“Evangelical entrepreneur Philip Anschutz has been bankrolling mainstream movies with religious messages for years, most notably the big-budget ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ film series adapted from the C.S. Lewis novels. The trend extends to lesser-known filmmakers outside the U.S.” Yair Rosenberg
Religion: As Seen Inaccurately on Screen
Fed up with Hollywood’s portrayal of faith, some believers are making their own shows and films.
Yair Rosenberg, The Wall Street Journal, February 28, 2014, p. A 11
“I learned who Rachel was in church,” muses a troubled character with the same name in the hit Netflix series “House of Cards.” “Jacob fell in love with her while she was watering a lamb, and she became his wife after he worked seven years to earn her hand in marriage. Rachel had one son, Joseph. He became a king.” There’s only one problem with this account: It’s wrong.Jacob agreed to work for Rachel for seven years, but ended up working 14. She had two sons, not one. And Joseph did not become king, but rather Pharaoh’s deputy in ancient Egypt.
This biblical bungling shouldn’t be surprising: Faith doesn’t play well in Hollywood, where TV and movie writers typically oscillate between ignorance and antipathy toward it.
In the debut episode of Aaron Sorkin’s political drama “The West Wing,” which won more than 20 Emmys during its seven-year run, the president’s staff meets with leaders of the Christian right, one of whom lectures them: “I’d like to discuss why we hear so much talk about the First Amendment coming out of this building, but no talk at all about the First Commandment . . . ‘honor thy father.’ ” Continue reading
