Warning: This is a long post. But you should read it anyway.
So as of Sunday night Superman is dead, for real this time. And
unlike in the comics, he won’t be coming back. I am not one who
is normally effected much by the deaths of celebrities, but, since
finding out about Christopher Reeve’s death (I found out kinda late)
last night, it is something that really bothers me for some
reason. Maybe it’s because he is a representation of Superman,
this great hero, who is not longer with us. Perhaps it is because
he was such an inspiration to so many people. Perhaps I simply
wanted to see this man who portrayed such hopefullness and
perserverance walk again. In any case, I was saddened by the news.
On another note, since a few people have asked, and I needed to make a new post
anyway, I thought I would explain the reasons why I think Saved is such
a good movie.
I will start with the main reason why I liked it. The overall
theme of the movie is something that Christians need to hear. The
message really is that Christians need to show more acceptance and love
of people. It tells us the very thing that the Bible tells
us. No one can live up to the law. That was the point of
the law. To show us our need for a savior.
Hebrews 8:7 – “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.”
If we could be saved by living up to the standards of the law, then
there would have been no need for Christ to come at all. Yet
Christians CONSTANTLY get down on EVERYBODY that is not living up to
their particular standard of the week. Homosexuality, which is
discussed in the movie, is something the Bible RARELY mentions, but
Christians tend to treat homosexuals like the plague. Who watched
the movie and DIDN’T see a serious problem with his parents shipping
him off to Mercy House, not even trying to help him themselves?
The sad thing is, it is not difficult at all to believe that people
would do that.
The movie itself shows respect for Christian ideals. It really is
attacking hypocrisy within Christianity, which if someone denies that
it is there, they are simply fooling themselves. There is much
hypocrisy among those who call themselves Christians. If there
was not, I think there would be little doubt as to the existance and
love of God. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is after they
try to perform the exorcism on Mary… and as she is getting away from
his this dialogue plays (doing it from memory, may not be 100% right)
Mary: You don’t even know what love is.
Hillary Faye: I am FILLED with Christ’s love.
She throws her Bible at Mary.
Mary (holding up the Bible): This is not a weapon….. you idiot.
One of the best lines in the movie, right there. The Bible is not
a weapon. Some of the worst things in history have come about
because of someone asserting that it was. Anyone remember the
Crusades? Lets see… here’s a verse that may apply:
2 Corinthians 3:6 – “who
also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the
letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives
life.”
Something that a lot of people have a problem with is Mary having a
vision of Jesus telling her to sleep with Dean to save him from his
homosexuality. However, all Jesus tells her in her vision is
“Dean needs you now. Do all that you can to help him.” Mary
simply misinterprets the message. The director even states this
in the commentary on the DVD.
In the end, I really see the movie as a story of a girl falling away
from her idea of who God is and what Christianity is, and coming away
from it with a new understanding of what God’s love really is.
Another of my favorite scenes in the movie, demonstrating her complete
falling away from what she had believed in, is the scene right outside
the church, looking up at the cross on the side of the building, after
having gone to the planned parenthood, etc…. and she looks up
at it and says, “Shit. Fuck. Goddamn.” In my opinion,
it is a brilliant scene.
The end of the movie, when Dean arrives at the prom, the conversation
that is had between all the characters is fantastic. When Dean
says “We’ve all been kicked out of our homes and our schools and now
Mercy House, there’s no place left for us to go,” just as Pastor Skip
is trying to make them leave. If people cannot find love and
acceptance in Christians, who are supposed to represent Christ to this
world, then where can they find it?
“It’s just all too much to live up to. No one fits in 100% of the time, not even you.” – Mary to Pastor Skip
“I know in my heart that Jesus still loves me” – Dean
These are the reasons why I love this movie.
I do not see it as being anti-Christian, nor was it’s intent to be anti-Christian, according to the director.
I think that this movie suffers from what most movies dealing with
Christianity suffer from. Christians, for whatever reason, expect
Christian characters to be perfect, and in this movie, no one is
perfect. No one is even close to perfect. Some people would
claim that the non-Christians in the movie are presented as being
better then the Christians, but, not really, they have their own
problems… Cassandra is a very different character at the end of
the movie then she is at the beginning. So is Roland.
