When the Lights Go Down: Movie Review as Christian Practice

By Mark D. Eckel and Jeffrey L. Sparks

What movies have you seen lately? is a question almost everyone asks. How should we watch movies Christianly? is a question Dr. Mark Eckel has been asking for thirty years. When the Lights Go Down suggests answers based on story-filled essays, movie reviews, interviews, and questions to ask while watching movies. Now the Christian practice of movie review can begin next time the lights go down!

Mark teaches how to critically review film through the lens of biblical thinking.
Barry Walton, director and producer of The High: Making the Toughest Race on Earth

I know of no other book quite like this. Highly accessible to the average layperson, it is wildly multi-faceted, a foundational course in theological movie-viewing.
Dr. Rosalie de Rosset, Professor of Communications and Literature, Moody Bible Institute

When the Lights Go Down is a gift to pastors.
Larry Renoe, Teaching Pastor at Waterstone Community Church, Littleton, Colorado

Mark Eckel ushers the church to a positive, approachable, fresh theological understanding of movies.
Jim Tudor, filmmaking professional,Twitchfilm.comfilm critic, and co-founder ofZekeFilm.org

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 9, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490854168

Mark D. Eckel

Dr. Mark Eckel (ThM, PhD) is Professor of Leadership, Education, & Discipleship at Capital Seminary and Graduate School. Dr. Eckel has spent over thirty years teaching various subjects through film, including how to interpret movies. Mark has served the Christian community as a high school teacher, college professor, educational consultant, conference speaker, mentor, essayist, movie reviewer, curriculum writer, and faith-learning integration leader. Mark’s wife, Robin, is a second grade Christian school teacher. They have two grown children, Tyler and Chelsea. Mark and Robin are members of and contribute their gifts to Crossroads Community Church in Fishers, Indiana.  Many of Mark’s writings can be accessed at www.warpandwoof.org where he writes weekly.

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Copyright © 2014 Mark D. Eckel.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-5417-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-5418-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-5416-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014917509

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/03/2014

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Opening Interview: Brian Godawa, Author of Hollywood Worldviews

Introduction: What Movies Have You Seen Lately?

Story: Taking a Stand While Sitting Down

Story: They All Begin and End the Same

Story: Interview with Elizabeth Meyer

Story: Review of An Unfinished Life

Story Questions for Every Movie

Common Grace: Where Christianity and Culture Intersect

Common Grace: Common Experience

Common Grace Interview: Dr. Drew Trotter

Common Grace: Review of Temple Grandin

Common Grace Questions for Any Film

Philosophy: Fiction Changes Our Nonfiction Lives

Philosophy: Signposts in a Strange Land

Philosophy Interview: Dr. Ronnie Campbell

Philosophy: Review of Rails and Ties

Philosophy Questions for Every Movie

Guidelines: Is It Just Harmless Entertainment?

Guidelines: Crossing Lines

Guidelines: Interview with Eric Bumpus

Guidelines: Review of Juno

Guidelines Questions for Every Movie

Interpretation: Everything Is Interpretation

Interpretation: Influenced by the Influencers

Interpretation: Interview with Paul Butler

Interpretation: Review of Peacock

Interpretation Questions for Every Movie

Themes: A Jumbo Tub of Popcorn

Themes: Tell It Slant

Themes: Interview with Antwanye Ford

Themes: Review of Take Shelter

Themes Questions for Every Movie

POV: Everyone Has a Point of View

POV: What in the World Is Worldliness?

POV: Interview with Jack Lugar

POV: Review of No Country for Old Men

POV Questions for Every Movie

Verbal/Visual: Tears on a Plane

Verbal/Visual: A Word Paints a Thousand Pictures

Verbal/Visual: Interview with Peter-John Campbell

Verbal/Visual: Review of The Lives of Others

Verbal/Visual Questions for Every Movie

Sci-Fi: "How Can You Watch That?"

Sci-Fi: "How Can You Watch That?"

Sci-Fi: Interview with John W. Morehead

Sci-Fi: Review of The Mist

Sci-Fi Questions for Every Movie

Horror: Evil Exists; Evil Wants Us

Horror: Things That Go Bump in the Night

Horror: Interviews with David Canfield and Dave Henry

Horror: Review of The Crazies

Horror Questions for Every Movie

Violence: I Wanted Him Dead

Violence: We All Got It Comin’

Violence: Interviews with Chris Atkins and Dr. Mark Eckel

Violence: Review of Act of Valor

Violence Questions for Every Movie

Drama: Watching the Screen, Looking in the Mirror

Drama: Can We? or Should We?

