Hollywood's Attack on Religion
The section that I have chosen to analyze from the book Hollywood vs. America is ?The
Attack on Religion.? In this part of the book, Michael Medved discusses the shift in
attitude Hollywood has made toward religion, from acceptable to contemptible. He takes a
look at the messages being sent in films, music and television in the last 15 to 20 years
and analyzes their effects. In general, Hollywood depicts religion in an unfavorable
manner, according to Medved. Moreover, Medved also argues that, not only has Hollywood
taken a hostile stance toward religion, but it has paid the price, literally, for doing
so. All of Medved's arguments are well supported and documented, making them seemingly
futile to argue against. Yet, Hollywood, which includes films, music and television,
continues to disregard the obvious facts that Medved has revealed.
In the first chapter of this section, ?A Declaration of War,? Medved discusses the facts
surrounding the protest which took place on August 11, 1988, in opposition to the release
of the motion picture The Last Temptation of Christ. MCA/Universal, which funded the
Martin Scorsese film, called the protesters a ?know-nothing wacky pack? (38). However,
as Medved points out, the protest was ?the largest protest ever mounted against the
release of a motion picture? (37) and included such groups as the National Council of
Catholic Bishops, the Southern Baptist Convention, twenty members of the U.S. House of
Representatives and prominent figures such as Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Ken Wales,
former vice president at Disney studios. Even with such strong opposition from these
respected groups and people, the studio refused to listen and stood behind its First
Amendment rights.
MCA/Universal was even supported by the Motion Picture Association of America, which
stated that ?The . . . MPAA support MCA/Universal in its absolute right to offer to the
people whatever movie it chooses? (41). However, Medved rebukes this statement, arguing
that ?absolute right? wasn't the issue; the issue ?concerned the movie company's choices,
not its rights? (41). He supports this argument further by indicating that the MPAA
would never support a film portraying Malcolm X as a paid agent of Hoover's FBI or
portraying Anne Frank ?as an out-of-control nymphomaniac? (41). By releasing The Last
Temptation of Christ, the studio positions Jesus, God and Christianity below these
prominent figures in history because it is portraying Jesus and other religious figures
in uncharacteristic situations that would never be associated with these historical
figures. This is supported by past experiences when movies were edited so as to not
offend animal rights activists, gay advocacy groups, and ethnic organizations:
Leaders of the motion picture business showed more concern with possible sacrilege
against the religious traditions of a single Hopi village than with certain offense to
the faith of tens of millions of believing Christians; the prospect of being labeled
?antiwolf? produced greater worry than the prospect of being labeled ?anti-Christ?
(42).
Of course, the response to this is that the changes were made during the production of
the other films, not afterward. Again, Medved argues back, pointing out that ?Martin
Scorsese and his associates kept their plans for The Last Temptation a closely guarded
secret from all church leaders? (43).
The press also distorted the movement against the release of the film by ?focusing on
one utterly unrepresentative individual as the preeminent symbol of that movement: the
Reverend R. L. Hymers? (43). His predictions of impending apocalypse, his violent
outbursts, and his history of legal problems ?lived up to anyone's worst nightmare of
deranged religious fanatic. Naturally, the press couldn't get enough of him? (43). The
press also misrepresented the movement's main objections, according to Medved, by
focusing on the ?dream sequence? in which Jesus makes love to Mary Magdalene, ?and
asserting that this image alone had provoked the furor in the religious community? (44).
However, Christian leaders objected to more than that; they identified ?more than twenty
elements? (44) that were offending to them. In other words, ?the press helped to make
the protesters look like narrow-minded prudes? (44). As a result, Hollywood misled
itself and the public into believing that the protesters' main objective was to censor
the film. As Medved says, ?What they [protester] wanted from the industry wasn't
censorship; it was sensitivity? (45).
Besides the fact that The Last Temptation of Christ was so heavily protested against, it
was a bad movie, according to Medved, who is also a movie critic. He even went on the
record saying,
It is the height of irony that all this controversy should be generated by a film
that turns out to be so breathtakingly bad, so unbearably boring. In my opinion,
the controversy about this picture is a lot more interesting than the film itself
(47).
