Hollywood (3 of 7) "Blasphemy" - Russian language video documentary

http://forerunner.com/predvestnik/hollywood.html

The following won the "Best Documentary" at a Christian Broadcasters' Awards in Moscow. I produced the video with LOZA-TV in 2000. Victor Victorov narrates a script that has been translated and adapted from Reel to Real's HOLLYWOOD series written by Eric Holmberg.

PART 2
BLASPHEMY

(Fade up to movie -- thunder and lightning crucifixion scene from Ben Hur)

In 1959, MGM studios released a film that was to become one of the most loved and honored movies of all time. The story of a young man' epic journey from nobility to slavery and back again, Ben Hur won 11 Academy Awards; a record that will probably never be surpassed.

(VICTOR)
The movie provided an awesome glimpse of the Truth that had so transformed his life: amid the epic scope and dramatic action of this lavish spectacle, one simple message stood out -- the transforming power of Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

[BEN HUR]
Decades later, hearts still swell and tears flow at the depiction of the terrible beauty of Calvary. We watch as Jesus' blood mingles with the rain -- and then flows out to the world; cleansing the leprosy that plagued Judah Ben Hur's mother and sister -- and finally even washing away the hatred that had bound his own heart. A more powerful and faithful cinematic expression of the doctrine of redemption can scarcely be imagined. Hollywood depicted the figure of Christ on the cross with such reverence, that the director refused even to show the face of Christ, perhaps fearing that a common face of an actor could not represent the majesty of the King of kings. Hollywood, with all its glitter and carnality, had truly created something that was, in the words of the Apostle Paul, Noble, lovely and true.

This shining moment was short-lived, however. Within a few years Hollywood's depiction of the Christian faith went in a completely different direction. After briefly examining that direction -- and where we have arrived a generation later we'll explore three aspects of the modern entertainment industry's view of Christianity.

We hope you'll remember the lesson learned by Judah Ben Hur -- there is salvation in the blood of Christ. The same cross that silenced the blasphemies of pagan Rome can once again work a miracle in a culture gone mad. Today, some forty years later, television shows and movies attempt to twist the truth as they often mock Jesus Christ, the Christian faith, and Christian believers. The question then becomes, How did we get to this place?

In the years after Ben Hur was released, the USA and many nations in the West were undergoing profound social and moral changes. For many in Hollywood, the change could not occur fast enough. Around the same time, the two Christian film offices that had been active in providing moral guidelines for the entertainment industry for over thirty years were closed. New ideas -- and a new breed of people -- began to take their place in Hollywood. By the year 1966, we began to see in films such as Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell, a Jesus who is fallible, no different from any other man.

(Bring up Jesus Christ Superstar)

Lost is the mystery of the incarnate God -- the divine nature of Jesus so powerfully suggested in Ben Hur. Instead we're given the hippy Christ -- a savior so drained of deity that one is left with the same impression expressed by Mary Magdalene in the song: He's just a man.

Co-writer Timothy Rice removed any doubt about the play's intentions when he told Time Magazine: It happens that we don't see Christ as God, but simply the right man at the right time.-- Time, Nov. 9, 1970

(VICTOR)
The idea that Jesus was just a man and not also fully divine is called Arianism -- one of the oldest and most damnable heresies of the Christian era.

Category:

Film & Animation

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• Hollywood
• Russian
• language
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• documentary
• Blasphemy