Wednesday, December 07, 2005

The Village Voice Falls in Line

Here is a really good and fair piece in, that bastion of conservative Christian principles - The Village Voice! I had a very fun time talking to the journalist, Anthony Kaufmann - and I'm so glad the article reflected that.

Here are the snips with me in them...

Earlier this year, evangelicals expressed concern on websites that Hollywood producers would soft-pedal the story's Christian principles. But those fears have now been allayed by former nun Barbara Nicolosi, head of Act One, a Los Angeles–based Christian screenwriting program. "People particularly want to know if Aslan comes off as a Christ-figure, or just some warm and fuzzy magic lion," she writes in a press release accompanying her new book Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith, Film, and Culture. "Well, I personally cried every moment Aslan was on the screen. . . . So, I am going to say that Aslan is absolutely discernible as a figure of Jesus—for those who have eyes to see." Indeed, Barbara Nicolosi, who encourages her students to emulate her favorite author Flannery O'Connor and films like Todd Field's In the Bedroom and Jim Sheridan's In America, says she wants the arts to "explore the spiritual side of human nature. Too much art is coming from the one limited perspective of pure materialism."

Along with writers like Dean Batali ( That '70s Show) and Scott Derrickson ( The Exorcism of Emily Rose) and producers like Ralph Winter ( X-Men), who all teach at Act One, Nicolosi is leading the charge from the inside, calling for Christians to learn the craft of filmmaking and work within Hollywood. "To write a movie that's unintelligible outside of the [Christian] community is a weird thing to do," she says, citing films like the Left Behind series. "It just keeps Christians on the fringes of our own culture."

...

Still, judging from the dozens of stories published in the mainstream press about the Narnia-Christian connection—The New York Times has run at least six since February—the "secular" establishment seems to be worried. As Nicolosi says, "The idea of religious people acquiring media and artistic expertise is chilling to the secular left. I suppose they imagine that we will be as unfair and propagandistic with cultural power as they have been. But I pray we won't be. We have to answer to God for how we treat people."



P.S. For the record, our God is an awesome God.

P.P.S. For the further record, I am not "leading the charge." My principle achievement is in securing a forum for a whole bunch of really cool people to share what they know.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

...a worthy and grace-fillable achievement!

Anonymous said...

Help ME today...If You are Tired of NOT getting anywhere in Life. not being able to accomplish what it is out of life you want to. Ive been there and I still have my ups and downs in life but they don't seem to be the same downs, there are more ups in my life. I wrote a book on self esteem improvement . It is to the point on what you need to do to change your life. I wont make this real long.. If you need to make more money .. have a better relationship with someone or your just tired of the same old you.. then visit us at http://goals444.com and find out more about self esteem improvement

Anonymous said...

good post

Anonymous said...

Hello Fellow Blogggers ...astrology reading How Would You want to find something you are looking for, Find someone...astrology reading can work if you want it to ...

Anonymous said...

Do you want to read some articles on Self Improvement Tips? Then come and visit my blog! Bye for now. Very nice blog that you have here by the way. Kind regards.

Anonymous said...

Hello there. Great blog. Well done! You can visit mine by clicking here Self Improvement Blog Have a lovely week and take care.

Kind regards