Watch Movies With Your Eyes Wide Open

We buy our tickets and concessions, and we walk into the theater. Celluloid images flash at twenty-four frames per second, and the hypnotic sequence of moving pictures coaxes us to suspend our disbelief and be entertained by the implausible.

Unfortunately, we often suspend our beliefs as well, succumbing to subtle lessons in how to behave, think and even perceive reality. We find ourselves hoping that a sister will succeed in seducing her sibling's husband, that a thief will get away with his crime, that a serial killer will escape judgment. We laugh at the bumbling priest and seethe at the intolerant and abusive evangelist. We embrace worldviews that infect our faith and wonder, after our heads clear, whether our faith can survive the infection.

With the sensibilities of a successful screenwriter and the sensitivities of a thoughtful Christian, Brian Godawa guides us through the place of redemption in film, the tricks screenwriters use to communicate their message, and the mental and spiritual discipline required for watching movies. Hollywood Worldviews helps us enter a dialogue with Hollywood that leads to a happier ending, one that keeps us aware of our culture and awake to our faith.

"Provocative and challenging. Even when I find myself disagreeing with Brian Godawa in his evaluation of a particular film, his cinemate and sophisticated point of view command attention." -- MICHAEL MEDVED, film critic and author of Hollywood Versus America

"Brian's analysis is insightful and stimulating. Biblical values are colliding with worldviews in the movies, and Brian shows us why. Those values are also illuminated as they intersect with movies, and I find that especially exciting. We might even understand
the Bible with more insight by seeing these connections." -- RALPH WINTER, producer, Planet of the Apes, X-Men, Left Behind

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Brian Godawa is a Reformed Christian and an award-winning screenwriter who has taught and written on film and philosophy, screenwritting, and the art of watching movies.


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
Part 1: Storytelling in the Movies
1. Stories & Mythology
2. Redemption

Part 2: Worldviews in the Movies
3. Existentialism
4. Postmodernism
5. Other Worldviews

Part 3: Spirituality in the Movies
6. Christianity
7. Angels & Demons, Heaven & Hell
8. Faith

Conclusion: Watching Movies with Eyes Wide Open
Appendix: Sex, Violence & Profanity in the Bible