Being a Christian in the 21st century is difficult at the best of times. Even without Mel Gibson constantly putting his foot in it, or Westboro Baptist Church spitting venom at the very people they are supposed to be helping, we have to contend with a media backlash whenever a seemingly ‘Christian’ film is released.
The problem seems to be that people don’t mind Christianity per se: if people are Bible-bashing in the streets, they can ignore them or talk back. What they resent, or appear to resent, are films with Christian undertones – allegories or parables which introduce Christian beliefs or ideas in a supposedly secular context. When The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe came out in 2005, The Guardian’s Polly Toynbee accused it of “invad[ing] children’s minds with Christian iconography… heavily laden with guilt, blame, sacrifice and a suffering that is dark with emotional sadism.” Ouch.
What Toynbee and others fail to realise is that Christianity runs deeper through cinema than the obvious allegories of Narnia, The Matrix and The Green Mile. Quite apart from the dozens of films made each year that are set around religion in some way, a select number of superficially secular or humanist films have Christian imagery or ideas coursing through their veins. Crucially, most if not all of them manage to convey these ideas or images without alienating non-Christian viewers.
The 50 films contained on this list are all intriguing for Christians and non-Christians alike, for one reason or another. Some wear their heart on their sleeve, others keep it hidden beneath several other layers – and precious few of them would turn up on a recommended viewing list for cosy Christian Union socials. I love God, and I love film – and I don’t believe the two are in contradiction.
THE LIST
A Canterbury Tale (1944)
We start with a gentle oldie from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, best known for The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus (see below). While doing away with the more raunchy aspects of Geoffrey Chaucer’s unfinished epic, the film manages to explore the notion of pilgrimage as a process of self-discovery and spiritual fulfilment. As this hapless and eccentric bunch of characters arrive in Canterbury, they gain a new sense of purpose bound up in the spiritual or fantastical connotations of both the location and the occasion it marks.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Stanley Kubrick may have been an atheist, but several of his films entertain elements of Christianity. Much of his masterpiece is satirical towards Christianity, whether it’s the prisoners being forced to sing hymns, or Alex imagining himself as a Roman soldier, beating Christ on the road to Golgotha. But in his last scene, the chaplain stands up for the condemned men, arguing for their right to choose between right and wrong, even if it leads them to choose wrongly. The film both indicts organised religion and suggests that faith, or at least belief in a higher ideal, can have a purpose.
Alien 3 (1992)
Before David Fincher was hired to direct, Alien 3 was going to be helmed by Vincent Ward. He pitched the film to 20th Century Fox as “The Name of the Rose in space”, with Ripley coming to the aid of monks on a wooden planet. Although a little messy in either of its versions, much of Ward’s vision survives, and is complimented by Fincher’s direction. Ripley is the Christ figure who falls from the heavens to help the prisoners, and at first they do not accept their Messiah. The final shot of Ripley falling into the molten steel with her arms out cements her symbolic position.
Angel Heart (1987)
Alan Parker’s stylish and suspenseful noir takes Faust, mixes with Raymond Chandler and elements of The Wicker Man, and serves the whole mixture up via outstanding visuals and very graphic violence. Mickey Rourke is terrific as the fallen angel whom, it transpires, is a lot closer to hell than even he may realise… The film is worth seeing for a creepy-as-sin scene where Robert De Niro talks about the human soul while peeling a hard-boiled egg with his long fingernails.
Bad Lieutenant (1992)
Abel Ferrara’s most audacious work is a Catholic redemption tale dressed in enough sex, violence, nudity and drug abuse to make Requiem for a Dream look tame by comparison. Harvey Keitel is outstanding as the nameless lieutenant whose morality has been eroded by too many years on the beat. When assigned to a rape case involving a nun, he sees a vision of Christ in the church where the events took place, and crawls along the floor begging to understand how anyone could forgive such a horrendous act. A powerful film which proves that no-one is beyond redemption.
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89 Comments
A good and very provocative list that reminds me how lacking my film vocabulary is, I’ll have to add many of these to my already ridiculous Netflix queue.
Your list is a good reminder that some of the best expressions of Christ’s Love have come from artists who may not claim to be a follower.
