In an age when Hollywood seems to always be pushing the envelope on sex, violence, bad attitudes and depravity, it's hard to find something wholesome and uplifting to watch during a night out at the movies.
Last month, my wife and I found such a movie on a much-needed "date night" with the kids at the sitters.
Before we went out, we looked at a website listing movie reviews of the movies that were in town then. Being the sensitive husband that I am, I veered away from action-flicks like "Jumpers" that otherwise might have tickled my sci-fi itch and looked at the one a loving couple could enjoy together.
We settled on Me & You, Us, Forever as our movie for the evening. A quick review told us all we needed to know: it was a Christian film, had an interesting premise (a Christian man, unwillingly divorced by his wife, thinks back to "what might have been" with his high school sweetheart), and one of the actresses was a native of our state of South Dakota: Sandi Fix, a former Miss South Dakota.
We watched the movie and though it was a little stiff in places, we thoroughly enjoyed it. It had something everyone can relate to. Who hasn't hit a rough patch in their life and sought the solace of thinking about a happier time in the past? And what Christian hasn't wrestled with the conflict between our spiritual calling and the cry of our raw emotions?
As we left the theater, my wife remarked on how good it was to be able to enjoy a "clean" night out at the movies.
So I was rather disappointed to see a report today from OneNewsNow that some theater employees across the country have been bad-mouthing the movie to potential viewers.
Cecile Wood, who resides in Newnan, Georgia, watched the movie one afternoon with a friend at the local Carmike Cinema. She says she had an interesting conversation while standing in line. "I said, I hope this movie's going to be good," she recalls. "The manager came up and said, 'Oh, I don't think you'll like it, and if you don't like it you can get a refund ticket.' And he said, 'Oh, by the way, my shift is fix'n to be over, so I'll go ahead and give you a refund ticket now.' And he did."
The article tells of another incident which occurred in California. The theater confirmed the incident and apologized to the film maker.
I have to wonder if the same theater employees (or any theater employees) would have done something similar when The Da Vinci Code was playing, or The Last Temptation of Christ, or some of the average rotgut showing at many theaters these days.
What has happened to a country, founded by Christians on Christian principles, where theater employees automatically assume patrons won't like a Christian movie?
Christians have failed to engage and challenge the culture, that's what.
But movies like this are doing so, and Christians should support them...even when theater employees try to talk us out of it.
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