Movies, Stories, and Redemption

“Movies,” writes Brian Godawa, a Christian screenwriter, “may be about story, but those stories are finally, centrally, crucially, primarily MOSTLY about redemption.” Godawa uses the theologically loaded term “redemption” intentionally, but he recognizes that many contemporary movies present a distinctly secular gospel of redemption. For some movies, redemption comes through making individual decisions that flaut social and religion conventions or morality. For others, redemption is no more than learning to live with dignity in an absurd and chaotic world. Godawa’s book focuses mainly on how exitentialist and postmodern worldviews are manifested in contemporary films, and also how religion, especially Christianity, is presented. He includes an appendix that helpfully explores legitimate uses of sex and violence in film. Though most of Godawa’s discussions of individual films are brief, they are frequently illuminating and the book as a whole provides an excellent introduction for Christian evaluation of movies. The book left me wishing for more, and fortunately, Godawa’s work is available on the web at www.godawa.com.