Monday, 07 May 2012
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Movies and their Effect on Teenage Christianity
Many teenagers choose to abstain from Christianity, instead choosing to react negatively towards it. Some teenagers choose to portray teenage Christians in a negative way, stereotyping them as overly strict, uncool and pushy people.Many movies today portray teenage Christianity in such a way that makes Christianity seem very bad. Movies such as Easy A and Saved! portray Christians as uptight, strict, nerdy, bossy people who are always trying to force their views onto others in “God’s Word”.
Teenagers are constantly watching movies, and while they may not necessarily be believing what they see, they still take into consideration what is happening. Has the over stereotyping of teenage Christianity had an affect on people?
What are your thoughts of the affect movies have had on teenager Christianity? Has this portrayal affected the perception of Christian teenagers in society? Has it resulted in other teenagers gaining stereotypes and reacting negatively to their peers as Christians?
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- From: Brianna
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Comments (7)
The media has a devastating effect on every aspect of the intellect.
Writing is all about setting up conflict.
Tearing down the established morality, authority, ethics and values is a staple of Hollywood script writing.
from my experience as a non-Christian teenager, such portrayals aren't too far off.
I used to be one of those people who thought that all Christians were stuck-up, Holier-Than-Thou, judgmental hypocrites. And while I did run into some of these types, I had to grow up and get over myself. Really.
I had to come to the realization that while there are those people, teenagers and adults alike, who do give Christianity a bad name and who aren't one bit of an example of how to live a truly Christian life, not all Christians were like this.
Just as not all Jews are financially uptight, not all Islamics are hate-mongers, and not all Atheists are heathenish closet-Satanists; just to name a couple of the stereotypes I've heard in my life.
I feel like you missed the point of "Saved." Sure, there were some annoying, intolerant Christians, but there were also likable Christian characters, too: The unmarried, teenage, pregnant Mary? And her baby daddy? And his boyfriend? All Christian.
I think the point of that movie was that Christians are a diverse group of people, and that tolerance within the church is necessary to create a safe space where people feel comfortable asking for help without being judged.
When I first saw "Saved," I was a college student. And gay. And atheist. (Only the college part has changed since then...) Here are the things I took away from the movie: the Bible is not a weapon, Jesus loves everybody--including gays and pregnant teens--and a culture of judgement prevents teens from asking for (and receiving) the help/attention/love they need.
(Also, noticeably absent from your list of movies that might turn people off of Christianity is "Jesus Camp." I know it's a documentary, but it should be filed under horror.)
I think Hollywood has a particular take on Christianity, and I've yet to see it portrayed accurately. Occasionally, we might see someone in a church laying out their problems to God, and that's a good thing, but usually they make it look like we're a bunch of weenies. But, there are problems in how Christians portray themselves, and it comes from Christian media. I'm talking about the radio programs that really lump all of us into inflexible and intolerant beings. Focus on the Family used to be one of my core groups, until I began receiving hate mail from them. Hate mail concerning the wrong political party, and now they've come out against hate legislation, because that would mean their kids couldn't say horrid things to gays at school, or they couldn't say awful burning in hell type of messages to others who are different from them. Christians are diverse, but the ones who would banish most of us to hell aren't, and that's not doing the church any favors. "Jesus Camp" was mentioned. Was that the film I watched where children were screamed at to speak in tongues? And a card board cutout of George Bush was brought to the front stage where the kids could be told what to think? And, pictures of unborn babies as well? I was nearly done in at the thought parents would want their children to not learn to think or read scripture for themselves.
"Alabama."- My friend from Alabama suggested I post that.
If people could please do this survey for me it would be a massive help for an assingment that I'm doing
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Thankyou so incredibly much :)