Chuck Colson recently had these excerpted comments about the Academy Awards and current movies:
If you watched them [the Oscars], you already know that the films Hollywood chose to honor had little to do with quality and everything to do with philosophy and worldview. As Christian film critic Barbara Nicolosi acerbically put it, Hollywood’s choices affirm, once again, “just how very, very sick America’s storytellers have become.”
Several awards, including Best Picture, went to Million Dollar Baby, a film that promotes euthanasia. Five Oscars went to The Aviator, a film that celebrates billionaire Howard Hughes, the man who bedded dozens of starlets, made unwelcome advances to many others, and ultimately died of syphilis-induced insanity.
Oh, and then there’s the nasty little film called Sideways. This film suggests that it’s fine— even funny — for a man to engage in an orgy of sex with strangers just before his wedding. That got an award, too. Meanwhile, one of the greatest films ever made, one of the biggest box-office hits of the year, worldwide, and the biggest independent film in the history of the world — that is, The Passion of the Christ — was ignored.
It’s so important that we teach our kids how to find the worldview message in every film.
These are well-taken points. We need to ask ourselves what a film’s underlying attitude is. It’s there to discern if we’ll just dig a little. Well, one current movie that passes my worldview test is Because of Winn-Dixie. A local reviewer gave it 1 ½ stars, saying among other things that it has “a mawkish screenplay and the wrong choice of director.” How wrong he is. My new strategy is to consider favorably the movies that get the lowest ratings (2 stars and less). Those that get the highest ratings, 3 ½ and 4 stars, are generally the worldliest ones — Million Dollar Baby, Sideways, The Aviator, and the like. The Passion of the Christ got two stars locally when it was released.
In a nutshell, here’s what Winn-Dixie is about: When Opal was three, her mother abandoned the family, leaving Opal and her father to live on their own. They have moved to the rundown Florida town of Naomi, where her rather distant father is the new preacher in a church that holds services in an old grocery store. Opal, now ten, had to leave her previous friends when they moved and is lonely and having trouble making new ones. One morning her father sends her to a local Winn-Dixie supermarket. When she arrives, the store is in chaos because of a dog that has gotten onto the premises and is wreaking havoc. The store manager is about to call the dog pound when Opal says, “No! He’s my dog.” The manager counters with, “Well, if he’s your dog, what’s his name?” Needing to think fast, Opal notices the Winn-Dixie logo on the wall and says, “Winn-Dixie.” Events proceed from there. Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal’s life changes. She meets some terrific people, including two rather elderly women well played by Cicely Tyson and Eva Marie Saint. How long has it been since we’ve seen these two excellent actresses in a movie? Too long.
One worldly reviewer said that viewers would likely be turned off because of the church prayer scenes. Those scenes, however, are all the more reason to see Winn-Dixie. It’s got great metaphors, appealing performances, and a God-honoring worldview. Sure, it’s somewhat idealized, but it’s about community and people caring for one another. And it's worth it just to see the dog.
Film Rating: PG
My Rating: 3 stars.
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