Watching Movies to the Glory of God
Should Christians go to the movies? That is a question that has been asked since the invention of the medium. Is there something inherently good or bad about the medium of film? How do we as Christians walk the tightrope of living in the world, but not of it? And if we do choose to watch films, how do we glorify God in doing so? These questions were masterfully answered by John M. Frame in his unpublished, but available online, book Theology at the Movies. John Frame, according to Wikipedia (which is never wrong), is a philosopher and Calvinist theologian who is one of the foremost interpreters and critics of the thought of Cornelius Van Til.
In the introductory statements of that book, he has a section entitled, “Questions to Ask of Films.” There he outlines 12 categories of questions that we as Christians should think upon after viewing a film. They will help us to put what we have seen into perspective and compare the narrative of the film to the Meta-narrative of Scripture. Also, they will help us to see the message of the movie.
- “Who wrote the film? Who produced it? Who directed it? Do we know through the writings and previous work of these people anything about their philosophy of life? The previous works of actors are also important. Actors contribute much to the quality of a film, little to its fundamental conception. But actors do tend to sign on to projects with which they have some ideological affinity (assuming financial rewards are not otherwise determinative). Mel Gibson almost never takes on films with a heavy sexual element; Mickey Rourke almost always does. The presence of certain actors, granting that they sometimes go “against type,” can tell you something about the message of a film.