Entry #4: Alex Kendrick, Alex Kendrick Everywhere

 

Happy 2 o’clock, everyone! I forgot what I was going to write about five different times today and hopefully hunkering down and writing it will prevent a sixth time. I have the attention span of of a rat covered in sugar.

                  Anyway, I had this whole ramble planned out where I tell you all about how my mom raised my brothers and I predominantly on Christian media and when I started wandering behind my mom’s back and watched other stuff and all that junk. But, all that is really filler for what I’m trying to say:

                  I think Christian media is really, really, really boring. Does that mean I’m not a Christian? No, of course not. I consider myself devoutly Christian and all it entails. But, Christian movies, TV shows, and books just really bore me, especially ones for adults. I’ve seen Fireproof, Facing the Giants, Courageous, Faith Like Potatoes all those movies, and I just can’t get invested in them.

I know that sounds super hipster of me. Passion of Christ is too mainstream, ugh! But, it’s true. A lot of mainstream Christian media is just bland to me. Why? Well, have you ever seen that movie about a someone taming a wild horse and/or winning a horse competition? Many of you have a title in your head already, and I bet they’re different movies. That’s because horse movies are practically the same movie over and over and over. Flicka, Black Stallion, Spirit, Black Beauty, Racing Stripes, it’s all basically the same story. Now, try this one: a person, after falling out of faith due to some traumatic event in their past, meets someone who reaffirms their faith and they ultimately find God again. What movie does that remind you of? I can think of at least three titles. Bonus points if Kirk Cameron’s in it.

Now, why is that? Why is the same formula used so often? Because it’s comfort food for Christians. For some of us, those movies are our own story. For others, it reaffirms that they’re right in their faith. These movies don’t often challenge Christians. If anything, they’re meant to challenge those who aren’t Christians.

That’s really frustrating to me. I dunno about you, but Christianity is pretty challenging. I can’t pretend that I never question my faith or God himself. Have you ever sat down and really read the Bible? It’s freaking nuts. There’s a lot of confusing and sometimes infuriating stuff in the Bible. I can’t even count how many times high-ranking religious leaders in the Bible are knocked off their pedestals.

But, oh no, we can’t challenge Christians. We can’t bring actual, valid questions about Christianity into our Christian movie. We gotta reinstate what they already know and make them feel good. Don’t worry Christians, we respect you.

A HUGE pet peeve of mine is when I’m told that I can’t ask God questions. God knows we have questions. God knows we don’t understand everything about him. Stop pretending that, because someone reads the Bible and goes to church, that they know everything about God. I’ve been reading the Bible and going to church, bible studies, and Sunday school my whole life, and I haven’t scratched the surface of who God is or what he wants from us.

I’m not saying those movies are bad. All things considered, they’re very well done. I love Veggietales and Bibleman and Hermie & Friends and Facing the Giants. And I’m definitely not saying Christian Comfort Food is a bad thing. What I mean is there’s all this untapped potential in Christian media that no one wants to touch because it might hurt Christians’ feelings or make them uncomfortable. The truth is, there’s tons of uncomfortable stuff in the Bible and we just can’t ignore it. The Bible is an ancient text begging to be analyzed, don’t just pick and choose what verses sound good.

So, this entry is 655 words and counting, so I’ll stop here. If anyone has Christian movie suggestions, I’ll be happy to look into them. Please prove me wrong in saying all these movies are the same. I wanna see the exceptions! I wanna like Christian media.

                  Bye bye! Stay safe and eat well!

(The above picture is a portrait of my character, Nimbus)