Comments on: UPDATE: Christianity Today critiques Movieguide’s “Hollywood Stimulus Plan” http://lookingcloser.org/2009/02/christianity-today-critiques-movieguides-report-to-the-industry/ The official website of Jeffrey Overstreet Tue, 26 Oct 2010 05:36:34 +0000 hourly 1 By: linds http://lookingcloser.org/2009/02/christianity-today-critiques-movieguides-report-to-the-industry/#comment-183402 linds Sat, 21 Feb 2009 06:45:19 +0000 http://lookingcloser.org/?p=65942#comment-183402 *sigh* Movieguide strikes again. I knew they were trouble from the moment Tom Snyder rewrote my review and when I objected told me to read "Successful Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulation" (an evil answer to the prescient "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger"). *sigh* Movieguide strikes again. I knew they were trouble from the moment Tom Snyder rewrote my review and when I objected told me to read “Successful Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulation” (an evil answer to the prescient “Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger”).

]]> By: Peter T Chattaway http://lookingcloser.org/2009/02/christianity-today-critiques-movieguides-report-to-the-industry/#comment-183362 Peter T Chattaway Sat, 21 Feb 2009 04:05:37 +0000 http://lookingcloser.org/?p=65942#comment-183362 It's kind of difficult to say that Indiana Jones "reviles communists" when his first instinct, on losing his job thanks to McCarthyism, is to take a job at a university in Leipzig ... which, at that time, was in East Germany. It’s kind of difficult to say that Indiana Jones “reviles communists” when his first instinct, on losing his job thanks to McCarthyism, is to take a job at a university in Leipzig … which, at that time, was in East Germany.

]]> By: Damon Titus http://lookingcloser.org/2009/02/christianity-today-critiques-movieguides-report-to-the-industry/#comment-183242 Damon Titus Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:17:43 +0000 http://lookingcloser.org/?p=65942#comment-183242 This line from the WSJ Journal article cracks me up: 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,' where Indy reviles communists and their impoverished ideology is exposed; Somehow, I doubt people flocked to Indy to watch him beat the communists. People flocked to Indy because, well, they enjoy watching him beat anybody, and it was the first indy movie in like 20 years. Those man eating ants could have probably been the only bad guys, and people would have gone to see it. Also, I don't really remember anywhere in the movie where they even focused on the communist's ideology...It not like in TDK, where the jokers ideology is front and center and is poignantly shown to be impoverished. Indy is just pretty much a straight up chase movie where the communists are the bad guys because it fits the time period the movie is set in. This line from the WSJ Journal article cracks me up:

‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,’ where Indy reviles communists and their impoverished ideology is exposed;

Somehow, I doubt people flocked to Indy to watch him beat the communists. People flocked to Indy because, well, they enjoy watching him beat anybody, and it was the first indy movie in like 20 years. Those man eating ants could have probably been the only bad guys, and people would have gone to see it.

Also, I don’t really remember anywhere in the movie where they even focused on the communist’s ideology…It not like in TDK, where the jokers ideology is front and center and is poignantly shown to be impoverished. Indy is just pretty much a straight up chase movie where the communists are the bad guys because it fits the time period the movie is set in.

]]> By: Joshua S http://lookingcloser.org/2009/02/christianity-today-critiques-movieguides-report-to-the-industry/#comment-183112 Joshua S Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:47:32 +0000 http://lookingcloser.org/?p=65942#comment-183112 Oh man...they (WSJ) actually took them seriously? LOL! RAMBO was on the list of 'conservative, morally upright" movies...ironic considering movieguide is generally hypersensitive to gore..and rambo is the most extreme gore this side of Saw and Hostel.... Aside from the aforemention statistical lies (as benjamin franklin would say : "facts are stubborn things: but statistics are more pliable...) the logic is rather pathetic (and arguably anti christian, as CT pointed out...at least in terms of shunning the poor and opressed because of 'anti-americanism' *cough* I find the comments on all the blogs quite funny...most line up with my POV. So I shall leave it at that Oh man…they (WSJ) actually took them seriously?
LOL! RAMBO was on the list of ‘conservative, morally upright” movies…ironic considering movieguide is generally hypersensitive to gore..and rambo is the most extreme gore this side of Saw and Hostel….

