Plus, he got Disney to pay for it!ĭocumentary filmmakers Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing probably never set out to make Evangelical Christians look crazy, but when they showed up at the Kids on Fire School of Ministry, a children’s Bible camp in Devils Lake, North Dakota, and set up their cameras, that’s exactly what happened. Even so, you’ve got to admire Kevin Smith for having the nerve to cast George Carlin as a cardinal (who tries to make Catholicism more accessible by replacing the crucifix with a statue of Jesus giving a thumbs-up), Chris Rock as the thirteenth apostle (who was omitted from the Bible for being black), and Alanis Morrisette as God (this really pissed off Christians, since her second album had just come out and it was a total stinker). Also, its plot is almost as incomprehensible as the Bible’s. The only thing missing is a bad hairpiece. It’s Lithgow’s villain who really makes the movie: Soft-spoken and patronizing when he’s not spitting out the fire and brimstone (“He’s testing us!!”), his performance is a bone-chilling portrait of smug self-righteousness and could easily blend in among any number of Sunday-morning-TV preachers. Perhaps better described as anti-celibacy than anti-Christian, the film ends with a moment of grace that casts the film’s view of faith in a somewhat gentler light, but it’s hard to overstate how violently some religious viewers responded to the image of a Catholic priest doing it with Trainspotting’s Robert Carlyle.ĭespite its canonical status as an eighties classic, we’re willing to bet that if an original script like Footloose - in which fun-loving teen Kevin Bacon arrives in a small town where preacher John Lithgow has banned rock music and dancing - landed on a Hollywood exec’s desk today, they’d be too afraid to produce it, lest it offend some key demographic. Parents, take note.Īntonia Bird’s film - which caused a flash of protest when Miramax released it - follows Linus Roache’s gay priest as he struggles against his vow of celibacy, and his inability to help a young girl who confesses that her father is abusing her. Luckily, Carrie has telekinetic powers, which she uses to toss her mom across a room, electrocute her principal, and burn down her high school’s gymnasium, killing hundreds of students. But given half a chance, any of the films on our list of the Ten Most Anti-Christian Movies of All Time just might.Īfter the titular protagonist gets her first period at school, her crazy, devoutly Christian mother locks her in a closet and tells her to pray, explaining that only sinners menstruate (Wikipedia says this is false). We’ve seen it, and despite our high hopes, this neutered adaptation of the first entry in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy will probably not kill God or turn America’s children into atheists like the Catholic League promised. Amazon India.Amid a welter of publicity for its supposedly anti-Christian message, The Golden Compass finally arrives in theaters today.
^ "Punitha Anthoniyar/Kuzhandhai Yesu/Annai Velankani".