doesn’t
gloss over real life."
"The culture would respect our message much more if we
stopped producing just cheesy, G-rated films and started
telling gritty stories about real life," he said.
Research from The Barna Group found that Christians
watched almost the exact type of movies and TV programs as
non-Christians, Cooke revealed. The original Barna study
could not be found, but researchers at the National Study of
Youth and Religion discovered that 43
percent of U.S. teens, between ages 13 and 17, who said
their faith was either extremely or very important in
shaping their daily lives reported watching mostly R-rated
movies and videos.
Regardless, Cooke shared that while there is a place for
Christian-themed films that is not why he goes to the
movies.
"I go to see powerful, compelling stories about all kinds
of subjects," he told CP. "If it has Christian
implications like 'Blindside,' or 'The Chronicles of
Narnia,' great. But I'm just as thrilled to see a great
war movie, historical epic, or sci-fi thriller."
Cooke countered that the question is not what can
Hollywood do to become more "in touch" with Middle
America, but rather what does "Middle America" need to do
to get Hollywood’s attention.
"We sometimes forget that Hollywood is a business. As a
result, they pay very little attention to boycotts and
critics, but pay a lot of attention to box office
receipts," he stated. "Christians could change Hollywood tomorrow if
they would simply start showing up at films they care
about."
"There are millions of evangelical Christians in America,
and if we could mobilize that power to show up at great
movies that reflect our values, trust me – Hollywood would
notice and respond
