TY - JOUR
T1 - “Take my film and let it be”
T2 - Critics and consecration in faith-based cinema
AU - Moore, Rick Clifton
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 University of Toronto Press Inc.. All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/9
Y1 - 2018/9
N2 - This study represents an attempt to better understand how religion fits into the discourse between filmmakers and critics who review their work. The author uses the thought of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu—specifically, his notions of cultural capital and consecration—to analyze mainstream reviewers’ responses to the motion pictures of Alex and Stephen Kendrick, two brothers who have endeavoured to make mainstream films that “communicate the gospel without compromise.” In analyzing reviews of the Kendricks’ five “faith-based” films, a consistent pattern of comments from the reviewers is evident, a pattern that expresses negativity toward the brothers’ aesthetic, social, and theological choices. Also apparent, though, is an ongoing conversation in which the filmmakers seem to recognize the importance of listening to reviewers, even if the filmmakers have not toned down their message. Reviewer comments for War Room, a film whose budget and box office success have pushed it into the mainstream in spite of its very religious content, show that the filmmakers not only appear aware of the concerns expressed by critics but also persist in their attachment to religious filmic content that may not appeal to secular critics who, in Bourdieu’s terms, have a high level of “cultural capital.” With Bourdieu’s work in mind, the study suggests that many of the disagreements between the filmmakers and reviewers have as much to do with religion, class, and taste as they do aesthetics.
AB - This study represents an attempt to better understand how religion fits into the discourse between filmmakers and critics who review their work. The author uses the thought of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu—specifically, his notions of cultural capital and consecration—to analyze mainstream reviewers’ responses to the motion pictures of Alex and Stephen Kendrick, two brothers who have endeavoured to make mainstream films that “communicate the gospel without compromise.” In analyzing reviews of the Kendricks’ five “faith-based” films, a consistent pattern of comments from the reviewers is evident, a pattern that expresses negativity toward the brothers’ aesthetic, social, and theological choices. Also apparent, though, is an ongoing conversation in which the filmmakers seem to recognize the importance of listening to reviewers, even if the filmmakers have not toned down their message. Reviewer comments for War Room, a film whose budget and box office success have pushed it into the mainstream in spite of its very religious content, show that the filmmakers not only appear aware of the concerns expressed by critics but also persist in their attachment to religious filmic content that may not appeal to secular critics who, in Bourdieu’s terms, have a high level of “cultural capital.” With Bourdieu’s work in mind, the study suggests that many of the disagreements between the filmmakers and reviewers have as much to do with religion, class, and taste as they do aesthetics.
KW - African Americans
KW - Consecration
KW - Faith-based film
KW - Pierre Bourdieu
KW - Prayer
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85064658218&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3138/jrpc.2016-0007
DO - 10.3138/jrpc.2016-0007
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85064658218
VL - 30
SP - 143
EP - 164
JO - Journal of Religion and Popular Culture
JF - Journal of Religion and Popular Culture
IS - 3
ER -