Lance's Stack Of Stuff
THE BACKLASH, AND WHEN CHRISTIANS START TO FLEX THEIR FINANCIAL MUSCLES
THE BACKLASH, AND WHEN CHRISTIANS START TO FLEX THEIR FINANCIAL
MUSCLES
The gross lie that ‘sex sells’ movie1 is being dealt a lethal blow! The recent and very
stunning success of the film, ‘I Can Only Imagine’ and other clean and wholesome
Christian films, disproves this false statement, and should serve as a wake-up call to the
entertainment and film industry!
Yet again, another successful Christian faith film has taken the box office by storm,2 and
Hollywood pundits are stunned, and caught completely off guard.3 Many of these
secular film experts just don’t get it. Sadly, many of them haven’t understood the mood
of the people, and cannot fathom why people would crowd out theatres to see a movie
such as ‘I Can Only Imagine’ which some might view as cheesy, especially as it’s not
loaded with violence and sexual scenes.
But what many in Hollywood and beyond don’t get is that many people – not just
Christians – have had enough of violence and pointless sexual immorality in movies.
People are fed up with having to wade through spiritual excrement in the form of foul
language, sexual immorality, and violence, just to make it through a film, which might
actually have a good storyline. Some of us are tired of having to constantly fast forward
certain scenes in a film in order to protect our own minds, and of those in our care.
Yet, a quiet revolution is taking place at the box office. The entertainment industry is
being forced to sit up and take notice, and can no longer ignore it. Money talks, and
Christians have financial clout. Sadly, as yet, many of us have not yet fully understood
our financial power.
The reality today is this: those who control the content in the media, movies, and TV
shows, hold great power because they influence the popular narrative in a nation, for
good or bad. As a sobering example, the Nazis and their infamous minister of
Propoganda, Joseph Goebbels, recognised the power of the media, and the
entertainment industry. Goebbels reputedly stated the following: ‘Let me control the
media and I will turn any nation into a herd of pigs’.4 That’s why the Nazis were quick to
bring the whole of the media and the film industry under their control. Goebbels saw
them as powerful tools of propaganda to reach the heart of a nation, and to change its
course. The Nazis instinctively knew that whoever controlled the media, entertainment
and films, would end up controlling the national dialogue. It is no coincidence that when
a coup d’etat is taking place, one of the key priorities of those leading the coup is to take
over the media, through which they can control what reaches the people.
Thomas More who famously wrote ‘Utopia’ once said of his king, Henry VIII ‘“If the lion
knew his own strength, hard were it for any man to rule him.”5 I relate this quote to
Christians today. We haven’t yet understood our strength. We have far more power than
we realise! We already have the power to change the national dialogue and narrative
via our wallets! I say, let’s deliberately, and on purpose, support Christian media. When
we financially support Christian media and movies, we directly influence the kind of
movies and films that are being made, and thereby the national narrative and popular
culture. As the old idiom says: ‘Let’s put our money where our mouth is!’
By Jolomi Karlsson
1. Pesce, Nicole Lyn. (2017, June 23). Who said sex sells. New York Post.
Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2017/06/23/who-said-sex-sells/
2. IMDb. (2018). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved from
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=icanonlyimagine.htm
3. Helmore, Edward. (2018, March 25). Faith films challenge Hollywood at box
office. The Guardian. Retrieved from
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/mar/25/i-can-only-imagine-christian-faithfilm
4. RT Documentary. (2014, June 22). The Master of Lies. RT Documentary.
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG2rWnBmqyg
5. More, Thomas/Roper, Will. (1890). The “Utopia” and the History of Edward V.
London: W. Scott. p. 35