Hollywood and Religion

Brent Bozell over at Townhall has a piece about the dearth of Christian themed movies coming out of Hollywood.

He complains, rightly I think, that the industry is afraid of religious themed films in spite of the success of "The Passion" but he does say this:

"This is not to say, however, that a book with a Christian message is going to be a guaranteed hit at the theater. The "Left Behind" series of books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins have sold an astronomical 70 million copies, but when the first two books were turned into movies, they bombed at the theater. Hollywood is now trying a radical innovation with "Left Behind: World at War." the third movie attempt. It is releasing the film exclusively in churches -specifically, on screens in 3,200 churches, 1,200 of which can seat more than 2,000 viewers."

I have news for Mr. Bozell and Hollywood, the success of religious themed films are going to be based on their quality a hell of a lot more than anything else by far. The fact is that most religious films suck. They tend to range from amateurish to ridiculous. Sure, give me a list of good religious films to rebut me but odds are I can name 20 good secular ones for every "Passion" you throw at me.

At the same time, the vast majority of serious "erotic" films suck too. Every time I read about some director being a titty-baby because his film got an NC-17 for sexual content, I can rest assured it will be about as erotic as buying kartofels from the local babushka. Henry and June anyone?

Good movies, that's all we ask.