bloggedy blog: the personal weblog of a music lover and aging punk wannabe

:: Wednesday, May 21, 2003 ::

The theology of Bruce Almighty
Searching the blogs, I haven't found much about the theology behind the latest Jim Carrey vehicle, Bruce Almighty, which opens this weekend. We bloggers go on and on and on about the theology behind The Matrix and its veiled references to a deity, but apparently we don't have much to say about a flick that portrays God in a much more obvious fashion.

For a better look at the theology behind the movie, go straight to the source: the director. That's what ChristianAnswers.net did with an insightful interview with director Tom Shadyac. (Thanks to JuniorHighPastor.com for the link.) A few quotes from the director, probably taken way out of context:

I think that one of the challenges of the church is to accept humanity for all it is. And I as a filmmaker am not going to deny that. I think it's important to acknowledge that we are imperfect. If you followed some standards today, you couldn't even read your Bible. I mean the Bible is chocked-full of some racy stuff, folks. There is a lot of sexual impropriety, there's a lot of violence, and all kind of things. But the point of the Bible is that it's not about a moment, its about the entire journey. Because if the Bible hadn't ended where it ended, it be a pretty downer of a book. But it ends with redemption. ...

I think there's subtle messages all over this story. And the great thing is you can take them for what you will--wherever you're at on your particular spiritual walk. For example, I accidentally ran into Father, Son, and Holy Ghost analogies because of Morgan playing the electrician, the janitor, and the boss. Many of these elements were intentional and many were coincidental. Which is one of my favorite sayings: "Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous."

Christians have a tendency to talk about religious movies as being ones that deal with religion implicitly and it's just not true. This one happens to have it God in it, so it seems like a religious movie, but so many movies can be spiritual movies, but we somehow don't see them that way because they're not about a priest or a nun or a minister. Take for example the movie Scent of a Woman. The movie Scent of a Woman is really the book of Ecclesiastes -- but how many Christians stayed away from it because there was cursing and because he slept with a hooker?

It's a good interview. Go read it. And while you're at it, check out this report: Hollywood Giving God the Close-up Treatment.

:: Andrew 13:38 + ::
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