Introduction

This paper will demonstrate the importance of understanding personal Christian faith as well as how that understanding can be applied to a specific field of communication, specifically electronic media such as television and cinemas. It is important to mention that I have an interest in pursuing media studies and working in the film industry and as such, it is imperative to use this paper to explain how I will apply my understanding of my Christian world view and faith to media as a field of communication. To achieve this, it is important to give a detailed description of how faith-based films have been fairing in contemporary media and society.

It is also important to mention that a worldview can be defined as the framework from which people view reality and even make sense of their personal lives and the world. In this regard, an individual with a biblical worldview like I do believes that the principal reason for existence is to love and serve the LORD wholly.

As aforementioned, I desire to pursue media studies because it will allow me to use my perception of faith to impact people through film and to motivate them to have a better, deeper perspective of Jesus Christ and a good understanding of GOD. This understanding will become the driving force behind their decisions, emotions, and actions, ultimately influencing how they respond in every area of their lives as they diligently learn, apply and trust the truths of God in every area of their lives through watching faith-based films. Through the influence of these films, they will acquire a profound, wholesome faith that will not relent in the face of the modern culture’s non-biblical concepts.

 

 

What is a faith-based film?

            As harsh as it may sound, there has been a general underlying fear among many Christians that movies will grab the role of the church as a place of worship, and this fear has materialized with the recent advancement of contemporary cinema into movies that have religious themes. Many are continuing to marvel at the seemingly unforeseen success of faith-based films such as “God’s Not Dead,” and this success does not seem to wane out soon.

This then begs the question, what is a faith-based film? If a group of people was to be asked what this means, there certainly would be over five different definitions advanced, and this would also undoubtedly engender tension. However, it may be generally defined as a marketing term structured to render it easier and more convenient for the Christian audience to distinguish the movies that may be persuasive to them. Nonetheless, this definition does not end the debate of how faith-based films should be defined because, for instance, one would ask whether it is still a faith-based film if there is no scene depicting someone getting saved. Other may argue it is one if it shows anything to do with faith, while others regard it so if it aligns with their theology.

Depending on the lessons I have learned in class, I would define a faith-based movie as the term normally used to denote the many Christian-themed movies that have continued to come up after the successful “The Passion of the Christ” movie directed by Mel Gibson that came out in 2004. In this regard, it is then right to assert that a Christian movie is one that has the right kind of story, which may be based on real-life events but not be too bleak and must have characters who do not do drugs or engage in any illegal activity or even swear. A faith-based film must carry a moderately dramatic story and be inspiring, such as showing a man trying to break out of an addiction to pornography that is destroying his family or a wife trying to sustain her family as it faces the daily turmoil of dealing with an abusive husband and father.

In 90 minutes, the audience would have learned a probably previously unlearned lesson from the Bible and hopefully also found GOD. For instance, in the movie Miracles From Heaven, a sick daughter is healed miraculously by GOD’s love and principally because of her faith in GOD, which resonates with Christianity’s teaching that faith in GOD delivers the unimaginable. In Fireproof (2008), a husband overcomes his addiction to pornography and saves his family. In Heaven Is for Real (2014), a father has to grapple with the truth that his four-year-old son is passed on to heaven.

All these are movies that depict the fundamentals of the Christian faith, and in my opinion, they are impacting contemporary society and affecting our generation positively. The positive impact further accentuates my interest to desire to use electronic media to portray critical principles of my faith and hopefully get people to know GOD more and to form active relationships with Him. He is the ultimate helper in all kinds of trouble, something that people in the contemporary era increasingly need as life gets more complicated and confusing.

How is the contemporary society receiving faith-based films?

            One of the major reasons I desire to pursue media studies is because it will give me the opportunity to endorse the principles of my faith and belief in the salvation of GOD. I believe this is an important view for the world to have because as advanced in the Tenets of Christianity, GOD is the only one who can restore our dying world and heal it of its misery and moral degeneration.

