Oscar’s 75th Birthday: A Tale of Two Cities
| By: Dr. Ted Baehr; ©2001 |
| What did the recent Oscar presentations reveal about Hollywood? Dr. Baehr, Lisa Rice and Dr. Tom Snyder report from a Christian point of view. |
Oscar’s 75th Birthday: A Tale of Two Cities
Hollywood, Calif.—Despite the subdued nature of this year’s Oscar® ceremony, the telecast reflected the tensions that exist in this town of tinsel and gold.
Hollywood is a tale of two cities: a City of Fallen Man, that disdains the Good, the True and the Beautiful, and a City of God, that aspires to the divine calling and spiritual longing which God places in the hearts of all people.
Although there are many extremists in Hollywood who are very vocal about their beliefs and intentions, there are a lot of decent people behind the scenes in Hollywood. This became evident when many in the crowd at the Kodak Theater started booing Michael Moore, the Leni Riefenstahl of the Hollywood Left, who clearly went way over the top for his bitter, hateful attack on President Bush and his policies in Iraq, policies which, by the way, like it or not, have gotten tremendous positive support from both sides of the aisle in Congress. It also became evident when the son of the great cinematographer Conrad L. Hall said, “God gives each one of us life, and what we do with that life is our gift back to Him.” Or, when the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences told the troops who might be watching, “God speed and let’s get you home soon.”
Of course, Michael Moore is just a big blowhard who shows no responsibility for his words or his actions, such as his propaganda movie, Bowling for Columbine, his vitriolic attack on America that won an Oscar for Best “Documentary.” (We have to place quotes around that award from now on, because Bowling for Columbine is filled with factual inaccuracies, staged scenes, misleading editing, and slander, not only against the United States, but also slander against Charlton Heston, one of Hollywood’s enduring legends, and the National Rifle Association, which faithfully protects the Second Amendment rights to which our Founding Fathers pledged their property and sacred honor.) By telling people overseas that Americans are a people who murder, Moore creates a climate of fear and hate around the world that puts innocent American lives in danger. A recent Boston University study shows the negative impact that filmmakers like Moore can have, for it showed that most young people around the world have a negative view of the United States of America, because Hollywood movies only show them a country filled with violence, hatred and sexual perversion. In other words, despite all the efforts of the ambassadors under Secretary of State Colin Powel and President Bush, Hollywood remains the most influential ambassador of all!
There is Good News, however, thank God! The rejection of Moore by many in the Oscar audience shows the other side of Hollywood, a side containing many people of different stripes, many of whom attended our Annual MOVIEGUIDE® Faith & Values Awards Gala and Report to the Entertainment Industry on March 18 in Beverly Hills. It is these good people who, with us, are striving for that Shining City on a Hill, where truth, beauty, justice, and love will be welcomed by all, under God and His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, the Light of the World.
Like the dark side, this other side recognizes the powerful influence that movies can have upon our world, especially our young. Unlike the dark side, however, this other side does not cry, “It’s only a movie,” when confronted by the actual negative impact that a particular movie, television program, or scene may have upon the fragile among us.
It’s always fascinating to study the Oscars, not just for who wins but also for what is nominated and what is missing.
MOVIEGUIDE® does not agree with most of the choices made by the members of the Academy, who decided that crime pays and darkness is more worthy of praise than light. In a year of economic recession and impending war, however, it’s kind of surprising that the “Best Picture” lineup this year was filled not with light-hearted, uplifting drama or take-me-away escapism, but rather with heavy, dark, often hopeless and cynical movies. For instance, despite the entertaining performances of Richard Gere, Rene Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones, the Best Picture winner, Chicago, highlights sleazy, dancin’ jail chicks who bring us the message that life is all about using men (and people), spinning the truth, and shirking the consequences of evil. Gangs of New York tells us that history is written in blood, and that there are no clear good guys or bad guys. The Hours is a lesbian/suicide movie that seems to ask, “Am I insane, or just sad?” (A week of prayer and counseling is a mandatory follow-up to this movie!)
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers brings us Hobbits trying to overthrow the dark powers of evil bent on the destruction of Middle earth, and The Pianist depicts the poignant story of a man trapped in the Holocaust. Oh, where is that Prozac? Yes, The Two Towers does have thought-provoking Christian allegory, but where are the rest of the great, redemptive movies in this lineup? Even many of the movies in other categories, such as Best Actor, are tedious, angst-filled, art house films.
Though it takes awhile to turn a giant ship around, especially in such a licentious industry, we are always hopeful that it will happen, especially in the choices Hollywood makes as it honors its artists. Last year, we were encouraged that the ship was beginning to turn, especially with Oscar contenders such as The Fellowship of the Ring and A Beautiful Mind. This year, again, we must ask, where are the rest of the uplifting movies with captivating universal truths and biblical themes? What about Jim Caviezel and the whole valley-to-redemption theme in Count of Monte Cristo? Or, Mel Gibson playing a priest with great dignity and humanity in Signs? Even if we want the reality of war grit, why not laud the solid Christian leader Mel Gibson in We Were Soldiers, which touts pro-military, strong Christian themes of honor, sacrifice, courage and hope?
