Hollywood and Theology

I've seen two movies since I left California. I saw "Crash" and "Star Wars III". They are both interesting films. Let's do a little "Hollywood and Theology" on them together. Here goes:

1. Both films have a similar theme. In "Crash", a film about lives intersecting in L.A., everyone in the film is a victim of bad choices, horrible consequences, racial bigotry, and racial prejudice. In "Star Wars" the two main characters follow the same path of bad choices, making decisions on emotions, mistrust, jealousy, and a lust for power.
2. In each case the characters tend to want to make bad choices for good reasons. They all seem able to justify their actions based on some mistaken ideal that they can do morally unethical things but for some good, justifiable reason and it will all come out fine in the end. Of course, nothing of the sort happens in either film. Everyone ends up in pain, heartache, death, and morally bankrupt.
3. Hollywood seems to have a firm grasp of evil. Both films herald the painful experience of what the Bible calls "sin" and what Hollywood calls "drama". Everyone is affected by the sin of others - even the morally good characters (though you are hard pressed to find a moral character in "Crash"). What you cannot find is a solution to the dilemma of sin. In "Crash", the movie ends with almost all the situations unresolved. Everyone is in pain and sin is "crashing" in on everyone. In "Star Wars" the heroine dies, the hero turns to the dark side, and the moral warriors are all murdered (except two who are forced to go into hiding). Even the next three episodes of the saga suggest that the only way good will ever triumph is if human beings will stand up and reject evil and live better lives as moral beings. In other words, if we will just live better, things will be better. Not much of a solution if you track the development of human beings from Adam and Eve to Saddam Hussein.
4. What Hollywood never seems to get is that there is a solution to the problem of sin. I don't expect every film to be "The Passion of the Christ" and talk about how Jesus has saved us from our sins, but I do expect that there would be some character, any character that might reflect the truth that God is greater than evil and that there is a way to live without giving in to the "dark side" by depending on God. Granted, the Jedi Knights of the Star Wars movies come close to this reality. But nowhere do they acknowledge the reality of God or the dependence on divine power. It is only "the Force" - a far more Eastern religious concept than that of the Bible.

I wish that Hollywood could learn to reflect in a positive way some of faith expressions of millions and millions of Americans who regularly attend church, synagogue or some other place where they worship God and acknowledge that, not only is there a Supreme Being, but that He loves us and by His grace and mercy we can be forgiven of sin and follow Him. That would be refreshing. When was the last time you saw a movie with a pastor in the movie (or a TV show for that matter) where he/she was portrayed in a positive light? How many Christians have you seen portrayed in a positive light on Friends, Fraiser, Everybody Loves Raymond, ER, Law and Order, CSI, Will and Grace, or any "reality" show? For that matter, have you ever seen an episode of any of these where there was someone on the show that was a Christian? In contrast, how many homosexual characters have been portrayed on these shows? How many people have had children out of wedlock? How many affairs have been portrayed? I'm not suggesting that these things don't happen or that they shouldn't be portrayed in some form or fashion. What I am saying is that the portrayals are out of balance, pc viewings of the latest social experiments, reflections of a liberal theology and bias that fears Christians, belittles our faith, and dismisses all of us who attend Church regularly and believe in the power of Jesus Christ to change a life.