Initially, faith-based films were not accorded the interest they are now receiving. It was so because, in the first place, it was even difficult to find a person who could openly profess their faith. The pattern was quite predictable because if for instance, persons of faith had regard for their job, they would not openly profess their faith while those who had better positions felt they were moderately free to express their faith. Only the retired people could openly and confidently profess their faith as believers because the repercussions would not be as severe as one who was starting his or her career. This was a good manifestation of how the media culture of the time was devotedly secular and even hostile to the worldview of the people of faith.

This world has however changed because today, there are thousands of people in New York media and Hollywood who regard their faith more confidently and seriously, which is incrementally compelling major television networks and film studios to pursue “faith-based” content actively. This is what I aspire to achieve with my personal understanding of my Christian faith. I want to use electronic media to draw more people to the faith and help them understand their world and their lives from a perspective of understanding God and entrusting their lives to Him, which is the essence of faith as shown in the various faith-based films. The films usually show people overcoming certain personal and often dangerous situations because of basing their faith in GOD.

Agreeing with observations advanced by Rothkopf (2018), there is no question that the success seen in the movie “The Passion of the Christ” directed by Mel Gibson was key to the resurgence of faith-based films. So receptive is the attention that faith-based films are currently receiving that even the major mainstream and successful companies are beginning to take an interest in them because of the highly lucrative faith-based movie market and are hence looking for ways of directly marketing to and engaging with the christen audiences.

However, in as much as they have this desire, the majority of them lack a basic understanding of what a faith-based film should contain. The companies are hence rushing to look for content creators to help them produce faith-based films. I hope to fill the knowledge gap in pursuing my career and using media to profess my Christian faith to the population, which I believe is the intention GOD has in continuing to increase the pervasiveness of media all across the world.

The movie “The Passion of Christ” is a good example of the success that can be realized in producing a faith-based movie by someone who well understands how to use media to portray faith. In this movie, Gibson hit upon a deeply felt cultural nerve among Christians in the United States, that their religion was being subjected to attacks by popular culture, even ironically believing that they were no longer welcome in a country that has been founded on the very principles that define the Christian faith.

Additionally, the persuasiveness of this movie was seen in the zealous acceptance of Gibson’s movie by Christian film critics, which they received as a movie that responded to the sense of alienation that they felt, largely because the movie evoked more emotional reaction, sorrow and deeper reflection within people. Based on this knowledge, I have a good chance to use everything I have learned in my media career to produce more faith-based movies. The movies that touch the lives of people as a result of portraying previously superficially understood principles of the Christian faith to continue providing people with faith in GOD especially in today’s hard and confusing economic, political and social times.

People are so in need of hope if the significant success realized by this movie is anything to go by, seeing that it has surpassed the $350 million mark in revenues and increasing the visibility of the faith-based films as well as the essence of the Christian life. This success shows that churchgoers and Christians, in general, are increasingly pursuing something they are not obtaining from the movie theatres and as they continue to pursue, the more attention they are getting from the big production companies. This is a good indicator that the market is saturated with opportunities that will help me use my learning and understanding the Christian faith to produce movies that will reach out to even more people.

Examples of successful faith-based movies that have come out in the past 10 years

            The success of the faith-based movies seems like a get back to the mainstream companies that have previously ignored these movies on a large scale. This is also a good assurance for my desire to use film to communicate the tenets of my Christian faith to the public. The reason is that,  despite the disregard shown by the major corporations to faith-based films, they are nonetheless speedily penetrating the market in spite of the various comments from movie critiques that such kinds of films do not belong to the theatre, and who have constantly but apparently erroneously given negative ratings to these faith-based films.

            Faith-based films are rapidly growing into an increasingly pervasive and highly profitable portion o the entertainment industry if the current success of these films is anything to go by, which is persuading more executives and producers to tap into this relatively “new” market. For instance, the prayer-focused movie “War Room” produced in 2015 cost 3 million dollars to make and grossed 67.8 million dollars in the box-office. Additionally, “Risen,” a biblical epic, as well as “Miracles From Heaven” have garnered strong returns, just as have the movies “Son of God,” Noah (grossing $359m), God’s Not Dead (grossing over $60m), Heaven is for Real (grossing $91m) as advanced by (Shone, 2014).

With such success, it is right to assert that there are many more such movies in line. I am working to ensure that I take up a position in the growing industry to use media to profess my Christian faith to the world. I aspire to provide them with knowledge about GOD and the magnificence of His work in the lives of not only Christians but of all people to personally start to address the differences in religious beliefs that cause us to be pitted against each other.