As to the comment in my previous post in regards to this… there
are some bits to this movie that aren’t exactly Christian ideas, such
as Mary says “There has to be a God… or… something… out
there.” In my mind, she still acts very much like she believes in
God specifically, especially since she goes on to say “What would Jesus
do? I don’t know… but we’re trying our best to find out” (or
something to that effect.) I think they probably just wanted to
be all-inclusive so non-Christians watching the movie could relate,
after-all, the writers and director are not Christians.
I assume you mean when Roland dresses up as a Rollerskate for Halloween? Yeah, it’s in there. 😉
I liked the movie, personally. It really does show how the world views ‘christianity’. You have a lot of strong points here.
good post.
and a note on the hypocrisy thing: throughout the gospels, Jesus’ problem with the pharisees was their hypocrisy.
So why do christians always gotta be pharisees? Its a good question, and unfortunetly I don’t have an answer for it.
This is a long post. and I did not read it. I might someday though…so don’t delete it or anything. Cause next time I have the urge to read your entire xanga, I’ll read it. Have you noticed we’ll talk to eachother for everyday for about 2 or three weeks and then just stop and not talk to one another for a long time? weird, eh?
I would agree with a great deal of your post here… if the title of the movie was “Real Love.”
But it wasn’t, it was “Saved!” If I remember correctly (from reading the script) the main character doesn’t discover the meaning of love, she discovers that she is Saved. Wasn’t that the last line of the movie?
How is she saved? By accepting herself for who she is. Accepting everyone else for “who they are.”
There is a dangerous half truth there. It’s true, Jesus came to save sinners, of whom I am a notable example (Paul said he was the worst. Who am I to disagree?)
But Jesus also said “go forth and Sin no more.” That point is lost and I believe, deliberately rejected by the film. To “accept” people’s sin as “who they are” is not what Christ was about. I mean, really, He had to DIE for our homosexual tendencies and lusts and rebellion and greed and self righteousness and all kinds of evil!
Jesus welcomes sinners with open arms. But then he changes them. He sanctifies them. We can’t stop sinning, (because of “who we are” ) and Christ doesn’t stop loving us, but Sin matters!
You’re right, the movie does attack hypocrisy within our faith, and I agree that that does need to happen. But it also undermines that same faith by saying that it’s basic premesis are untrue. There is no repentance. There is no need for fogiveness between God and men. Salvation is just loving yourself for doing whatever you want.
What’s left?
hmmm.. they must have changed the script a bit i guess.
It ends with Mary’s voiceover with her in the hospital having just had the baby, etc. This is the voiceover… it doesn’t seem to say that she wasn’t saved beforehand and is saved now, but I think she does have a different understanding of what it means.
Mary (V.O.): Ok, I’m pretty sure this isn’t what Jesus had in mind when he said “Help Dean.” Look, don’t be too harsh, I’m not the first person to ever get the message screwed up. Looking at her, it’s like, life is too amazing to be this random and meaningless consequence of the universe. There had to be a God, or something out there. Or something inside. You just have to feel it. I mean when you think about it, what would Jesus do? I don’t know. But in the meantime, we’ll be trying to figure it out. Together.
Anyway, I do not think that the movie has 100% accurate theology, but there is something to learn from it, and Christians have no reason to feel threatened by it. If you want to feel threatened by a movie, may I reccomend “The Beast” (www.thebeastmovie.com).
That was quite the link, Reese. After wading through the forums for about half an hour I finally stumbled onto a thread that actually held together as a rational discussion for a while.
I’ve always been a big science geek and a rather skeptical person, so finding things like this can shake me up quite a bit. But I like being forced out of my box for a while, so I can rethink things that I’ve started to take for granted.
But, when all is said and done, if there is indeed valid reason to believe in the non-existence of Jesus (I haven’t heard much that holds up), I hardly think that the way it will be presented to the world is with a hyped movie. Let’s just hope that people are smart enough to know that people who have reasonable evidence for something don’t need to present it with a movie, which can have serious emotional sway over a person.