One (probably too obvious) movie that I would add is ‘Chariots of Fire,’ I’ve often thought that it was one of the best Christian movies that would have been ruined had it been made by a “Christian” production company. They would have completely jettisoned the Harold Abrahams storyline (too Jewish) and probably would have hired someone else to play Eric Liddell…you know…someone who isn’t *shudder* gay. The film had a big effect on me and a lot of my friends back in 1981, and it remains one of my faves.
Thank you for your comment Joe, and I concur entirely with your statement. Christ moves in mysterious ways, and many of His acts come about through people who don’t even realise they are doing his work. Just because they don’t accept the existence or mechanics of a God doesn’t mean that He should not choose to work through them.
Chariots of Fire did seem too obvious to include, but it is great :)
These are NOT Christian. They portray the some ideas embodied in Judeo/Christian morality but DO NOT give direct reference to Christ and what he teaches. They are however often worldly authentic and show the value of Christian values in a dark world. They may be called morality tales but certainly not Christian.
Way overstated, in a manner similar to how some Christians try to have their religion take credit for everything good, such as laws against murder and stealing. Not every movie character who comes back to life is a Christ figure, not every movie with a god is about Christianity, but you can pretend to find any number of vague Christian concepts in any movie.
While I accept that my definition of ‘Christian’ was broad, and that what you say has a degree of truth, I think your first statement is putting words into my mouth. I never identified myself as the kind of ‘Christian’ you describe, and many of the entries on this list examine the failings of the Church and figures within it, who made errors like those you have pointed out. In terms of the degree of Christ-likeness, there are certain entries in which it is very clearly Christian – Alien 3 for instance or Whistle Down the Wind. But I accept that perhaps I should have refined my definition, or perhaps made a shorter list
“I think your first statement is putting words into my mouth.”
My first statement had NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU; it was an ANALOGY.
Why don’t people understand analogies anymore???
Daniel, you’re supposed to get angry when criticized. Or you’ll reduce your critic to writing in all-caps and adding triple punctuation at the ends of his sentences.
The film industry depends on “worship” to survive, and people do worship their “stars”. I can safely say I have yet to see any film capture accurately the account of any Biblical narrative, without “ad lib” from the screenwriters, or hypocrites, umm I mean actors. …
A clock work orange? The rocky horror picture show? Daniel, turn off the Screen and reread the Bible, or maybe just read it.
All I will say it that it is possible to make a film about Christianity, or with a Christian message, without simply reprinting what’s written in the Bible. What’s the point of preaching to the converted?
You’re entitled to your opinion Satancaust, though I never said anything about “dumb sheep Christians” and am not exactly thrilled by your accusation of being brainwashed. Just because I think I can see Christian symbolism in films which don’t appear to be ‘Christian’ doesn’t mean I’m an idiot. If anything it shows imagination, and even if that imagination is misplaced it should at least admired. We all have different ways of looking at the world, and I respect yours greatly. Thanks for your comment.
I would add a few (off the top of my head):
“The Day The Earth Stood Still” (1951), in which “Mr. Carpenter”, a messenger of mankind’s salvation, is killed (by those who “know not what they do”), is resurrected, and ascends into heaven.
“God Told Me To”: An odd but enjoyable film in which we are once again presented with the idea of Christ as an extraterrestrial entity.
“The Omega Man”: Controversial on release for its blatant Christian allegory.
“Contact”: A young woman comes to an understanding of Faith.
Cheers Tony, good choices
The first 3 are indeed good choices, but Contact is objectively *not* a Christian tale. If you got that from it, I’m afraid you are mistaken.
Contact may not be blatantly Christian, but it is a fantastic expose on the role of faith in both religion and science, not to mention the value of individual, unquantifiable experiences in shaping ones beliefs. I had our youth group watch it hoping it might broaden their understanding a little…alas, they couldn’t get by the corny sci-fi themes and see the parallels to their lives. I wouldn’t hesitate from adding it to this list along with Tony’s other suggestions.
I think they should remake The Ten Commandments with the right actors
Such as?
Quoting Sigmund Freud, “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar”. Humans are hardwired to seek out and find patterns, often where there are none (or none intended).
If you take a few parts of Pareidolia, Subjective Validation, Confirmation Bias and the Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy it becomes quite clear how this article came to be. This frankly doesn’t improve things since this site should promote diversity and not attempt to push things into a mold from which they can derive personal comfort.