I desire to use my learning and understanding of the Christian faith to produce faith-based films that will bring integration into society by providing a more clearer and exhaustive knowledge of GOD and His principles and ways.

Owing to this success, it is right to say in agreement with Ditmer (2018) that Hollywood is still in the process of learning. It has not yet fully understood how to satiate an increasingly growing consumer market that wants more faith-based content. It also lacks a good understanding of the content that these movies should have because there is still a very limited understanding among the professionals in the mainstream production companies on what the Christian faith entails and hence a limited understanding of the required movie content.

These are the kind of gaps I desire to address when I venture into this field because I have a desire to reach out to a large number of people who do not go to theatres to see movies.

The success of these movies is also causing the executives in the film industry to seek strategies to track religious moviegoers and to annihilate the perception that they have disregarded Christians ostensibly because faith-themed movies are devoid of the star power, production quality and financial backing that would enable them to compete with secular movies. Today, mainstream producers, actors, and directors are increasingly connecting themselves to more Christian-themed projects as the prospects of these movies continue to grow.

Further, the bigger names in Hollywood are helping to widen the audience for the faith-based films with the goal of enhancing their box-office appeal. However, I hope that I will be one of the major professionals in this filed so that the faith-movie industry will not only have to rely on the word of the Hollywood big who are just out to make profit but will also depend on the input of a person like me. I have a good understanding of media as a communication field and of the tenets of the Christian faith as I am a professing Christian.

I would employ a strategy similar to that used by the highly successful Christian-themed movie production company which, as advanced by Faughnder (2016), has been so proficiently skilful at marketing its faith-based films by directly reaching out to pastors as well as other religious leaders, with the strategy paying up as ticket sales to these movies have continued to rise.

Just as this company does, I would consult with pastors in different congregations to enquire if they are comfortable with promoting these films to their congregations. This would be especially important for me because it will allow me to understand how to use my Christian faith and what I have learned to make faith-based films that will exhaustively depict the various contexts of problems that Christians and generally human beings grapple with on a day to day basis especially in their Christian faith walk.

In addition, I would also use my learning and understanding of my Christian faith to partner with agencies such as Affirm to distribute informative sermon notes as well as discussion guides that would introduce to the members of some churches important information about a prospective release. I would guide them through Bible study to help them understand the context of the movie and more importantly of the Christian faith better. For instance, some churches individually screened the faith-based movie “Miracles From Heaven,” which was a good strategy because there was a notable increase in the number of tickets sold in bulk in such places of worship.

I would also use social media to persuade new audiences as happened with the movie “Miracles From Heaven,” which had its web page that persuaded people to share photos of their dear ones, which gave the movie a significant social media boost. I would aim to reach not only professing Christians but also other people who are outside the face and who have not previously interacted with faith-based films.  The reason would be to introduce them to GOD and hence attain my desire to use my learning and faith to positively influence others for the sake of advancing GOD’s Kingdom in a lost and hurting world.

What is contributing to the increased interest in faith-based movies

The present increase in appeal for faith-related films may characterize a convergence of a host of trends, and in this regard, one of the primary reasons that the faith-based films are gaining increasing popularity is that they are helping to reaffirm personal faith. Currently, there is an open perception of discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs in the evangelical community, and as such, it is important to understand the kind of messages that these movies should carry. Usually, although these movies carry messages to do with perseverance, money and family issues, the learning I have acquired combined with my understanding of the principles of the Christian faith have helped me understand the importance of people needing to reaffirm why they have the beliefs they do and especially with regard to their faith or the lack of it thereof.  It occurs that most Christians in the contemporary era need this reaffirmation on their beliefs and faith so that they may feel that their belief is vindicated in amidst a barrage of mainstream criticism.

I thus believe that I will make faith-based movies that position the Christian faith as a crucial element in either one or all of the following three elements: the movie setting, the movie’s theme or the central character’s journey. I believe this is important because art, as well as popular culture, must have an accurate depiction of life and considering that at least 25 percent of the American population are Christians who believe in the Bible, the entertainment industry and media do not truly mirror this reality.