Drama: Interviews with Sharon Autenrieth and Dave Henry

Drama: Review of the Jesse Stone Movies

Drama Questions for Every Movie

Heartwarming: Hitting the Pause Button

Heartwarming: Getting Our Brain Inked

Heartwarming: Interview with Aaron Dicer

Heartwarming: Review of Hachi

Heartwarming Questions for Every Film

Love-Story: Why I Hate the Phrase Chick Flicks

Love-Story: Sacrifice Must Precede Redemption

Love Stories: Interview with Jamie Janosz

Love-Story: Review of Raising Helen

Love-Story Questions for Every Movie

Watch Again: When It Breaches Well

Watch Again: Something More than Victory

Watch Again: Interview with Amanda Cleary Eastep

Watch Again: Review of Gone Baby Gone

Watch Again Questions for Every Movie

Conclusion: Look! He’s Taking Out the Notebook!

Foreword

I often wonder why Christians allow the Motion Picture Association of America to be their moral guide. Though the MPAA may help Christians find films that are family friendly, it doesn’t tell them anything of the storytelling, quality of filmmaking, or accuracy in any given film.

Many American evangelical Christian circles are infamous for rejecting popular culture by fleeing from the film industry because of its secularism, violence, and false truths. If these circles do attend movies, they often limit themselves to viewing G- or PG-rated films.

Fifteen years ago, the Heartland Film Festival came up with the Top Ten Truly Moving Pictures of all time. Many of those films had received an R rating. Though I would not necessarily advocate those films to young people, I believe they are masterpieces, for they tell great—and often true-life—stories, and they force viewers to deal with difficult realities in and of the world.

In 1 Peter 3:15, Christians are called to Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. How can we have assurance of hope without understanding and interacting with the world around us? Because film is one of the most influential and powerful mediums of storytelling in our culture, Christians ought to jump at the chance to learn about the world’s realities and current issues through film.

When the Lights Go Down: Movie Review as Christian Practice offers wise perspective on how Christians can—and should—engage with popular culture by viewing films that may otherwise be deemed inappropriate by some conservative Christian groups. Mark Eckel, whom I met through Jay Hein, president and CEO of Sagamore Institute in Indianapolis, approaches film from a wonderfully deep and rich perspective in this book in ways that have enlightened me. He challenges Christians not only to watch films but also to analyze them, to ask why they matter, and to search for truth and common grace amidst darkness. I am thoroughly impressed by the breadth of films he explores in this book and by the truth he gleans from them.

When the Heartland jury looks at a film to consider for a Truly Moving Picture, one of the criteria questions we ask is, Does the film have a lingering effect on its viewer? Many of the films Mark mentions in this book have such an effect, for their themes, stories, and visuals remain in the viewer’s mind for days and force him or her to wrestle with difficult questions and search for meaning.

There are many resources given in the book, and one in particular caught my attention—TheoFantastique.com, a blog of John W. Morehead. The subheading A Meeting Place for Myth, Mystery, and Imagination in Pop Culture says it all. I went to Mr. Morehead’s blog and found a fascinating look at film and other areas of pop culture with great insights and discussion.

Mark’s book has had the same effect on me. He has challenged me and helped me to look deeper into films, to evaluate why film and story matters. When the Lights Go Down is an applicable book for all of us who want to better understand the power of film.

Despite a film’s MPAA rating, I urge you, the reader, to accept Mark’s challenge to seek truth in the greatest storytelling medium of our time.

Jeffrey L. Sparks

Founder and President Emeritus

Heartland Film Festival

Preface

Narrative in this world comes from another world.

We want you to teach the adults in our church how to watch movies.

The request came from my pastors. I was pleasantly surprised.

Christians need to know how to interact with a media they use all the time.

I thanked Scott and Keith for the opportunity and their trust. They were giving me thirteen weeks of teaching time during Sunday mornings to instruct adults. That is a lot of trust. Forty to fifty people attended these sessions each week, over four months, during the fall of 2013. Every Sunday, I developed a PowerPoint presentation with handouts for the attendees. Every Sunday, folks asked great questions and made incisive observations about their own experiences with movies. Each of us was reinvigorated to rethink how we watch movies. This was not a free-for-all, feelings-driven endeavor. The basis for all our interactions was founded upon and permeated by the biblical text.

Since the 1980s I have been studying film and teaching others how to think about it. I took a group of students to the opening of Jurassic Park, where Michael Crichton, in his book by the same title, posed the key point, In science, the issue is not can we but should we. I showed full-length features like Dead Poets Society to counter the film’s wrong beliefs: old views should be abandoned; free thinking is possible. I infiltrated film clips through my classes on theology, initiating discussions on hope (Shawshank Redemption), ethics (Crimes and Misdemeanors), providence (Simon Birch), faith (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), transcendence (Ronin), ideals (Night Falls on Manhattan), God (The Island of Dr. Moreau), sovereignty (Forrest Gump), or reality (The Purple Rose of Cairo).

