I thought at the time that although Hollywood undoubtedly does loathe Christian themes, they were right to give the movie a pass, despite its huge box office. Many of the attendees weren't going to be entertained, but to use it as part of a religious exercise.
Since then, I've wondered a bit about whether I was right. Are there other movies (or books, or songs) to which we go in order to "afflict ourselves" to prepare ourselves for communion with something greater than us?
People sometimes go to movies to "cheer themselves up" being reminded that there are good things despite the disappointments of the day--entertainment with a psychological purpose; utilitarian art.
Others seem to want to go to be reminded of how patriarchal and white and bad they are and how good they are to have noticed this--which seems like a gnostic religious exercise.
It's not as crisp a distinction as I thought.
I recall that the maker of "Billy Jack" was furious that he didn't get an Oscar for Best Picture. He took out a full-page newspaper ad (in the NYT, I think) where he argued that he deserved the prize because the movie made a huge amount of money. In short, entertainment was merit, and merit was entertainment.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I can't find any entry in Wikipedia or elsewhere to support my memory. It was in 1971 or 1972, when I would have been 18 or 19.