The other reason for the increased interest in these movies is their capacity for affecting people personally in a manner that allows them to reflect on their lives from within, which is thus increasing the demand. So powerful are these movies that before the opening of the movie “Miracles From Heaven” as advanced by Faughnder (2016), DeVon Franklin, the producer, flew to several churches around the country to screen the film that entailed a young girl with a rare medical condition getting miraculously healed. He asserts that in one of the screenings, members of the audience responded to the movie by sharing their personal stories of loss and healing, such as a woman who regaled how she lost her son through a shooting.

Garner, a character in the movie, also asserts that the movie, based on a true story where a mother has a daughter who has a rare disorder and who also survives a terrible accident and gets miraculously healed, touched her personally as well. In the process of making it, she got motivated to start going to church together with her children. With this in mind, changing people and encouraging them to open up is the main purpose I desire to pursue this field of interest because I intend to incorporate my learning and my understanding of the Christian faith to ensure that the movies I will be producing will not be mere movies but will be a real-life ministry.

The other reason attributed to the increased prevalence for these movies is the increasing number of major film companies that desire to tap this vibrant market that has for the longest remained uncharted and confined to the traditional perspective that it is a niche phenomenon in which no one was willing to risk. Using my learning and faith, I will produce faith-based movies that will help dilute the negative perceptions that still exist in contemporary society regarding the potential positive impact of such movies on society.

The other factor is the rise of autonomous Christian films that has engendered the creation of a network system of evangelical churches and Christians linked by social media and the Internet, which amplify the support for faith-based films through word-of-mouth. For instance, Helmore (2018) advances that director Jon Erwin of the highly successful “I can only Imagine” movie avers that he was severally scorned that there was no significant market for these types of films. However, he chose to continue with it because everybody he knew loved the song and hence believed that the movie would get an audience. He was right to trust in this observation because it was widely received, and the reception motivated the distributors to begin promoting it as a general audience film.

In recognition of such market acceptance, I am further motivated to pursue my ambition and to enhance my Christian faith to ensure that I make relevant productions and impact people’s lives and faith in conformity to my personal belief about GOD and Christianity.

Will this interest in faith-friendly media content last?

I believe that the answer largely depends on ratings and financial success of these films as well as the talent of the people involved in their production. In my observation, those who lead with the talent they have an not with their faith tend to have much success, which agrees with observations advanced by King Solomon that those who have excellence serve the King, implying that someone who excels in certain gifting will have doors opened for them in high places.

I thus strongly believe that I will be part of the reason this industry survives because I will venture into the industry with a good understanding of the Christian faith but more importantly, with a leaning-enhanced ability for producing good content movies that address the various aspects of human and Christian life. I believe that Christians who venture into this faith-based film production industry with the needed spiritual integrity as well as real talent to pursue a career will realize both respect and success.

The other reason that these movies will continue to realize success in the contemporary era is that the Christian faith embodies virtues that are universally accepted and desired, including loyalty, hard work, truthfulness, moral character, among many more. I also believe that these movies will last as long as they can effectively find good topics for their movies that will evoke reactions from the audience, for instance, by depicting the reality of the power of the GOD they believe in, which is cathartic for the spirits and psyches of many. A good example is advanced by Associated Press (2016) who asserts that Theresa Klacman, the founder of The Restoration House Ministries, was moved to tears as she obtained a further revelation of who Jesus was as He was talking with the weary disciples asking them to cast their nets again even after initially trying severally and failing. However, at His command, the disciples obtained so many fish that the nets were breaking, which showed that He even had power over nature, thus invoking a spirit of worship and reverential awe for God in Theresa.

With Christian-themed films containing to attract large audiences interested in films that bear positive messages, I believe that production companies and prospective producers like me should urgently find new approaches to make content inclusive movies that have spiritual undercurrents.