Al Pacino’s funeral speech in City Hall was used to convey how to communicate. Sister Act taught neighborhood transformation, when the nuns ventured outside the cathedral walls. Pleasantville took us back to Eden, using color to equate sin with freedom. Cider House Rules is clear: when it comes to rules, we make our own. Mission to Mars states we are simply a product of an alien life form that seeded our planet with its DNA. There is nothing quite like the opening sequence of Joe Versus the Volcano to exhibit the potential of monotony in a purposeless job. The list of classroom interactions is endless because movies continue to teach.

If you asked my students what they learned from my teaching over the years, you would receive various answers. Inevitably, however, they would stop, smile, and say, Eckel ruined watching movies for me forever. If the point was not understood, they would gladly elaborate: we need to learn how to interpret what we watch.

When the Lights Go Down is meant for the casual Christian movie-goer. This person, couple, or family may watch a couple of movies a week, if that. The person who buys this book will say, I just want something simple. I want to have a little clearer understanding of how to watch movies. I don’t need a professorial, academic lecture. Help me, as a Christian, to consider what to look for in movies. I hear that. I am a practitioner. I cannot teach theory without practice. Others do a wonderful job at rarified heights of cultural interpretation. My focus in teaching or writing is an attempt to place the cookies on the bottom shelf. As a Christian, I believe out-of-this-world must be brought down-to-earth. The biblical-theological encounter with creation must begin with my listening to the Creator’s account.

The Scriptures never go out of date, but books do. This is especially true with a book about movies. When the Lights Go Down concerns itself with universal ideas and principles about movies. This book will not have sequels or yearly updates. My writing will be concerned with concepts that will have perennial, persistent, and permanent appeal.

Perennial ideals will always be relevant, but something will always be left out. When the Lights Go Down is not exhaustive. Some will ask, Why didn’t you include ___? Others will say, You missed an important point. I would agree to both. So many movies, made over so much time, with so many viewers and so many points of view seem to suggest an encyclopedia. Those types of movie encyclopedia are available, in print and online. My writing is to introduce touch points, markers, or highlights that are meant to encourage further thought and foster discussion.

Not exhaustive means not every genre will be included. War, documentaries, history, comedy, foreign, fantasy—the list is seemingly endless—will not be given chapters in this book. More often than not, entries from these genres will be folded into existing chapters. Furthermore, I am not exhaustive. There are movies I have never heard of and will never see. My writing is not exhaustive. I have not written reviews on every movie that has been viewed in my lifetime. I want to admire the woods, take a picture of a few trees, but not get lost in the forest.

Since forests are so large, I need to make a few small disclaimers for the trees:

• Many other good books deal with many facets of film.

• Christians may be put off by my comments or inclusions about any given movie in When the Lights Go Down. I have added a chapter (Guidelines) that addresses matters of conviction. Suffice it to say, we will not all agree all the time about anything, much less our views on movies.

• Parental advisory is important, and www.imdb.com does it well. Concerns about references to or scenes of sex, nudity, drug use, violence, or profane language are fully documented there.

Man-made forests are sometimes organized in rows; I want my book to catch a glimpse of the forest while enjoying the trees. Each chapter contains the same fivefold organization. I begin with two essays about my own movie-watching experience. Each essay encapsulates a biblical-theological framework for the topic. Interviews from other Christians who enjoy film follow. (See the acknowledgment page for an explanation.) I then include my own movie review, which correlates with the chapter. At the end of each chapter, ten questions are listed for the reader, which can be used about movies for that topic.

When I tell others—believers and unbelievers alike—that my conservative Evangelical pastors asked me to teach on movies, I am often met with wide eyes. After the surprise subsides, I often encounter the same two statements. First, That is so cool that a church would encourage teaching about movies. Second, I wish more churches would be interested in engaging the culture.

I smile in response to the first, and say amen to the second.

Acknowledgments

My pastors, Scott Dean and Keith Doane, deserve credit for the book’s inception. The classes they asked me to teach are the framework for When the Lights Go Down.

All the members of Crossroads Community Church in Fishers, Indiana, who attended the classes in the fall of 2013 were a boon to my spirit. Their consistent presence and participation made for an exceptional teaching-learning experience.

My friend Liz Meyer travelled one hour, one way, to video all thirteen presentations over thirteen weeks. There are some comrades in life that make me wonder, What would I have missed without their presence? Liz is one of those.