I don’t discount that I may be the victim of representativeness heuristic, though given the responses to inputs in this discussion thread, I do find it highly unlikely.
I bow to your superior understanding of Freud, and appreciate the free session on the couch. All that I would dispute is the claim that this article is an attack on diversity – (a) it’s my opinion, not an ideology I’m forcing on people, and (b) the fact that I can entertain these opinions and meet with a mixed response is testament to the diversity on this site, with or without my article. Cheers for commenting :)
Good job, Daniel. He quoted a well known Freud quote, and nothing else in Petrichor’s comment is relevant to Freud. Your snarky first sentence is unwarranted.
Also: I fail to see how “it’s my opinion” is a legitimate defense of the article. Indeed, that was part of Petrichor’s point: That you’re seeing things that are just not there, and the article is just your poorly justified opinions, rather than objective facts about the movies in question. However, I note that the title of your article doesn’t seem to suggest the same “it’s my opinion” spin that you present in your comment to Petrichor. Perhaps you should request someone change the article name to “50 films that you wouldn’t think were Christian, but ‘actually’ are, in my opinion”, or “50 films that you wouldn’t think were Christian, but might kinda be, at least from my point of view.” I look forward to the correction.
Some of these films could be seen as having themes similar to christian “values”; Narnia counts obviously because Lewis was a Christian (or at least had been converted into being one) but some others …I just don’t know, labelling them as being “Christian” is being to general as well as dangerous….
Good point, well made
What about cinematic masterpieces such as Debbie Does Dallas? There was a lot of begatting in the old testament that the Debbie franchise followed. She said “oh god” a lot too.
Good joke Anonymous Coward
Some of them are correct but most of the movies picked and their explanation are not really christian, you just decided to interpret them as one. This article is the best example of selective thinking I’ve seen for a while. You often see christian motives where you want to see it. Using your logic Pitch Black and even its horrible sequel paint vin diesel biblical. Hell we could probably do that to any silly action movie.
Not to mention: “Christian notions of morality, sacrifice and love conquering all”
That could have worked for any religion and many philosophies.
Also movies with Christian themes don’t have to be christian. The logic of – oh there is an angel or a jesus symbol in the movie doesn’t make a movie christian.
I’ve not seen Pitch Black so I can’t comment. As for the rest, see some of my previous replies
Daniel. Whilst I appreciate your comments about ‘not being that type of Christian’ ( indeed, ‘that’ type give moderate Christians who just happen to have a faith and don’t preach at non-believers), unfortunately I think your list is pushing it a bit. Films are quite often ambiguous and borrow imagery from various sources, sometimes because they want to reference certain values and beliefs but also sometimes because they simply want the audience to recognise traits in characters or narrative structure. Some of the films you mention fit this latter category. Remember the Christian story and its (mostly good I must say) value system share many commonalities with other religions and people who whilst not religious simply believe in being nice people.
Speaking as a Film Studies lecturer I would suggest you simply sit back and enjoy your movies and don’t try to read to much in them!
Simon – it is precisely by thinking about them so much that I enjoy them. Life is far too short to accept the simple and the surface as be-all and end-all
The Judeo-Christian stories exist as the Western world’s central cultural mythologies, so it should come as no surprise that the themes and stories have leaked into our art, literature, and cinema. Just as the Greeks made mosaics of their Gods, myths, and legends, so have we.
Very few of the movies you have listed are Christian, you have just provided a list of possible Christian interpretations. However, redemption and sacrifice etc are by no means exclusively Christian concepts, and a quick history lesson will show obvious parallels between Christian stories and the stories of existing Mediterranean religions of the time. The people who wrote the Bible allowed these existing concepts and stories to inform the stories they were writing, which is something all artists doubtlessly do to this day.
I enjoyed this read, and you have some interesting and different interpretations, but I do think you should reword the intro and the title. I don’t think all your readings quite work – Blade Runner, for example, explores a moral grey area that the absolutes of Christian “morality” couldn’t ever hope to touch.
Thanks for your comment Frank, although I actually take a very relativistic view of Christianity and can’t really be doing with absolutes at all
I didn’t realise you could be relativistic about the Word of God…surely that’s about as absolute as it gets?
