Raymond Arroyo, a novelist, journalist, and host of the Arroyo Grande show issued a warning to Hollywood about creating new faith-based projects.
During a free flow segment that was included as part of an interview with Jim Caviezel on his latest episode of Arroyo Grande, Arroyo noted how Hollywood is finding success with faith-based films whether it be the recent theatrical release of The King of Kings, Amazon MGM Studios’ House of David, or The Chosen.
He noted, “What amazes me is that the industry is always aghast when these films turn up huge audiences and box office. Ye of little faith.”
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He then referenced a recent interview he conducted with House of David creator Jon Erwin, “The challenge is to have the art match the subject matter. And let’s admit it. A lot of what passes for faith-based has so much cheese in it you’d swear it was sponsored by Velveeta. You know what I mean: A perfect person encounters a little problem, they pray to God that everything turns out okay, and they’re more perfect by the end of the film.”
“It’s a heck of a lot easier to hit those magical god tropes in the same old way than to dig deep and break new artistic ground and layer in human meaning, and doubt, and conflict, and suffering,” he noted.
“The faith audience, as I’ve been saying for years and years, is starving and malnourished,” he continued. “This audience was exposed by Gibson 20 years ago when no one saw a religious epic coming. But audiences today want something more than sand, sandals, and saccharine. They want these films to have human relationships they can relate to, suffering, an authentic recognition of the divine that they feel all around them, a supernatural sense of good and evil that only the best artists are capable of summoning.”
“What I fear is that Hollywood will start greenlighting all kinds of schlock based on the successes of just a few films,” he said.
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After sharing his opinion that Hollywood took note of this faith-based audience following the success of Sound of Freedom, Arroyo noted that pursuing faith-based films “is a worthy pursuit, but unless creators have real belief and an understanding of the sensibilities of that audience they’ll never be able to attract and hold them.”
“Any time you touch this kind of supernaturally charged material especially a story based in the Scriptures there is a hard path, a spiritual path that accompanies it. It is a cross for those filmmakers, anybody involved, and a reminder of the tracks you think you’re walking in. And a remembrance of what happened to the first guy who got up and told his audience stories and parables that were filled with such truth they struck a nerve and rattled consciences.”
“It ain’t for the faint of heart, but those are the only stories that truly change lives and the world,” he concluded.
What do you make of Arroyo’s warning?
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He's right, of course, on both counts. People respond to "realist" religious stories, but also, yes, Hollywood will probably start greenlighting more nonsense that's vaguely Christian on the surface but clearly "misunderstands the assignment".
It's not like they can tap the muslim market.