The future of faith-based films

I strongly believe that faith-based films have future judging by the current uptake of these movies by prominent Hollywood and independent studios. As such, it is the onus of producers to keep putting out material that will continue to invoke the interest of the public. I believe that if the filmmakers continue to find more universal stories and themes and to articulate various religious themes and depict the characters in these movies in a more accessible and palatable way particularly to people who do not profess Christianity as a religion, it will guarantee the continuity and growth of this relatively new industry. Agreeing with observations advanced by Droge (2016), the market is ultimately determined by the movie-watching audience, which thus requires for people to have adequate interest to go pay 10 dollars to watch a movie at a theatre. I will use my learning experience and my understanding of the Christian faith to make context-rich movies that will encourage personal growth in the Christian faith.

Personal thought

Based on the study I have conducted, I have learned that the state of the faith-based films particularly in contemporary culture is still not fully understood. Consequently, the companies and individuals wanting to venture into this field are still confused about this genre, with one major reason for this confusion being the lack of a definite definition of the phrase faith-based. Secondly, as this genre ushers into a more productive era, I have observed that it is still very “careful” in the sense that the stories are so accurately tapered, neatly packed and harmless to the conservative demographic so that the real intention of these movies of provoking people to faith is not being attained. It is so because the movies are not pushing the viewers intellectually, emotionally or spiritually. It is thus imperative for me to combine my learning proficiencies and my Christian faith tenets to attain balance in producing provocative movies while still ensuring that I do not alienate the practitioners of the faith.

However, I still believe that although much work still needs to be done concerning giving the faith-based films sufficient market penetration, the advances in the industry have started showing Hollywood that diversity and age are not always antithetical to the success of the box office. The advances also reveal that there is a need to understand that roles can now be offered even to people who are not traditionally renowned. I believe that churches have become so diverse, which is being reflected in the various faith-based films that are being put out because they are reflecting the various situations and problems people pass through on a daily basis and in most cases, who do not have avenues they can go seek help through.

Churches and the people involved in producing faith-based movies are increasingly coming to the realization that people deal with many problems and are hence producing these movies in the contexts of these problems. Helmore (2018) supports this assertion as he provides some additional examples of recent successes in faith-based movies based on different contexts. They include Heaven Is for Real, which deals with the story of a young boy who momentarily dies; Fireproof, which is a story about a fireman trying to overcome his addiction to pornography, something that is so prevalent in the current world and that needs urgent resolve in order to save our generations; God’s Not Dead, dealing with the story of a college Christian student challenged by a philosophy professor on his belief in GOD.

            However, it is also important that I mention that in my perspective, I feel that the companies producing these movies should look for ways to diversify their content because faith-based movies seem to be restricted concerning the angles of content they can employ. Although important, most of these films only show a person dealing with something to overcome and if this is the only trend that will be followed in this industry, it will soon become predictable and monotonous.

In addition, more context diversification is required because normally, Christian movies have a definite and overt of who Jesus Christ is, of the Gospel, of Scripture and of what it implies to have a functional relationship with Jesus Christ. Further, to avail these aspects, the movies have a lot of talk going on as they contain long discussions about salvation as well as about coming to the Christian faith. There are also times that quotations of Bible verses are advanced, which, if one is coming from an evangelical standpoint, invariably sounds like a very familiar, nonchalant language.

Moreover, I feel like there is a distinct danger of Hollywood venturing into this market albeit too fast without a clear comprehension of the tenets of the Christian faith or even the intricate elegance that the various Christian groups communicate with each other. Just as with any other trend, there is always an inherent danger of moving into things too quickly, which invariably destroys the goodwill and intentions of whatever undertaking.

I consequently believe that it is important to follow the precision showed by Mel Gibson in his independent production of the “The Passion of The Christ” movie. He managed to perfectly portray as a classic Hollywood movie although it was not, yet able to depict a real-life event in a way that touched many people and got them interested in the gospel of Jesus again. I thus believe that if Hollywood runs into this new movie dynamic with blind zeal, it will quickly disperse the target audience. It will most likely produce content that does not relate with the Christian faith, or that is too light for the reality of the gospel of Jesus and for their faith in light of making more money but without the requisite context or content.