My friend Dorothy Easterly has meticulously edited this book and my last offering (I Just Need Time to Think! Reflective Study as Christian Practice). Dorothy could have taught the last couple millennia of scribes a thing or two about grammar. Dorothy makes my writing look better after she’s finished with her red pen. If you find any errors while reading the book, it is a slip of my pen, not hers. Jim and Doro are dear friends.

As I wrote, I kept thinking, What do you know about those movies? It dawned on me that I should ask others to participate in the process. The interviewees throughout the book benefit us with their exceptional expertise. Some folks you may know, others not. My interest was to ask people to participate who were common Christian movie watchers like me, who have grown both in their understanding and participation of the art form called cinema.

Students over the last thirty-plus years have asked questions, made suggestions, and joined me in multiple movie-watching endeavors. I believe legacy is not what but who one leaves behind. I hear from three decades of pupils through Facebook, Twitter, email, texting, and visits, who are now teaching these ideas to their children.

A lifetime of thanks to Robin, my wife, who has been a sounding board for many thoughts about movies and life. When I think/write in esoteric, ethereal terms, Robin asks, What do those words mean? She grabs my feet and pulls them back to earth. Her encouragements are unseen on every page. My son, Tyler, and daughter, Chelsea, deserve praise for enduring their father’s preachments, which are now reminiscences adorned with smiles. Robin, Tyler, and Chelsea all offer fresh suggestions for movies to watch.

The Spirit, third person of the Trinity, receives my continual thanks, as He motivates my mind through ideas and moves my fingers across keyboards. I am ever thankful for His sanctifying work in the truth, enabling me to pass on the traditions I was taught (2 Thessalonians 2:13–15).

Directors, producers, writers, actors, and all the folks necessary to create cinema make When the Lights Go Down possible. I may not meet any of the moviemakers whose films I esteem, but I thank them nonetheless. Their participation in movies, at the behest of God’s common grace, has allowed the rest of us to join their conversation about life. I pray for those who are believers in the movie industry, that they would continue to shine as lights in the world (Philippians 2:15). I pray also for those who are not believers, that the light of the movie camera might be used by the Spirit so that these, too, might know the true light, who gives light to everyone (John 1:9).

And I pray this benediction for us all:

Into the darkness of the movie theater breaks in the Light of life. He answers the questions left lingering in the minds of those left to wonder, so they are not left to wander. Amen.

Mark Eckel, ThM PhD

Professor of Leadership, Education & Discipleship

Capital Seminary & Graduate School

Washington, DC

September 2014

Opening Interview: Brian Godawa, Author of Hollywood Worldviews

Brian Godawa is the screenwriter for the award-winning feature film, To End All Wars, starring Kiefer Sutherland. Previously, he adapted to film the best-selling supernatural novel The Visitation by author Frank Peretti, as well as writing and directing several documentaries for PBS and other producers. His popular book Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films with Wisdom and Discernment is used as a textbook for film analysis in schools around the country. His new Amazon best-selling novel series is Chronicles of the Nephilim, an imaginative retelling of the primeval history of Genesis, the fallen Watchers, and the wars of the giants (www.chroniclesofthenephilim.com).

Why is it important for Christians to think about movies they watch?

Movies and television are entertaining, visually dramatic stories. The typical understanding of entertainment is deceiving, because it carries a false notion of amoral or valueless experience, as if it is just something that passes time without necessarily influencing us. But when we watch a television show or a movie, we are doing more than being entertained; we are entering into the worldview of the storytellers. By suspending our disbelief, we are opening ourselves to the message and meaning that the storytellers are trying to persuade us of through the moral choices of the characters and their consequences. The more we expose ourselves to a way of thinking about the world, the more we are affected toward that view, even if we do not agree with it. Look, if you hate sugar and know how bad it is for you, but you still can’t stop eating those doughnuts or ice cream, then you are going to gain weight, whether you like it or not, right? It affects you through constant consumption. And if we are eating something that has a lot of sugar in it, it will affect us even if we do not know that. So, we watch stories that affect us, even if we do not know it, because they work on a spiritual, emotional, and psychological level. The more educated and thoughtful we are about what we watch, the more we can appreciate what is good and be able to discern what is bad. The more consciously aware we are of the good, the more we can derive from it, the more aware we are of the bad, and the less effective it will be in changing our thinking for the worse.

What preparations are necessary to watch film with discernment?

