Out with the Corny

My college and career leader is known to dub the classic Hallmark films as “corny.” Some of the films are alright, but for the most part I tend to agree with him. A Hallmark film might be cute or decent, but as it is directed towards the conservative community, the end result is usually with a mediocre response.

The films that come to my mind are Hallmark Channel’s the Love Comes Softly series. When those films first started coming out on DVD, I reacted similarly to any other junior high girl at the time: “Ahh these movies are so cute! Let’s have thirty sleepovers and watch them all back to back for the next year!”

Needless to say I am so tired of these movies, and it is a rarity that I say such a thing.

One of the things I focus on when I watch movies is voice quality for animation or the talents of the actors—facial expressions, body movements, voice expression. That’s just how I watch movies; I like my movies to have a great picture quality, but I want those people playing the characters to be not only interesting, but also engaging. I want to feel their pain and struggle in the hard times or laugh with them in the happy times. Although I might elicit an occasional “aw” in a Christian film, I typically find myself pretty bored.

Many Christian films don’t catch the interest of people—Christian or not—with inconsistencies in the plot or characters and when the plot is repetitive movie after movie. People just get tired of basically watching the same thing happen over and over again.

The typical goal of Christian film makers is to reach the unsaved audience with the gospel. This is surely what we are called to do as Christians, so their goals are not wrong in any way, but people love their movies. If a movie does not stand up to their expectations, they are going to pass it on by and never watch it again, leaving with a tainted view on Christian film.

Sherwood Pictures is a great example of a Christian-based film company that reaches their audience through real life experiences and struggles with acting that is believable. Facing the Giants showed a couple that couldn’t have children no matter how hard they tried—a huge struggle for many people—and they learned to trust God. He gave them the desires of their heart when they let go and leaned on Him. Fireproof was an excellent film portraying a marriage relationship falling apart, and taught that without God, a marriage simply cannot operate to its full purpose—God must be the sole foundation of a marriage. And Sherwood’s latest film, Courageous, was my favorite—in the midst of family tragedy and hardship, a man learns that his true calling in life is to glorify God and stand up to be the leader in his home as God calls him.

Each of these films portrays modern, real-life struggles for the average American family. The plots are deep and reach into the personal struggles of real people. They make you cry and wonder with the characters why bad things happen to good people.

But it doesn’t end there. You are given full explanations through Scripture in the films! The characters seek out God’s Word in search of comfort, wisdom, knowledge, things that people in this world are searching for. The creators of Sherwood Pictures have a set goal in mind—to reach out to people, both saved and unsaved, to share the Hope that is in them.

So let’s get out with the corny films with Missy Davis breathing in the air of simplicity as she hoes the ground outside her home in the summer heat. Let’s help create Christian-oriented films and other forms of media that promote God and His goodness in a real, meaningful way that will encourage people to look to God in times of trouble.