Moral Films vs. Immoral Films

[White Knight]

Hey all, I was just wondering on how, good, moral, bible meaning, films are so over shadowed by immoral, grappy, unbibicial films. like for example.


The recent movie [b]"The Gospel of John"[/b] it wasn't nearly as big as the Passion, but it still had good, moral meaning to it, and it was based on the Bible. on the entire book of John but it was pushed aside, hardly anyone cared about it.... The Film [b]"Therese"[/b] I heard was suspost to be a pretty decent film, yet, its being pushed aside, by all these other hollywood flicks, and from what Ive seen, its done poorly money wise and many people seem to disagree on the meaning of the film. anyway, to the point.


[b]Do you think its fair that good meaning/moral films get less screenings, and less money than immoral/grappy/ unbibicial films that get more screens in the theaters, stay in longer, and make a huge fortion?[/b]

Obviously the most sucessfull, moral, heroic, bibicial, Truth based film, is [b]"The Passion of the Christ."[/b] and No other good moral film has even come close to its success in the truth telling.

Immoral films are obviously treated, with more attention, than moral films, and often, overshadowed/pushed good films aside, and those good films, usually never get a wide enough audience, to get popluar, and to get their meanings out effectly like they attended.

Look, these are all the christian movies that ever made it to theaters, and made money, obviously the number 1 one is [b]"The Passion of the Christ"[/b]

[b][url="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=christian.htm"]All Time Christian Films[/url][/b]

Now look at the films, that overshadow moral films.

[url="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=romcomcrime.htm"]All time Comedy/Romance/immoral films 1[/url]

[url="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=horrorperiod.htm"]All Time HorrorPeriod Films/immoral films[/url]

Notice how most of those are pushing Moral/Good films, out of people's sights.
Yes there are some compremizes with this, some of them are okay, moral films, but alot of them are grappy, films too.


Ok to the Point, I started this thread to devide which films are Moral and which ones aren't.

[u][b]Moral[/b][/u]
The Passion of the Christ
The Gospel of John
The Ten Commandments
The Greatest Story Ever Told
Ben Hur
more to come.

[u][b]Immoral[/b][/u]
Halloween I,II,III,IV,V,VI, 7, and 8
The Friday the 13th Parts 1-9, Jason X, and Freddy vs. Jason
Chucky 1-5
Texas Chain Saw Massacre
The Ring
Just Married
King Auther
Thirteen Ghosts
First Knight
Excalibur
What Planet Are You From?
Harry Potter I-??? (However many more they plan to make)
The Craft
The Owen Child
More to Come.

Edited October 15, 2004 by White Knight

[Guest T-Bone]

[quote]Do you think its fair that good meaning/moral films get fewer screenings and less money than immoral/grappy/ unbibicial films that get more screens in the theaters, stay in longer, and make a huge fortune?[/quote]

Give the public what they want....

[Azriel]

Uh...I have a feeling you are going to get a battle on the Immoral List.

[sarah]

[quote name='T-Bone' date='Oct 15 2004, 01:58 PM']Give the public what they want....
[/quote]
sad but true...

1. [b]hollywood is a business[/b] first then (maybe/pretends to be) art.
2. it isn't 'controlled' by hard core christians either.
a film has to make back the cost of production/distribution/exhibition (which isn't exactly pocket change.) if a film won't make millions then its not going to be made, much less widely distributed - thats just the way the studio system works.

no i don't think its fair, but if you have the money to both produce and distribute your "morally good bible based" film yourself, then go you. do it.


(and just because a film is "immoral" doesn't mean you can't grow spiritually from it. i'm not saying that Jason 15 will make me stronger in my faith...but just making a note since i'm like one of 4 people on here who think this. )

[White Knight]

[quote name='Azriel' date='Oct 15 2004, 02:12 PM'] Uh...I have a feeling you are going to get a battle on the Immoral List. [/quote]
Whys that?

[Noel's angel]

most people want entertainment and thats what they get. the film making business is all about money, not teaching good moral values.

[Paladin D]

[quote name='Noel's angel' date='Oct 16 2004, 07:50 AM'] most people want entertainment and thats what they get. the film making business is all about money, not teaching good moral values. [/quote]
Which is good, but also sad in a way.

Instead of entertaining films with some moral message to them, many of them are pretty screwed up.

[White Knight]

[quote name='Noel's angel' date='Oct 16 2004, 06:50 AM'] most people want entertainment and thats what they get. the film making business is all about money, not teaching good moral values. [/quote]
Ya, but they sould try harder lol to make good high budget, highly advertised, highly moral film, the only movies I can think of that made some actually good money money wise, are The Passion of the Christ, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, & The Star Wars Trilogy (Original One.)

Those movies all have high morals, good messages, and they made some money. alot of money.