Aside from the aforemention statistical lies (as benjamin franklin would say : “facts are stubborn things: but statistics are more pliable…) the logic is rather pathetic (and arguably anti christian, as CT pointed out…at least in terms of shunning the poor and opressed because of ‘anti-americanism’ *cough*

I find the comments on all the blogs quite funny…most line up with my POV.
So I shall leave it at that

]]> By: Stephen Lamb http://lookingcloser.org/2009/02/christianity-today-critiques-movieguides-report-to-the-industry/#comment-183082 Stephen Lamb Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:59:04 +0000 http://lookingcloser.org/?p=65942#comment-183082 Update #2: I guess I didn't get my comment thanking them in on time. The post no longer shows up on the blog home page. You can see it when you follow your link, Jeffrey, but when you try to post a comment, it says, "No such entry." Update #2: I guess I didn’t get my comment thanking them in on time. The post no longer shows up on the blog home page. You can see it when you follow your link, Jeffrey, but when you try to post a comment, it says, “No such entry.”

]]> By: Shane Deal http://lookingcloser.org/2009/02/christianity-today-critiques-movieguides-report-to-the-industry/#comment-182892 Shane Deal Fri, 20 Feb 2009 02:39:56 +0000 http://lookingcloser.org/?p=65942#comment-182892 Audience wants as the indicator, now there is an interesting idea. When it comes to websites, if I recall correctly a huge proportion of the audience wants are not exactly very morally uplifting. But it's what audiences want. I looked at Sean Gaffney's blog... Besides the nice article, I found that he's the son of a good friend of my mom, his parents attend our church. Very nice folks. -Shane Audience wants as the indicator, now there is an interesting idea. When it comes to websites, if I recall correctly a huge proportion of the audience wants are not exactly very morally uplifting. But it’s what audiences want.

I looked at Sean Gaffney’s blog… Besides the nice article, I found that he’s the son of a good friend of my mom, his parents attend our church. Very nice folks.

-Shane

]]> By: Anna http://lookingcloser.org/2009/02/christianity-today-critiques-movieguides-report-to-the-industry/#comment-182772 Anna Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:38:00 +0000 http://lookingcloser.org/?p=65942#comment-182772 While I agree with their assessment that "family-friendly" movies, neutral or favorable to conservative ideals, will probably make more money simply because most moviegoers don't like overt propaganda clogging their entertainment (and yet Hollywood keeps churning out tired anti-war flops...why?), I can't see how the rest of the article supports that tagline. On purely economic merits, sure, the plan's pretty solid I guess. But are they prescribing a cleaner Hollywood or a more rightist Hollywood? And to what cultural end? The two do not necessarily go hand in hand. I mean, did Baehr and Snyder actually see An American Carol? As someone with an enormous amount of love for Iron Man, I'm kind of...bewildered that unrepentant playboys like Tony Stark even make the "clean, family-friendly" list at all. What, we just gloss over Iron Man's sexual liberties because he's pro-capitalism and that's what's important, but we condemn the salacious protagonists of Brideshead Revisited? To be honest though, I'm not sure that the Brideshead remake deserves any defense on account of its butchering the book. Love what CT said about pro-communism people vs. pro-love people. Burn. While I agree with their assessment that “family-friendly” movies, neutral or favorable to conservative ideals, will probably make more money simply because most moviegoers don’t like overt propaganda clogging their entertainment (and yet Hollywood keeps churning out tired anti-war flops…why?), I can’t see how the rest of the article supports that tagline. On purely economic merits, sure, the plan’s pretty solid I guess. But are they prescribing a cleaner Hollywood or a more rightist Hollywood? And to what cultural end? The two do not necessarily go hand in hand. I mean, did Baehr and Snyder actually see An American Carol?

As someone with an enormous amount of love for Iron Man, I’m kind of…bewildered that unrepentant playboys like Tony Stark even make the “clean, family-friendly” list at all. What, we just gloss over Iron Man’s sexual liberties because he’s pro-capitalism and that’s what’s important, but we condemn the salacious protagonists of Brideshead Revisited?

To be honest though, I’m not sure that the Brideshead remake deserves any defense on account of its butchering the book.

Love what CT said about pro-communism people vs. pro-love people. Burn.

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