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hooray for hollywood
I'm not about to suggest that Hollywood has somehow turned over a new leaf and is suddenly filled with decency and righteousness. Hey, I'm not naive. But I've noticed a distinct improvement over the last few years in the material coming out of movie land. It seems that a majority of action movies lately have avoided the gratuitous sex, swearing and crude language they used to be known for. Disagree? What about The Fifth Element? Space Cowboys? Armageddon? The Matrix? The Sixth Day? Tomb Raider? Even Driven, though a lousy movie, was clean. Romantic comedies like George of the Jungle, Bedazzled and The Wedding Planner have also avoided going down that disappointing road, resulting in a large number of delightfully smart motion pictures.
Oh, there's room for improvement. I'm not saying Hollywood people have turned into saints. Unlike some folks, I've never really pointed fingers at movies as the enemies of morality. I tend to see them as reflecting culture rather than setting cultural moods. But there's no need for most movies to venture into that territory, and I sure disagreed with the general direction Hollywood was taking over a number of years. Perhaps my greatest disappointment was the unnecessary and meaningless sexual display seen in Shakespeare in Love. It added nothing to the movie and destroyed any connection with the smart, sophisticated way Shakespeare would have written the script.
I think that perhaps the folks in tinseltown have learned to understand that you don't have to display sex or have your actors curse a blue streak to have a successful film. Indeed, it would appear that your chances for success increase when you remove garbage that has nothing to do with the story itself; when you allow sexual tensions or interest to be displayed with sensitivity and intelligence rather than graphical obsenity. Audiences are not idiots. People enjoy films that let them think for themselves, even in the context of an idiotic script.
I've been especially pleased with two television series that went a step further and actually portrayed Christianity with sensitivity and fairness. This is one group that always got shafted by Hollywood. Where Jews and even Muslims were generally treated with respect, Christians were almost always shown as hypocritical, judgemental fools.
One series was a well-written show called "Pensacola: Wings of Gold." Produced by James Brolin, it followed a group of US Marines through combat aviation training. It appeared to be based on a book called "Bogeys and Bandits." Superbly written and acted, the show was usually quite intelligent. One of the characters was a rough young kid with the call sign "Burner." He had been raised by an alcoholic father, and struggled with that past as he trained for the military. In one memorable episode he met a beautiful young woman and wanted to get to know her better. She was a committed Christian, and told him that because of her love for Jesus Christ, she couldn't date any man who didn't love God and put Him first in his life. Unlike the usual portrayal of Christians in television, this one was right on. The woman had no character flaw. She was compassionate, kind, and genuine. In a later episode, Burner experienced an incident (the episode was pretty lame) that made him rethink his view of God. After visiting his father's grave, he was able to find forgiveness in his heart for the toll his dad's alcohol abuse had taken on his own life and his mother. He then handed in his wings and went looking for this lovely woman who had influenced him so deeply.
I was incredibly moved by that whole series of events, and by the sensitive portrayal of Christianity. Burner--one of my favorite regulars on the series--left the show on this highly unusual note.
Another series that I generally don't watch is "Nash Bridges." Though I liked "Miami Vice" I find Don Johnson's latest show to be a bit meaningless. No offense to the producers, but there's neither depth nor style as there was in the earlier series. Still, one episode startled me. It followed one character, a police officer who had been a regular on the series, as he gave his life to Jesus Christ and completely turned his life around. It was a remarkably accurate and sensitive portrayal of the kind of Christians I know. He forgave and showed love to his enemies. He asked forgiveness of those he had mistreated. And he turned away from corrupt behavior to become a genuine ambassador for Christ. After he was killed, a church service was widely attended by the other officers and pointed out the dramatic changes that had taken place in his life.
Given these two television treatments and the recent change that movies in general have adapted, I'd like to say, "thank you" to the folks in Hollywood behind these developments. I invite anyone reading this to join me in a round of applause.
