God and Hollywood

Every day I scan the local and national news in hopes of not only becoming more informed about what's happening in this world but also to keep tabs on the flow of popular culture. Today on CNN.com (yes, I watch CNN), contributor Roland Martin has a good column on whether God and Hollywood can co-exist. He points to filmmaker Tyler Perry as evidence that Christians can not only make good, uplifting movies, but they can get the faithful to the box office, too.

Here's an excerpt:

For years Hollywood has treated people of faith more like lepers, refusing to acknowledge that Christians and others who identify themselves as religious actually go to movies. We’ve always seen the blockbusters filled with elaborate highway car crashes, flicks with a young starlet walking around for nearly two hours in tight fitting clothes, and movie after movie with enough cussin’ to make Redd Foxx and Moms Mabley scream, “Enough!”

Their mantra is always, “Show me the money!” Every movie with Christ at the center won’t be as big as Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” ($370 million U.S.; $611 million worldwide), but Perry’s movies continue to bring in the people and the bucks, and Hollywood had better pay attention.

What the critics hate about Tyler Perry’s films is what I appreciate: A willingness to tell stories about love, redemption, family and God and do so in an entertaining way. He is an unapologetic Christian.

Perry is an outspoken believer from Georgia who mostly makes lighthearted comedies. Five times his films have topped a box office weekend in earnings, despite generally poor media reviews. Even though mainstream Hollywood still is uncomfortable with his public faith, Perry perseveres in getting projects made, both on TV and in theaters. Here's Martin again:

Perry’s insistence on being willing to publicly profess his faith is truly the root of his success. Before hitting the big screen, he was a hit with his traveling plays, often reaching thousands of people in cities across the country and a ton of them were churchgoing folks, especially women.

At one time he had a development deal with ABC but when executives objected to the constant references to God, he walked away, saying he wouldn’t compromise his principles for a TV show. (He now has two hit TV shows on TBS, “House of Payne” and “Meet the Browns.” Both mention God, Jesus and the Bible all the time).

“These stars can make all the references in the world to Kabbalah or Scientology, and that’s just fine,” he told USA Today last year, “But mention Jesus Christ, and they (studios) don’t want to deal with you.”

He has transferred that loyalty to the big screen and Hollywood has taken notice.

I recommend reading all of Roland Martin's article. God bless Tyler Perry. I'm not personally a fan of his film style but I wish him all the best as he fights to get and keep his faith in his art.

Be God's.