Hollywood has several ways to measure the best. An Oscar confers quality, yet studios also crave box office gold. So what propelled Avatar to record breaking heights? James Cameron and his creative team made the bright-blue Na’vi people utterly believable. Pandora resembles a verdant, glow-in-the-dark Eden, life before the fall. Some may bristle at the anti-American sentiments of the story. The Na’vi worshipping a sacred tree leans toward pantheism, but Avatar affirms our biblical call to cultivate the garden rather than destroy it.
Morgan Freeman earned an Oscar nomination portraying Nelson Mandela in Invictus. In 1995, Mandela tapped into the power of sports to bring a divided South Africa together. He challenged the traditional white Springboks rugby team to put racial reconciliation into practice. Invictus follows established sports clichés, but adds a powerful story of genuine forgiveness.
The Book of Eli is a potent defense of God’s Word. Denzel Washington trudges across a post-apocalyptic wasteland as a man on a mission. No corrupt sheriff will stop him. Graphic violence and ample profanity surround Eli, but it illustrates how difficult it is to carry out our calling within an R-rated world. How far would we go to preserve Scripture? Eli adopts any means necessary.
Burma VJ documents the costly fight for democracy in Myanmar. Buddhist monks take to the streets of Rangoon to resist an oppressive government. What weapons can such peacemakers employ? An army of video journalists (VJs!) record human rights abuses. The Democratic Voice of Burma risk life to smuggle out such potent footage. Burma VJ earns our respect (and an Academy Award nomination).
Two smaller films offer resources for youth workers:
To Save a Life demonstrates the cost of discipleship. Decisions to follow Jesus may cause tensions with girlfriends, boyfriends, teammates and parents. To Save a Life shows how a steady, relational friendship slowly can win over a skeptical athlete. How refreshing to see a church-based movie defy clichés, but it also piles on too many problems from teen suicide to pregnancy, divorce and self-mutilation. To Save a Life suggests we must risk rejection and reach out to others.
For those seeking a stirring debate about faith and doubt, check out the Collision between acerbic atheist Christopher Hitchens and Reverend Douglas Wilson. Onstage, they argue whether “religion is good for the world.” Offstage, they develop a warm rapport. Director Darren Doane applies an edgy music video style (he worked with Blink 182) to a heady subject. Collision launches a discussion that youth workers will have to finish, but this smart doc proves that timeless philosophical questions still carry remarkable cache.
