Christians in Hollywood

Should a Christian become involved in mainstream Hollywood? My family and I have discussed this topic in much detail these past few months, and I have spent a considerable amount of time thinking about it on my own. This topic offers particular interest to me because I have always dreamed of becoming a film actress. But this dream provokes some very serious questions. Can I become an actress and not conform to the ways of secular Hollywood? Could I make a difference? Some might argue that the media has already become too wicked, and “is too far gone,” for the Christian community to influence it. However, we must ask this question: how can our nation turn back to Christ if the media pollutes our society with corruption and propaganda, and how can the media itself change if Christians do not bring the Word into its midst? If every Christian on earth looked around at the evil in our world and thought merely, “Well, there’s nothing I can do about it,” how would the Gospel shine forth in a dark world? Quite simply, it would not. In view of these facts, then, should a Christian hide from the evil influence of the media, or instead stand up and attempt to become that influence? I firmly believe that Christians must learn to combat the evil influences of Hollywood, rather than allow them to further corrupt our culture.

Our nation’s entertainment has greatly degenerated in the past several decades, moving from a truly family-oriented industry to something that most parents rightly hesitate to even introduce to their children. What Hollywood would have considered totally inappropriate a decade or two ago has now become widely accepted, even in so-called “children’s” movies. Some say that the entertainment industry has no effect over our culture, but the fact remains that movies and TV shows nowadays tolerate and even promote ideas that we, particularly as Christians, simply cannot accept. If we truly think about it, we cannot say that the things we watch day after day do not have at least some effect upon us. As Christians, how can we stand aside and let this evil reign in our homes? Do we just sit back and wait for things to get better, or do we step forward into the fray?

Christians must see that these things will not get better on their own. If we do not take a stand in the media, it will simply continue down the path that it currently treads. Even though Christians might “openly oppose” certain movies, if they lead their opposition in such a way for others to ignore or even scorn it, what good will it do? We must take an active role in the media if we want to see it change. When only the radical and ungodly make movies, what sort of films should we expect? It presents no great difficulty to understand that if we want family-oriented, God-glorifying movies, then we must stand up and make those movies ourselves. Perhaps once we have set the example, others will see the Truth and follow. Surely many other Americans have become disenchanted with an industry that once provided such enjoyment but now promotes so much evil.

What can we do? Do we make a more firm stand when opposing blatantly ungodly films and TV shows? Certainly we can, as long as we do not back down when the smallest hint of trouble comes our way. However, we can truly change the morality—or lack thereof—in our country’s media only by working our way into that very industry with the message of the Gospel. Even the smallest group of Christian directors, producers, screenwriters, and actors could make an astounding difference in Hollywood. If this Christian company produced decent, moral, and interesting movies, it goes without saying that those films would do well. Distributors would not have to market such films as explicitly “Christian,” but these films would simply have Christian morals about them that would gently infiltrate the secular media. When we stop and think about it, what better way to turn the media around? By producing excellently written, well-acted, moral films that draw a vast audience, we could influence the secular movie-makers by showing them that decent films do sell. Parents who might otherwise never take their children to the theater, those who go to the movies but rarely, as well as with the average movie-goer, would go to see these films.

Immorality in the media creates a vicious circle—as the industry continues to sink into corruption, it influences our society into deeper corruption, and as the corruption of our society grows, so does the corruption of our media. Christians taking a more active part in our country’s media provides possibly the only way to stop this downward trend. If we just sit back and watch, the circle will go on and on until we really can do nothing about it. But if we step forward and bring the influence of the Gospel into the media, this downward spiral can stop now! By producing godly, Christ-centered, moral films, we can help put an end to the wickedness in our media and our country. Who would not love to play a part in turning their country back to Christ? We must look to Christ for our guidance, and lean on Him for strength when our mission becomes hard, for hard it will become, but with Christ “all things are possible.”