Weblog

So, just the other evening, I watched the film Saved! with a group of my friends. I don't really want to take the time to explain the film. Essentially, it depicts some really messed up Christian school. The only figures in the film that the audience is supposed to sympathise with are the ones who aren't Christian (or who are Christian but possess half of a brain).

Coming from a Christian high school, the film did a very bad job of portraying one. The film portrayed it as a haven for intolerant, stuck up, “holier-than-thou”¹ types. At my high school, people didn't care to bother having an aura of holiness. Really, the students drank, drugged and slept around just like your garden-variety public schooler.² Three people in my senior class were pregnant at graduation. In my class were drug dealers and boozers alike. I'm not writing such to condone or condemn such. Really, I just want the world to know that Christian schools aren't some sort of sanctuary from the world.

Saved! wasn't entirely too inaccurate when it came to portraying Christians. When the holier-than-thou attitude was portrayed, someone I know instantly came to mind. Probably, if I had seen this film four or five years ago, I would have been appalled. Now, I'm pleased that such films exist to show the Christian subculture for what it really is.

My parents came down to visit me about a month ago. Since it was right before my birthday, they brought me a gift: The Simpsons Movie on DVD. Since we were also a little bored one evening, we decided to watch it. My father wasn't pleased with the way that Flanders, the obnoxious, über-Christian next-door neighbour, was portrayed. First of all, never mind the fact that he's portrayed as a good father who takes an interest in his neighbours' well being and is among the only two people in town who are trying to save the Simpsons when everyone else is trying to kill them. Essentially, Christians are portrayed as the goofy, obnoxious, annoying types. The fact is that, stereotypically, they are. Ever listen to Christian music these days? Our culture is immature and annoying, and I hate it. I'm just thankful that your garden-variety Mormon is further down the slope than your stereotypical Christian.

1. Really, I think that the church needs to start objecting to this term. Holier-than-thou implies that the church is still stuck in the seventeenth century. If we really want to be relevant to the culture that we are trying to witness to, let's start using the term holier-than-you to describe ourselves.
2. No, I'm not saying that public schoolers are by nature bad people — not at all! Still, in the minds of many fundamentalist Christians, public schools are one of the worse things plaguing this nation.