BOOK REVIEW
Title: The Message Behind the Movie - Chapter 1
Author: Douglas M. Beaumont
Publisher: Moody Publishers
Ok, not many book reviews are done, a chapter at a time, but I thought this way I can get the review to you that much sooner. Besides, this book would not be done the justice it deserves in just a couple of revised paragraphs.
Finally! I think to myself, a book that focuses on all the issues I (and many other christian movie-goers, I think) have had over the past decade or so about the message we should or shouldn't be getting from, not just christian films but all films we view.
This first chapter focuses on the importance of films in our culture and how they provide the perfect medium for conveying the message of Christ. Douglas says "one study reported that teenagers spend about ten hours per day consuming media of various kinds. This means that even if teens were to spend two hours per day with their parents, by the end of the week they would have spent five times as much time immersed in media". How important is it then for christians to have a bigger role in Hollywood?
The theme of the book is to teach us how to analyze all films we watch without stamping the film with an overall 'Good' or 'Bad' label, looking into the underlying message of the story instead of at the amount of it's moral/immoral content. This quote from the chapter sums up the feel of the book as a whole. "In order to successfully integrate movies into our spiritual lives, though, we first need to learn how to evaluate movies, so that we neither miss the good nor uncritically accept the bad."
So, so far, I like it! I think it will prove to be a great companion to anyone interested in finding the real message behind the action, drama and special effects of any film.
To be continued...