Frank, I don’t know if you’re still reading this mate… But I’d really like you to come write for me :P
I’d be happy to Quigs!
Interesting read, but I do have to disagree with you on your assessment of “Senna.” He was no God in Brazil, as you said. Idolized yes, but God? Bit of a stretch. His personal relationship with God was never troubled, so I’m not sure where you pulled that from. Various journalists have repeatedly said that Senna would read from the Bible on long flights to races. He donated a large part of his personal fortune to help the poor in Brazil, a fact that wasn’t very well known until after his death. He was not God’s lonely man in a room full of money dealers as you say. Senna fully understood the politics of the sport, he just chose not to exploit it to his advantage as much as some of his rivals. Really, other than the film being a solid contender for movie of the year, there isn’t much in your summary of it that I can agree with.
I’m only going on what I gathered from the film C.J.. Regardless of whether Senna was like in real life (and you clearly know your stuff), I thought the film gave that distinct impression. But you argue your case very well
I agree that the list is misleading. By that, I mean that when I saw the title, I assumed we were talking about movies which were actually intended to represent religious influence. In fact, they turned out to be movies with more of an allegory/ metaphor/ relative similarity to scripture. Just about any film you watch has a moment or two which can be interpreted in this way.
ALL OF THAT BEING SAID, and this comes from no bias whatsoever (I’m being completely honest), the weakest form of debate is aggressive attack. If you believe in something enough to feel so heated, there must be a part of you that wants others on your side. With the ability to communicate so freely, why waste your time completely alienating someone? Someone who hasn’t even spoken against your freedom to believe what you will??
Daniel, I think you might word your title differently, but kudos for finding self-expression. And kudos to your maturity.
Something to think about, I have not seen many of these films, I will have to read more about some of these titles.
To me Rutger Hauer’s tears in the rain speech is all about the fragility of existence and how death is final and everything we’ve seen, everything we’ve experienced, everything a christian might characterise as ‘soul’ ends with death, there is no after life, no heaven.
The fact the Hauer’s character is a replicant and he makes this speech simply means to me that he wishes he were human so he could have a soul and experience the love and spirituality that comes from having one. Why does he want to be human, or even considered human, so bad?
Most of the art of the western world of the last, oh, 2000 years has directly or obliquely christian references. But that doesn’t make them necessarily ‘Christian.’ Is Star Wars Christian? Could it also be read as a Buddhist allegory? Muslim? Is every movie involving rebirth, redemption or sacrifice christian? Since when did Christianity have a monopoly on those? Because at least one of those pops up in just about every story there is, and the concepts that you think of as Christian don’t even originate in the bible, they were appropriated from stories that predate it. Is The Seven Samurai a Christian movie too? You could take the framework of any religion and apply it to those movies; you remind me of the father in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” who insists on the fact that everything good was invented in Greece.
I agree that, for instance, Being There can be read as a Christian allegory (to say that makes it a ‘Christian movie’ is to think in one dimension). But it’s only one of many readings; in my mind it’s more about meaninglessness than meaning (Chance doesn’t REALLY illuminate anything for anybody, he just makes people think he has). But saying that these movies are actually Christian after all is an insult to the filmmakers.
Miyazaki? Really? I agree they can be read as Christian allegories, but I don’t accept that they are ‘Christian’ movies, given less than 1% of the Japanese population is.
I, too, have a hard time buying that a Miyazaki film is in any way Christian. His films are obviously more inspired by pagan Japanese animism. Beliefs and ideas that literally evolved independently of Christianity or Western civilization. If in doubt…watch pretty much any Studio Ghibli film again.
I find the Studio Ghibli films so intriguing because the are so completely divorced from Western filmmaking and storytelling. By trying to latch Christianity onto films where it’s not warranted, you lose what makes that film interesting to begin with.
Japan may have almost no Christian population but Christian symbols appear frequently in Anime. There are crosses, churches, stained glass, nuns, etc., etc., It’s sort of startling at times.
It may be just the exotic nature of the symbols, the same way that American entertainment might include Eastern religious symbols, but it’s there, whatever the reason.
It would not be surprising if Japanese productions also include Christian allegory from time to time.