As aforementioned, I also believe that the label “faith-based” is significantly limited. In this regard, I would suggest that faith-based movie producers and production companies actively direct efforts that will ensure the inclusion of other traditions and religions so that they may highlight the deficiencies that exist in these traditions and beliefs in a realistic and wholesome manner. The inclusion will provoke people to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ without combining it with other retrogressive practices and beliefs. However, people should do so willingly so that they can maintain their salvation. The only way to achieve voluntary acceptance of salvation is to ensure that the movies produced not only act as a light that illuminates peoples’ darkness, but that also leads them to accept Jesus Christ as LORD in their lives, thus extending the Kingdom of GOD to the domain of the earth as He has always desired.

 

Inclusivity is especially important because the world we currently live in is one in which traditional values, as well as religious conviction,  is becoming progressively marginalized by a secular popular culture where it is even becoming permissible and even fashionable to scorn and despise religious belief. Regardless of this, I strongly believe that faith is continuing to increase all over the world and with more review and implementation of new strategies for producing faith-based films, victory for the advancement of the values of the church of Jesus Christ all over the world will be attained and accentuated by these movies. In addition, it will help address the dangerous divisiveness that is the usual norm of separating the religious and the nonreligious, the saved and the unsaved, and other such categories that people group themselves into instead of viewing themselves as one and thus, the faith-based films will help integrate the society by bringing acceptance, forbearance, and unity.

How I intend to live out my faith in my given area of interest

            Having done this research, I believe I am in a better position to understand how the learning I have obtained will help me in my prospective career as I work towards becoming a professional in the field of communication and particularly in the production of faith-based films. I will combine the learning I have acquired with the many principles I understand about the Christian faith to diversify my productions and enrich them with content. Consequently, they will appeal to the contemporary population that is facing all kinds of mental, emotional, intellectual and psychological problems and who do not realize that they need outside help to assist them to deal with the stresses of today’s life. Such inclusivity is important in my films because it will allow diversification of content and deal with the normal stigma associated with Christian movies, that they are narrow, inaccessible, dogmatic and subpar. Additionally, I will continue to profess my faith in my area of interest because failing to do so will not provoke others to try the faith for themselves, which will conflict with the desire of Jesus for His true followers to always be professing their faith in Him for the encouragement of both ourselves and others.

Conclusion

This paper has been discussing the rise of faith-based topics in American film in the last ten years. The study has realized that faith-based films are becoming increasingly demanded by not only the people who profess the Christian faith but increasingly by people who have not initially considered understanding GOD and His salvation and principles, as happened in the aforementioned case of Garner, who got provoked by a faith-based film to start going to church. The study has revealed that as a budding producer, I have a major responsibility for ensuring that the content I will put out is sufficiently diverse and inclusive so that as many people as possible, not only Christians, can become familiar with GOD and understand Him as their only source of help and hope. Overall, this research will help me in my endeavor to positively impact the society with inspirational movies that will encourage them to believe in themselves and in the willingness of their creator to see them prosper above all situations of life.

 

 

 

References

Associated Press. (2016). Christian films on the rise, again. Retrieved on 23^rd February, 2019 from https://newsok.com/article/feed/988739/christian-films-on-the-rise-again

Ditmer, B. (2018). I Can Only Imagine’ in More Theaters this Weekend. Retrieved on 23^rd February, 2019 from https://churchleaders.com/news/321762-i-can-only-imagine-in-more-theaters-this-weekend.html

Droge, A. (2016). The rise of faith-based films. Retrieved on 23^rd February, 2019 from https://universe.byu.edu/2016/03/03/the-rise-of-faith-based-films/

Faughnder, R. (2016). Faith-based films are building followings at the box office. Retrieved on 23^rd February, 2019 from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-faith-based-movies-20160325-story.html

Helmore, E. (2018). Faith films challenge Hollywood at box office. Retrieved on 23^rd February, 2019 from https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/mar/25/i-can-only-imagine-christian-faith-film

Rothkopf (2018). A Journey Into the Righteous, Risk-Averse World of Faith-Based Films.  Retrieved on 23^rd February, 2019 from https://themuse.jezebel.com/a-journey-into-the-righteous-risk-averse-world-of-fait-1825210009

Shone, T. (2014). A movie miracle: how Hollywood found religion. Retrieved on 23^rd February, 2019 from https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jul/31/-sp-faith-films-hollywood-religion-christian-noah-heaven-is-real-bible

Do you need high quality Custom Essay Writing Services?