However, the movie industry defended the film by nominating Scorsese for an Academy Award
as Best Director. This response by the movie industry ?provides a good example of the
film establishment rallying around a bad film to protect its own selfish interest . . .
that film, . . . was a slap in the face to Christians everywhere,? (48) according to
Mickey Rooney, one of only a few established Hollywood figures who spoke out against the
film.
And in the end, MCA/Universal got what it deserved, according to Medved, losing at least
$10 million because people, Christian or not, realized how bad the movie was.
The confrontation between Christians and Hollywood over The Last Temptation of Christ
was just one of the incidents in the last 15 years in which Hollywood has attacked
religion. In the past, leaders of the film industry ?understood the importance of
honoring the faith of their patrons. For them, it was not only a matter of good
business, but an element of ?good citizenship'? (51). Films such as Going My Way, Angels
with Dirty Faces, and Boys Town, portrayed religious characters ?in a sympathetic light?
(51). But in the last 15 years or so, ?Hollywood has swung in the opposite extreme?
(52). When a religious figure is portrayed now, it is likely that ?he will turn out to
be corrupt or crazy - or probably both? (52). Medved goes on to discuss several movies
which attacked Catholics, Born-Again Christians, and Jews. He gives a brief synopsis of
these movies, highlighting the portions which portray religion in a negative way. For
the most part, the movie titles are unfamiliar. This can be accounted for by the fact
that ?the overwhelming majority of these pictures performed abysmally at the box office?
(64).
The main reason these films did so poorly is probably due to the fact that there is ?a
significant - and growing - percentage of the American population? (70) that is committed
to a traditional faith. On the other hand, most of the people who play a large part in
producing movies claim no religious affiliation whatsoever: ?93 percent . . . say they
seldom or never attend religious services? (71). This fact is one of the main reasons
why Hollywood has lost touch when it comes to religion in movies, according to Medved: ?.
. . unrepresentative personal perspective has helped to blind Hollywood's leaders to the
intense involvement of most Americans with organized faith? (71). And when movies ?have
portrayed organized faith in a favorable and affectionable light,? (75) they have been
successful:
. . . the extraordinary films mentioned above shared another common element: an
impressive level of both commercial and critical success. These seven pictures won two
Oscars for Best Picture . . . three for Best Actress, and one for Best Actor (76).
Of course, the film industry isn't solely responsible for Hollywood's attack on
religion. The music industry and television are also guilty of slandering religion.
Lyrics by groups such as R.E.M., Black Sabbath and Judas Priest indicate the music
industry's contempt for religion. For television, ?God's influence . . . is all but
invisible? (79). Statistics show that ?only 5.4 percent of the characters had an
identifiable religious affiliation - although 89 percent of Americans claim affiliation
with an organized faith? (80). Religion's only outlet for television is ?relegated
mostly to Sunday mornings and televangelists? (80).
Medved analyzes the reasons for Hollywood's attack on religion and narrows it down to
two specific reasons. One reason is that ?movie, TV, and music moguls are motivated by
the pursuit of profit? (87) and they believe there is money to be made by slandering
religion. But the main reason is that they are in constant pursuit of ?the respect of
their peers? (87). And religion ?is the one subject in the world that everyone
acknowledges as fundamentally serious? (88). So when writers and directors attack
religion, ?no matter how clumsy or contrived that attack may be, they can feel as if
they've made some sort of important and courageous statement? (88). Thus, ?a filmmaker
can win the respect of his colleagues, even if his work is rejected by the larger public?
(88).
It is obvious that Hollywood's attacks on religion have been fruitless; Hollywood loses
money and established religions have been degraded publicly. Medved is thorough in
evaluating Hollywood's stance on religion, and even more thorough in knocking it down.
His arguments against Hollywood for its attacks on religion are supported by facts that
Hollywood has refused to realize. It is absurd that Hollywood continues to attack
religion, especially when figures show that a vast majority of the population claim some
sort of affiliation with an established religion. It would only make sense for Hollywood
to change its ways and adopt ?a greater sense of neutrality and balance . . . when it
comes to portrayals of organized faith? (90).
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