Wowee, the author is really grasping at straws in this one. Not to mention he’s quite the fool to think it’s hard being a Christian in the 21st century, when Atheists are one of the most despised minorities in the country, statistically, and you don’t see Islam and Judaism permeating every aspect of our lives the way Christianity does. I don’t see Islamic and Judaic phrases on our money, or in our patriotic songs, and I can’t seem to recall the time I heard someone say “One nation, under Allah/Odin/Ra/Krishna/anything other than God.” Too often I read about teachers trying to ditch evolution from school curriculum, and institute creationism instead, or politicians declaring this a Christian nation (so many things factually wrong with that). Yep, sure bites, being a Christian and all. But seriously, some of these movies are just WTF? Gladiator? Seriously? Your only criteria for it being a Christian movie is that someone makes a sacrifice? That someone is devoted to someone else? So no other religion, or nobody without a religion, has ever made a sacrifice before? Or been devoted to someone?…How desperate to believe everything-is-about-my-religion do you have to be to see Gladiator as a Christian movie? Harry Potter as a Christ figure? Because he’s tempted by things? So anyone who’s ever been tempted by anything is Jesus? From an objective standpoint, this article is crap.
Youre main mistake here is that you label essentially anything having to do with the concept of a higher power, afterlife or resurrection as Christian. When in fact that’s not the case at all, those ideas have been around way before Christianity and are essential to almost every other religion out there.
Youre main mistake here is that you label essentially anything having to do with the concept of a higher power, afterlife or resurrection as Christian.
Yes, the vanquished serpent: Is Saint Augustine’s exegesis of the 2nd and 3rd chapters of Genesis correct? Do a search: First Scandal.
thanks for your list and opinions. thought provoking.
The author is engaging in the rather childish task of claiming that every film that has a moral dilemma, an environmental aspect or a nod to spirituality is a Christian movie because he falsely believes that Christianity invented these things.
I don’t deny that culture has been informed heavily by Christianity including our literature and cinema. But to assume that morality, environmentalism or spirituality is the remit of Christianity is the kind of hubris that only someone who presumes to know the meaning and purpose of the universe could possibly expose.
I’v always wondered why, if the Bible truly is the word of God, it’s so uneven. Why would an all powerful God allow the likes of Shakespeare and Tolkein to have a stronger knack for writing and to produce works with less internal contradictions and plot holes.
>Being a Christian in the 21st century is difficult at the best of times.
Really?! What part? The part where “In God we trust” is printed on all of our money? The part where any politician who doesn’t present him or herself as blatantly Christian has effectively ended his/her political career? The part where every other week we hear of some teacher caught preaching to his students? The part where it is okay for lawmakers to restrict gay marriage and abortion rights for reasons clearly rooted in Christianity? Or how about the part where kids across the country are forced to swear allegiance to one nation UNDER GOD regardless of their beliefs?
Yes, it certainly is difficult being a Christian nowadays.
I can sympathise. Any Christian with half a brain must be aware that most if not all of the assertions of their belief system have been proven false or rendered redundant by advances in science and philosophy. It’s inexcusable in this day in age to see any truth in the claims of any of the world’s religions. It must be an immense and constant struggle to ignore reason, logic, and fact – I know I’d find it incredibly testing.
Yes, at the moment Christians receive a disproportionate amount of privilege, and I find it bewildering that their beliefs are not openly ridiculed in the public arena more frequently. But the mental strain of upholding these beliefs must be considerable, so for that we should pity them.
The funniest thing about this list is that half the movies you notes as having “christian” elements, no christian should ever be watching.
This is a wonderful list!
Twist everything to be about christian values. Rationalization at its finest!!
You missed Cool Hand Luke, If that aint a Christian film then nothing is.
Good call!
Dune? Really?
Paul Atreides is called, among other things, the Mahdi. I’ll give you a hint about which faith that comes from. It’s the same one that gives another word to describe the bloodbath Paul keeps seeing in his glimpses of the future: Jihad.
I think you have completely misread Being There. It’s a warning fable – Chance is an idiot, and yet the world sees deep meaning in his empty phrases. It is an antidote to Forrest Gump.
The Miyazaki movies such as Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away are not Christian but Shinto, pretty much through and through, as is Totoro. I think Spirited Away is the most clealry Shinto but nearly as strong in Princess Mononoke and pretty clear in Totoro, too.