Despite the dark themes, though, there are a few movies that hold up well to biblical analysis and personal introspection. Road to Perdition, a fascinating spiritual study for Christians, was on the roster this year, up for Best Cinematography and Best Supporting Actor for Paul Newman. This movie followed last year’s Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood and Cinema Paradiso in its portrayal of “religion without relationship.” In all three films, the characters are bound to the strict practice of their faith, yet their religion brings them no life or transforming power. They say mass, they drink and gamble…. They pray for their children, they shoot a guy in the head…. They attend church faithfully, yet know they are hell-bound. As with many of the above movies, a great theme here is, “there is no rest for the wicked.”
As for the directors this year, the “buzz” was saying, “Marty deserves an Oscar.” The Academy, however, shut out Gangs of New York. If Rob Marshall, age 42, had won for Chicago, his first feature film debut, he would have been the youngest director to have won Oscar®. Surprisingly, Roman Polanski, the fugitive who can’t come back into this country because he drugged and raped a young girl, won for directing the redemptive The Pianist.
As for the actors, it’s apparently the year of the prosthetics. Nicole Kidman dons a long prosthetic nose in The Hours, and Salma Hayek dons a faint mustache and mono-brow to play the painter Frida Khalo in Frida. (We’ve subtitled Frida, “Soul Search of a Mexican Bi-Sexual Communist Artist.”) Yes, Nicholas Cage may have deserved an Oscar for his role as screenwriting twins in Adaptation, and Julianne Moore was a worthy candidate for her performance in Far From Heaven, though this film is in MOVIEGUIDE®’S list of the “20 Most Unbearable Movies” for its politically correct, homosexual agenda. Daniel Day-Lewis was surprisingly incredible in his performance in Gangs of New York, though, again, the film was far from uplifting or redemptive. When the votes were counted, everyone was shocked to find that Adrien Brody won for his stunning performance in The Pianist, and Nicole Kidman won by a nose for her performance in the lesbian pic, The Hours.
One of the big questions this year, as in every year, is how close do the Oscar contenders line up with the box office favorites? The top-grossing movie of 2002 was Spider-Man, with about $404 million in revenues. It was an Oscar contender ONLY for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound, both of which it lost. Star Wars: Attack of the Clones comes in second at the box office, with about $310 million in revenues, and lost for Best Visual Effects. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is third at the box office, with about $261 million in sales, and it has been nominated for Best Picture, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Visual Effects. It won Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects. Harry Potter grossed about $252 million at the box office, yet it is not listed as an Oscar contender. We’re quite glad about that because Harry Potter is also listed in our “20 Most Unbearable Movies” for its “worst false religion for kids.”
The big box office surprise to everyone this year was My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which cost only a handful of millions to produce, yet grossed about $228 million at the box office. (What an encouragement to independent filmmakers!) This movie was nominated as Best Original Screenplay, but lost. The other top box office hits like Signs, Goldmember, Men in Black II, Ice Age, and Die Another Day are not in the Oscar lineup at all. Most surprising to many is the absence of Mel Gibson’s Signs and Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report.
Oscar’s Best Picture movies include The Hours, Far From Heaven, Gangs of New York, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and The Pianist. Of these five, only Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is among the Top Ten Grossing Movies of 2002. So, as far as Best Picture, the only overlap between Oscar winners and Box Office winners is Lord of the Rings.
And what a movie it is! Though it is admittedly dark like the other top contenders, MOVIEGUIDE® could not have picked a better choice to win on both Oscar and box office levels. Of course author J.R.R. Tolkein, a friend and contemporary of C.S. Lewis, weaves biblical truths throughout his works of fiction, and many such universal truths and apocalyptic hints are evident throughout this movie. In fact, movie clubs throughout the nation continue to brainstorm and critically assess the depths of The Two Towers’ allegorical symbolism.
We’re also encouraged that Spider-Man got some Oscar nominations this year. It is one of the most Christian-friendly movies of the year, wrought with incredible symbolism and portrayals of how the enemy seduces us and plays on old wounds to captivate our minds. Spider-Man earned about $100 million more than the second highest-grossing movie of 2002, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.
In essence, it appears that there is only a slight overlapping of America’s box office choices and Oscar’s choices. Is it “pointless elitism,” as the L.A. Times asks, or is it because critics are older than audiences? In any case, America (box office) seems to want more uplifting, truth-filled movies and lighter, comedic fare, but Oscar still loves heavy angst-ridden dramas. In a year of strife and fear, when moviegoers need the absolutes of biblical principles, and relationship with the One True God of hope to bring meaning to life’s uncertainties, it is regrettable that so many dark and hopeless movies are exalted, and so many redemptive, allegorical films are slighted.
The good news is that so many people are working so hard, at such a great financial and personal cost, to turn the Hollywood ship to the right, to the truths that the God of all creativity has woven into his universe. We pray for those that remain in the world’s system of despairing outlooks, and we commend those that are exalting the good—by writing, producing and directing great, uplifting, God-breathed movies that captivate the human heart with hope and life.
