I’m looking for serious answers here.
For a person with a biblical worldview, is there such a thing as an “important” movie? I’m not trying to imply that movies are bad. I’m just wondering if a movie ever has anything more than entertainment value.
If your answer is yes, what movie(s) would you consider important, and why?
I think movies can be important for teaching, like fables teach moral lessons.
They can also be important for helping us think beyond our individual worlds. Books do that better, I believe, but some people just watch movies. For some, visual impact is weightier than just reading about something. (Can you tell I haven’t had much adult conversation lately?)
Now I have to think of examples. There are probably very few movies that make “powerful impacts” on people. “Schindler’s List”, “The Passion Of the Christ”, and some war movies, like “Saving Private Ryan”. I would also add “To Kill A Mockingbird.”
Thanks for the question. By choosing to answer I have successfully avoided doing my housework!
My gut response is “no,” cuz all is vanity, there is no end to writing books or making movies (I imagine he’d throw in movies if they had such a thing.)
Depends what you mean by “important.” My biblically tainted view makes “important” mean “what is of eternal value.” In my book, the best a movie can aspire to is portraying redemption, resurrection, grace, and any other characteristic of the Gospel. And if the best a movie can do is copy the original story, I’d just say the original story was important.
Rae Lyn — I have to agree with you that Saving Private Ryan gave me a perspective on war that I’d never gotten from any of my reading.
Jeff — I see your point. Let me rephrase the question. Are there movies that are valuable over and above their ability to entertain? Which ones?