Note: We're all adults here. I'm not going to use language like "the d-word" or "the s-word". If I need to use "the d-word" to prove my point, I'll simply type damn. That goes for every other foul word in the book. If that offends you so much that you won't be able to read this without fixating on that, please navigate away from this post.
Let's face it, people. There's sin (bad stuff for those of you that don't believe in sin) in the world. There's a lot of sin in the world. It doesn't matter how far you attempt to remove yourself from it, you are surrounded by sin. It's a fact of life here on Earth.
Why do so many Christians artists attempt to shield their audiences from its existence?
Don't get me wrong, some things just aren't necessary. I discussed in an earlier post how I feel about certain "sin" in the media. To refresh your memory, I wrote that I believe that many things, even though they may be offensive, do have a place in media. In fact, I believe that in some cases they're necessary in order for the art to be grounded in any sort of reality.
This is what brings me to this post. Christian art, especially modern media, is often not as good as secular art because it's not believable.
The weekend that it was released to the cinema, my wife and I saw The Grace Card. The Grace Card was produced here in Memphis, TN, by a group of very enthusiastic Christians. The story revolves around a Memphis police officer, Mac, who lost his first son to a hit and run. The car who hit the child was being pursued by police in a car chase. This moment defines the rest of Mac's life; his heavy drinking, his racial prejudice (which probably existed anyway, seeing as he is from Memphis), his failing marriage and relationship with his son. Everything points to that moment in his life. To add insult to injury, a young, black police officer, Sam, gets a promotion that Mac has been chasing and is made Mac's partner and, by extension, his superior. It's at this point that Mac's racial prejudice starts to rear it's ugly head, but it never gets uncontrollably ugly. Mac is hurting, but he isn't broken; not yet.
While in pursuit of a suspect, Mac foolishly breaks away from Sam and their backup unit and finds himself at the receiving end of the suspect's pistol. The suspect goes through the usual routine of threatening to kill Mac if he doesn't cooperate. What's not usual is the language used. If this were a television show or made for TV movie, I can understand a certain amount of restraint. I'm wouldn't pay a fine to the FCC over making my work believable either. But, this is a cinema release film that's already rated PG-13 for other reasons. Why wouldn't a desperate suspect who finds himself seconds from being a cop killer not cuss up a storm? Instead, the worst the suspect can conjure up is "white boy". And for what? To protect the audience? To be able to gain support and a recommendation from Joel Osteen or KLOVE? He didn't even need to say anything like "I'm gonna pop you in the back the head mother fucker" to sell it to me, just a simple "asshole" or "punk ass bitch" would have been plenty. Instead, what we're given is the most unbelievably clean almost cop shooting in the history of cinema.
But wait, it's not over. Once Sam is able to talk the suspect into giving up his weapon, Mac picks his gun up from the ground, grabs the suspect, and violently slams him up against a wall. Mac has officially snapped. All the racial prejudice and anger has officially erupted forth from Mac's being. The tables have turned. Mac has his weapon to the back of the suspect's head and is not happy about having been called "white boy", which is something I've never understood. I'm a boy and I'm white. Why being called those two things back to back would bother me is beyond me. But, I digress. Back to the furious racist and his black hostage.
If I were an angry racist who had just been jumped by a black dude and suddenly found myself in a position to be dealing some swift, personal justice by committing murder, believe me, I'd have called my black victim a nigger more than once. Even a black guy who was about to kill another black guy would be calling his victim a nigger. I'm not saying it's right. I hate that word as much as I feel a white dude possibly can. It's not right, but it is real. As I said above, even a simple "rat bastard" or "son of bitch" would have sold me. Instead, what we're given is the most unbelievably clean almost death by cop shooting in the history of cinema.
Mac is given one more opportunity to show me he's a real person towards the end of the film. Sam is dropping Mac off at his home after a climax that I wont spoil here (though if you watch the film, you'll see it coming a mile away). Sam is trying to get Mac to open up, but he's not interested. Mac gets a little touchy, and he's about to let Sam have a dose of the nigger word when... silence. Mac catches himself and then excuses himself from the vehicle. Now, here, the restraint is a little more believable than in the previous situation. No matter how angry and racists I may find myself being, if I'm with someone who I consider to be slightly more than an acquaintance, I'm not likely to drop a racial slur either. But, I wouldn't rule it out.
The Grace Card, and many other Christian movies, are generally riddled with problems, most of which I can bring myself to look past. Lighting is usually not as good as it could be. Actors are usually inexperienced. Kirk Cameron is usually involved (which is never a good thing). Although I find these problems inexcusable, I can bring myself to look away long enough to be mildly entertained by the film. What I can't handle is a cast of characters that I can't connect with because they don't act like people I've actually met, all in the name of shielding the audience from sin.
So, what do you think? As a Christina, do you believe that protecting the innocence of the audience come first, or should artists trust that their audience are big boys and can take it? If you're one of my non-Christian readers, why do you think Christian art is not as good as more worldly offerings?
The Forum is open, people.
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