Interesting list….I’ll have to check some of these out. Two great Christian-themed movies (or at least movies that have Christian ideas in them) that are not here are “No Country for Old Men” and “There Will be Blood”….2 great films that came out the same year! Also “The Wrestler”. Good article!
interesting list, while not buying into all of them I do understand your POV and I always enjoy being stretched and pulled out of my comfort zone a bit. I would be curious on your thoughts on these films to obvious or just didnt think about them? The Mission, Jesus of Montreal, Black Robe, Time Bandits, Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen & No Country for Old Men
I can’t believe Petrichor referenced Freud. How old are you? Freud has been marginalized and discredited by all modern psychology. Psychoanalysis has no empirical basis.
He only quoted an amusing remark made b Freud, numbnuts. He didn’t say “Psychoanalysis is the best evar!” or accuse the author of an Oedipus complex or, you know, use any of the parts of Freud’s “theories” that have been discredited or become archaic. The psychological phenomena that he later brings up have absolutely nothing to do with Freud and everything to do with logic and modern psychology instead. Do keep up.
I would also add Armageddon to this list. Starting with Charleton Heston’s God-like narration at the beginning, shots of people praying, the Bible reference in the President’s speech, and culminating with Bruce Willis’ character’s repeated references to God and Heaven at the climax of the film (and his almost Christ-like sacrifice at the end), the film is awash in religious undertones.
“On The Waterfront” is perhaps my favorite Hollywood Movie with a significant Christian message. The film turns when the Priest (Karl Malden) consoles Edie (Eva Marie Saint) after her brothers murder by saying, “If you need me I’ll be in the church.” Edie then tells the Priest, “What kind of saint hides in a church.” As the Priest realizes he needs to make the Waterfront his ministry, don’t miss his speech to rally the honest dockworkers after one of their own is murdered for speaking up against the corrupt union boss. (Caution: get the DVD as occasionally this speech is cut from network broadcasts)
Die hard is my favorite christian movie.
There seems to be some stretches on this list, overlooking some obvious Christian allegorical movies such as “The Poseidon Adventure.”
Inspiring message of virtue? Must be Christian! How pathetic. You want nothing more than to co-opt the best things humanity has to offer as part of your fairy tale.
I enjoyed reading your entire list, thanks for sharing it. I wonder if you considered “The Count of Monte Cristo” (I only saw the 2002 version) with its themes of revenge and redemption?
Calling most of these movies “Christian” is a stretch of the imagination. Trying to apply allegory to non-allegorical works is problematic in general, and this article is a good case of over-reaching.
The movies I recognize seem to speak more to the general good vs. evil archetypes that are present in all cultures, and only vaguely can be called “Christian.”
Just for a note in terms of specifics, ‘The Truman Show’ is pure Gnosticism and bares only superficial resemblance to Christianity – ‘The Matrix’ is pure Gnosticism as well. They’re not the same things, given that the Gnostics adapted their beliefs to specifically go against Christian doctrines. Gnosticism isn’t Christian anymore than Judaism is Islamic. The author of this article failing to distinguish ‘The Truman Show’ for what it is and calling it “Christian” gives an example to the absurdity of this article as a whole.
Makes me wonder what part of the bible would of been in Alien 3 if they had take place on Earth like the trailer had promised. It’s hard to believe I saw that depressing film twice, but my friends wanted to see what I was talking about when I described it for some reason.
How did “The Day The Earth Stood Still” (the original, not the abominable remake) not make this list?
You know, Frank… that’s one of the very first steps to freedom. Keep walking on that path. Good for you.
I would’ve added: ‘LILIES OF THE FIELD’; ‘TO SIR, WITH LOVE’; ‘A PATCH OF BLUE’; ‘BRIGHT VICTORY’..
I have to agree with Mames…It seems as though its almost any movie that has moral struggles, good v. evil, man struggling with fate/destiny etc as a “Christian” movie,… Very broad and loose interpretation. I would almost go so far as to say the list is made with a Christian bias. As if to say, “See? Christian movies are not ALL boring sessions of bashing you over the head with jesus,…theres some good movies, you actually liked, and didnt even know where Christian!”
“Being a Christian in the 21st century is difficult at the best of times.”
I truly understand this and why you feel this way. I think the Christian and bible hating commentors here just proved your point….so much hate.