First, it is important to be educated with a basic knowledge of worldviews. This requires some effort to learn about the nature of worldview thinking and how it affects us and guides us. There are some great simple introductory books out there on the subject, including The Universe Next Door by James Sire. This helps us to understand some of the most influential worldviews out there, such as humanism, naturalism, dualism, and others. This knowledge will enable us to spot the ideas in the entertainment we consume. But we should also put a little effort into educating ourselves about the nature of storytelling and how it also affects us. Storytelling is like any other art. You can enjoy it, but if you take a simple class of art appreciation, you come to understand it and appreciate it in a more mature way that enables you to interact intelligently with it but also discerningly. That was my goal in writing Hollywood Worldviews, to help educate Christian viewers about both worldviews and storytelling and faith.

How would you compare the impact of verbal and visual—words and pictures—on human thinking?

Traditionally, words are considered more abstract and rational; images are considered more concrete and emotional. Of course, this is not absolutely true, but the general notion is that words and images engage different aspects of our humanity, created in the image of God. We are both intellectual and emotional beings. Truth has both an abstract and concrete or existential aspect to it. Our thinking about reality leads to our behavior, but so do our emotions. If we make a logical argument using words, we are convinced intellectually, which changes how we live and behave. But we can just as legitimately become persuaded by a powerful picture or image that embodies a truth in an emotional way. Think of the power of the image of the lone student standing before the big army tank in Tiananmen Square, China, and how that says everything about the human democratic spirit standing up against tyranny.

Words and images can both be either rational or emotional as well. Neither the intellect nor the emotions are superior to one another. They are simply different ways of communicating or connecting. Words and images both can be used legitimately or manipulatively. How often do we see how the media spins, twists, or distorts words and images to lie about an event? The power of storytelling—and in particular, movie storytelling—is that it has both words and images, it embodies or incarnates ideas into concrete human dramatic situations that resonate with our souls and minds more powerfully than a mere logical argument. Watching William Wallace love, fight, and die for freedom in Braveheart resonates with me and affects me and changes me in a way that reading the Declaration of Independence cannot (which, incidentally, I still consider emotionally moving as well but in a more abstract way). Love your neighbor is a powerful verbal command. The Good Samaritan makes me break down in repentant tears of my own lack of love.

What personally draws you to stories and storytelling?

Storytelling touches my soul because of the concrete human experience that it portrays. Seeing the moral choices of characters and their consequences in believable life scenarios is more moving to me than a logical argument. Stories are, in fact, often an incarnate logical argument. The protagonist embodies a way of seeing the world and making choices that we root for; the antagonist embodies a worldview through his choices that we root against. The story incarnates the contrast of these worldviews by showing them in real-life dramatic conflict, and the consequences is the lesson the protagonist learns, and we with him, because we have followed him on his journey.

Stories incarnate truth for me much more potently than does a mere rational proposition. To say, abstinence until marriage is a better choice may be a true propositional claim, but seeing Matthew Perry’s character in 17 Again learn that truth by magically becoming an adult in a teen’s body (Zac Efron) is much more effective, because I see the consequences of sexual irresponsibility played out before their eyes against the counter of waiting until marriage. This is because story embodies or incarnates truth, rather than merely talking about it. And this goes for fantasy or less realistic stories as well. They are still just as truthful and impactful as a realistic story if they are true to human desires and values and morals. It is the choices that characters make that are based on their beliefs about the world that is universal and not bound by any kind of genre. A clownfish who wants to find his lost son and realizes the true meaning of sacrifice and family (Finding Nemo) is the same truth as a human father in search of his son. I am not denigrating logic or reason. We are rational beings as well. But story is an incarnation of a logical argument, in that the main characters embody worldviews in conflict. We see truth and lies lived out with their consequences, which is a form of existential proof to resonate in a deep way that rationality cannot.

What do movies communicate about God’s common grace in life?

No matter how much we may disagree with a storyteller’s worldview or message in his movie, there can still be a lot of truth that we can draw from if he is honest in his portrayal of the human condition. We may not agree with his answer or solution, but we can agree with his question or struggle. Sometimes, art gives answers, but sometimes it does not. Sometimes, it raises questions and tries to provide a variety of perspectives to an issue.

I liked The Matrix for this reason of common grace. It was a movie that incarnated some of my own personal feelings about how deceived the world is around me, and how they are blind, and how my own born again experience of Christian faith felt when I suddenly saw the truth. I agree with their premise that we should question our society’s notions of reality because we may be wrong, no matter how sure we are. Sadly, the filmmakers (the Wachowski brothers) are Nietzschean postmodernists who used Christian imagery to subvert it and point toward the belief that man is his own savior, and we create our own reality. But I still identify with Neo’s desire for meaning and quest for truth. And sometimes, the filmmakers unwittingly cannot escape God’s truth, even if they try