Numb. That’s what I already feel towards the media’s style here in the Philippines. I grew up being fed by shallow TV shows, ads, and films, which up to now has scarcely improved. So I’m pretty used to it. Though every once in a while I get to see brilliant artists and works on the mainstream (because many of them are indie and underground), I think Filipino media as a whole, in terms of aesthetics, is still yet to ‘evolve’.

I don’t mean to sound like an armchair critic, if you would forgive me. It could be that I’m just underexposed on the subject and have only judged on what I’ve seen so far. So you can take what I’ve said earlier as a subjective comment on preferences, as you would take a comment on whether thin-crust pizza is good or bad.

However, there’s still something in the media (not only in the Philippines) which should be exposed, regardless of the quality of a movie, TV show, advertisement, campaign, etc. And that is their contents; the messages they convey. Now, don’t think I would run around saying, “Don’t watch the TV! They’re all lying. It’s demonic!” We can certainly spend some thought on that issue. But for now, what I have in my mind is how the media are meddling with matters of faith.

Making the Truth Look Like a Fairy Tale

Last year, I noticed there are a lot of “bible-based” Hollywood films that have been released. I was not able to watch all of them. But boy, seeing most of the trailers alone already tells you that they’re going to be blockbuster hits. You know a movie of outstanding production when you see one. If it’s just artistry for artistry’s sake, there’s no doubt majority would give it a thumbs up. Now, all you have to do is leave out your theological convictions at the cinema entrance so you can fully enjoy the– Wait… Wut?

If a Christian who’s devoted to Scripture would be watching these films or other faith-related stuffs that the mainstream media present to us, I don’t think he will be able to sit there, watching, “just enjoying” them while holding on to the faith that he professes. I really don’t think this happens. It would be hard for him to sit comfortably while watching the truth get skewed in such a way.

The problem is not just that media misrepresent God, Christ, Christianity and eternal realities. The problem is they misrepresent God, Christ, Christianity and eternal realities by painting them with the same brush that they use on fairy tale movies. They make it look fantastical, outlandish and unrealistic, when what we want is for Jesus to be displayed as the very epitome of reality. That “without Him was not any thing made that was made” (Jn1:3).

Appealing to the Morals of the Viewers

There’s a lot of money in this industry. Is it any wonder why so many are hopping in to this market? On the other hand, I don’t think all of them are in it just for the money. There are also well-meaning promoters of these media, which some are even Christians, who want to communicate what they think are helpful virtues. They wanted, through their influence, to contribute to the human race, so to say.

The bad news is, what they are doing isn’t helping at all. They are but tickling callouses. Conveying their message in a moralistic sense will only arouse people further into either self-righteous religiosity or stiff-necked rebellion (1Cor15:56).

A moralistic message is just another form of law for men. “Change the world, be kind to others, learn to forgive,” etc. Although these man-made laws are not necessarily bad, they are being imposed on people who do not have the capacity to meet the demands. Apart from the Holy Spirit and the Gospel, moral laws from men or from God will only function as magnifying glasses that will just reveal further how sinful we are (Rom3:20).

To Disparage

This is not a cry to halt if you are currently on your way to the cinema to watch these films, or if these TV shows are part of your evening television habit. I won’t stop you.

But would I discourage you? Yes. For two reasons. First, it is better to watch or read stuffs that have no relationship at all with spirituality whatsoever, than to see a movie that puts its nose in the wrong places on matters of faith. This could be a choice between bad and worse. So can we at least agree that a lie sprinkled with a little truth is always more annoying than a shameless fiction? Second. Other than buying in to media’s takes on faith stuffs, we can actually be doing a lot more beneficial recreations with the liberty that Christ purchased for us with His blood. Don’t you think?