FUNdamentalism

FUNdamentalism
A Look at the Fundamentalist movement in film.

By: Leonard Goenaga



I was talking with a professor the other day about personal experiences within Christianity (the spiritual stuff). We did the Christian thing of sharing some personal/spiritual experiences. What caught me off guard was when my professor referred to me as using 'evangi-speak'. I was using words such as 'edification', 'church home' and 'personal relationship', and I guess it did seem rather evangelistic. The term itself, evangi-speak, amused me greatly, but it was an ironic referrel to our current theme in movies.

We've been watching Saved! and The Last Year for the last two weeks. The two films are basically critiques on the Fundamentalist movement in America. Both movies play off on religious 'stereotyping' (Saved! does a MUCH better job at it), and try to expose the hypocrisy found in these fundamentalist circles.

In The Last Year, we find a gay individual attending a conservative and bigot-filled bible college. He meets some other gay individuals, falls in love, gets beat up by homophobic jocks, hit on by a hypocritical Dean, and then runs away to be happily ever after with his lover. The message is crystal clear: Be yourself, Jesus loves you, His grace is for everyone, and Christians can be hypocrits.

In Saved! we have a Christian girl whose attending an ultra-religious Christian school, with die-hard conservatives. She thinks Jesus tells her to have sex with her gay boyfriend, gets pregnant, and to make it short all hell breaks out. The badguys, as in The Last Year, are bible thumping Fundamentalists.

Saved! is brillant in exposing the hypocrisy of Mandy Moore's devoted Christian character. Her character, as well as those in The Last Year, have absolutely missed the mark in their actions (in relation to the message of Jesus). They do a terrible job at representing the acceptance Christ taught us to display, and used their Christian views to fit their lifestyle. What's odd is how the Characters who are not Christian come off as rather Christlike in their honesty and love.

Both of these films are attempting to point towards the FUNdamentalist movement in America. Why exactly do I spell it out as 'FUN'damentalist? It's in reference to the element of fun; or rather, the social element that sows the religious movement to society. In the film, you get this isolated feeling, as if the Fundamentalists are promoting a 'You Vs. Us' attitude. Their views on being apart from the world give hint to this idea, and as you begin to follow the main characters throughout the film, you also feel like an outsider.

As a Christian, I got rather frustrated with the main characters. Me and my Christian friends were the ones to laugh loudest at the religious references found in the films, but we were all guilty in admitting our frustration with the main characters. To take someone as loving as Jesus, and have his representatives be those legalistic characters in the films is rather frustrating. You want to slap some sense into them, and force them to re-read The Sermon on the Mount.

So what do both films tell us? I think they're attempting to expose that the fundamentalist movement is more of a form of social seperation that commitment to Christ. The Fundy's attempts to literally interpret the bible for their own benefit gives them this image of being very elitist, and their rejection of anyone outside of their standards puts a stain on Christ's message.

Yet we cannot take both films to be completely honest critiques. As one guilty of using 'evangi-speak', I can relate to that devotion to God. My life revolves around Him, yet it's my personal decision (not one forced upon me by my society). Being a fairly new believer (Feb. 2, 2005), I don't see this display of arrogant faith in my circle of Christian friends. I have had clashes with my church's view on gays (they kicked two lesbian youths out), but I cannot say my friends run around with this elitist attitude.

Rather, it's the complete opposite. Although the films make vibrant cases against that form of fundamentalism, I would be the first to stand up and claim how unfair it is in reference to general Christians. In all honesty, my circle of Christian friends have been the absolute most compassionate individuals I have had the grace to pass by (yet by all means, not perfect).

I find some individuals viewing Christianity on the outside applying this 'Fundy' view as a blanket term for Christians. God knows how many times I myself have been labeled a Fundamentalist, merely because I am a professing believer in Christ. It's a double-edged sword. On one hand, those Fundy's may be found, yet on the other hand that very ignorance is found on those who generally assume all Christians share these extremist views.

I would consider myself a conservative religiously, and I can account for the power found in that humble message of Jesus. The problem arises in how you bridge this message to youths.

One problem I think both films aim at exposing is how Fundamentalism corrupts youths. It's no lie that the youth movement in America is booming. Enrollment to Christian Colleges is up 70%. Christian music is up 300%, 10,000 Youth Pastors have been created yearly, and there have been Evangelizing events at Rodeo's and Christian Skateparks. This Youth Movement has been extremely powerful, and has fallen victim to critics as well.

In the film Saved!, we can see that dark side of a murky social order that claims to be centered on Christ. We see youths who try to implement Christs message in their daily lives, and who try to include Him in all their activies. Is this wrong? When you watch the film, we can obviously say that they're in the wrong, but as I talk to fellow believers I wonder if it's wrong to try and include Christ in our social orders.

I enjoy going to Christian concerts, and I enjoy Christian movies. Is it wrong for a Christian to include Jesus and His message in art and entertainment? What about fashion?

If someone were at a Christian concert, and were to submit to Him, and their lives were changed and they found happiness; could you still say that it's wrong? I would believe our film would suggest so, but what do you think? Is it wrong to make Christ message more relevant and appealing to youth's and college students?

So heres some questions I want you out there to answer:

1) What's a Christian?
2) Is it wrong to modernize or socialize Christ's message? Can there be such thing as a cultural Christian?
3) Is Christian music, art, fashion, and entertainment something Christ would disagree with? Why or why not?
4) Is FUNdamentalism wrong? Are there some truths to it?
5) Who in our two films are the real Christians, and why?

Check this book out: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0787978930/ref=nosim?tag=christianministr&creative=373489&camp=211189&link_code=as3&creativeASIN=0787978930

-Leonard O Goenaga