[Noel's angel]

yeah, i know, its sad really that more moral films dont get the chance they deserve

[Azriel]

[quote name='White Knight' date='Oct 15 2004, 05:06 PM'] Whys that? [/quote]
Because there are a significant number of people on Phatmass who are Harry Potter fans.

[flip]

Look.

I saw the Gospel of John and it wasn't a good movie. I do not think it was done well and it didn't impact me

I heard the St. Therese movie was the same way. I can't judge it though, because I haven't seen it.

All the Left Behind movies were TERRIBLE.

Honestly, most Christian art smells of elderberries. Most Christian theatre makes me gag. Most Christian movies make me gag.

Christian visual art is amazing, however, on the whole, Christian music is steps behind secular music. Why is THIS???

I don't know. Maybe it's because the art that people are funding are not Christian. Maybe Christians are not funding the Christian artists to do provactive, challenging work. Maybe it's because all Christians do is whine about the secular world but never DO anything about it. Maybe Christianity has ceased to become radical, and the art reflects that. Maybe people have forgotten that Christianity IS NOT SAFE. Maybe Christians are afraid to take RISKS and make an impact. Maybe Christians are too worried about being "safe" instead of being challenging...

Secular movies challenge me WAY more than Christan movies. I was challenged by Passion of the Christ. I was also challenged by Requiem For A Dream. I was also challenged by Being John Malkovich. Come to think of it, the only Christian film that I was challenged by was the Passion... and I only think that was becuase Mel Gibson (Who knows a WHOLE LOT about the movie business, the art, and about the secular world) directed and produced it.

It makes sense.

If the art isn't captivating audiences, it's probably because it isn't captivating.

Edited October 19, 2004 by flip

[ironman]

Have you ever seen "Les Miserbles" I don't know if I spelled it right, but that's a dope movie.........A lot of Catholic undertones

[White Knight]

[quote name='Azriel' date='Oct 18 2004, 10:14 AM'] Because there are a significant number of people on Phatmass who are Harry Potter fans. [/quote]
But Harry Potter promotes Witchcraft..... its very story is on witchcraft basically. It has No morals what so ever.

[sarah]

[quote name='White Knight' date='Oct 19 2004, 01:12 AM'] But Harry Potter promotes Witchcraft..... its very story is on witchcraft basically. It has No morals what so ever. [/quote]
it sounds like you're combining morals with Christianity. i think there's a difference.

i haven't seen harry potter so i can't give specific examples, but i think the overall story of good fighting and overcoming evil would touch on the moral aspect. the way its done however isn't through Christian teaching...

[Paladin D]

[quote name='flip' date='Oct 18 2004, 10:25 PM']Look.

I saw the Gospel of John and it wasn't a good movie. I do not think it was done well and it didn't impact me

I heard the St. Therese movie was the same way. I can't judge it though, because I haven't seen it.

All the Left Behind movies were TERRIBLE.

Honestly, most Christian art smells of elderberries. Most Christian theatre makes me gag. Most Christian movies make me gag.

Christian visual art is amazing, however, on the whole, Christian music is steps behind secular music. Why is THIS???

I don't know. Maybe it's because the art that people are funding are not Christian. Maybe Christians are not funding the Christian artists to do provactive, challenging work. Maybe it's because all Christians do is whine about the secular world but never DO anything about it. Maybe Christianity has ceased to become radical, and the art reflects that. Maybe people have forgotten that Christianity IS NOT SAFE. Maybe Christians are afraid to take RISKS and make an impact. Maybe Christians are too worried about being "safe" instead of being challenging...

Secular movies challenge me WAY more than Christan movies. I was challenged by Passion of the Christ. I was also challenged by Requiem For A Dream. I was also challenged by Being John Malkovich. Come to think of it, the only Christian film that I was challenged by was the Passion... and I only think that was becuase Mel Gibson (Who knows a WHOLE LOT about the movie business, the art, and about the secular world) directed and produced it.

It makes sense.

If the art isn't captivating audiences, it's probably because it isn't captivating.[/quote]
I agree with most of your points, though I would say Christian music is pretty much even with secular music. How about Demon Hunter, PiLLaR, Kutless, Skillet, POD, and etc? There are [b]MANY[/b] Christian bands out there of all genres, and it's amazing how some are more popular than secular bands. For example, [b]PiLLaR[/b] has a song out called [i]"Bring Me Down"[/i] that is playing on some of the most popular rock stations in the country, ranking in the top 5 or 10 (sometimes even 1st).

Being one who is into film and planning on becoming a screenwriter and director, it's sad [b]but true[/b] that most Christian films are more like B-movies. It's sad how most Christian films are pretty terrible, not to mention [b]corny[/b]. What happened to the great classic Christian films such as [b]Ben-Hur[/b] or [b]The Ten Commandments[/b]? Both starring Charles Heston.

If God wills it (still discerning between this and the priesthood), I plan on making high-quality Christian films. Some will be direct (such as a story of a Saint), or allegorial/symbolic (like LOTR).