Yeah. It’s not that the article is claiming movies for his own religion with transparently crappy justifications, and people are irked by that. It’s that we hate Christians (which make 70 to 80% of the population of my country) and the Bible. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
oh and Harry Potter is blatantly World War 2, Voldermort – Hitler, Deatheaters – Nazi’s, Mudbloods – Jews. Voldermort had one Muggle parent, one Pure blood parent ect. It’s not exact obviously, but i’d imagine JK Rowling actually wanted to WRITE a book, rather than steal one.
While there are those elements and the insignia’s sported by the Death Eaters are blatant swastika references, you’ll find that Rowling cribs most of Harry Potter from Greek Mythology… NOT Christian at all.
Here’s a very thorough and insightful article detailing it all:
http://www.overthinkingit.com/2011/09/28/harry-potter-odyssey/
Another one is Deep Blue Sea (1999). Characters that blaspheme are destined to be eaten by the leviathan sharks. The survivors are the bible-reading cook (LL Cool J), and Thomas Jane and Saffron Burrows. Burrows sacrifices herself for the sake of humanity, slashing her palms (thus duplicating the wounds of Christ), and falling into the sea with arms symbolically spread. Jane receives a harpoon in his side, duplicating the spear wound in Christ’s side.
So, you got Truman Show, but missed Stranger than Fiction? Emma Thompson, Will Farrell and Queen Latifah as — in order — the Father (ha!), Son and Holy Spirit, and Dustin Hoffman as the priest who interprets their message(s). Great exploration of free will vs. determinism, and love conquers all, sort of.
“Dirty lies,” “No proof in God?” So… what do you call the Bible? You know, that old book that has had the most original copies found of, the one with most historical fact, I mean, you can ask pretty well any Historian. The Bible is what we base time off of (BC= Before Christ) and as for the dirty lies thing… I can understand if you have been bombarded by Religious Christians, but don’t paint every Christian as a terrible person.
Yeah, I can see the parallels, but what do you expect from a world that has been so heavily influenced by Christianity? I think the name of this list should be changed to “Movies that share Parallels to the Bible,” just because a movie shares parallels, doesn’t make the movie “Christian”. But otherwise a pretty decent list.
What a bunch of nonesense!
did you pull this out of your ass?
Havent read all the comments if someone mentioned the most obvious movie missed Mad Max beyond thunder dome. An obvious story of moses leading the people(kids) out of the wilderness into paradise but not entering himself. In fact road warrior works the same too.
While I don’t know his religious beliefs, Darren Aronofsky’s “The Fountain” also incorporates Christianity into its story, along with other religions like Buddhism and Mayan beliefs.
How is this in any way forcing religion down people’s throats? That was never the intent of the article. It’s just saying, “Hey, look at the parallels within the stories,” most of which are true. It’s very wrong of you to make accusations, especially since the way you’re stereotyping Christians as evil people (a religion that is based on love, not evil) makes you look just as bad as those “Christians that spread lies.”
I knew there were 2 versions of DUNE, but 4?
I agree with Joe Blo. While I very much relate to and agree with the idea of analyzing Christian / Biblical themes and symbolism found directly or inadvertently (perhaps subconsciously) in modern media such as movies, I don’t really like Daniel Mumby’s list. I can think right away of movies such as Charlton Heston’s Omega Man, where he portrays (as he dies and after) a Christlike image at the end of the movies, and even his blood was going to be used to save the rest of the world from vampires. Also I notice quite a few Christ references in Clint Eastwood, i.e. the Jesus Saves sign in Dirty Harry, and of course, Pale Rider is loaded with Biblical apocalyptic references. Try a new list, Daniel. Maybe it was because I didn’t see most of these. Harry Potter I agree is a Christ figure. But one line (albeit fantastically truthful) in Clockwork Orange does not redeem the rest of the filth from that movie. By the way, there is enough sex and violence in the Bible to satisfy the wildest and most demented Hollywood producer, so come one, Hollywood make my day – make a good Bible movie, don’t change the original script too much and you’ll get a hit!
Interesting list. I would have included First Blood as a retelling of jesus persecution by the romans and the choices of Pontius Pila.First blood also contains a resurrection and Rambo weeps in his closing speech. It is a very powerful film that was gutted by the cartoon like sequels.