Engaged viewing

 

It could be argued that film is the most popular medium of our age because it has maintained a powerful presence as a force in our world and in our personal responses to that world. In Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films With Wisdom and Discernment (InterVarsity, 2002, ISBN # 0-8303-2321-2), Brian Godawa says, "Christians tend to be either cultural gluttons or cultural anorexics. It seems we either avoid all movies or watch too many of them." He says both groups need to develop a practical, systematic and biblical framework for evaluating the many aspects of film communication.

 

Godawa is more that just a film fanatic. He is an accomplished script writer familiar with the development of films from start to finish. This experience permits him to walk the reader through the important transition from the written page to the silver screen. He does a solid job of introducing the importance of story and myth in the human experience, and how film is an integral part of communicating deeper belief systems. Readers will find a discussion of and examples on how to use story elements to deconstruct films in their whole.

 

"Worldviews" is an important topic Godawa wants his readers to consider when digesting celluloid images. Without extended antennae to acknowledge and interpret the host of different cultural points of view, the author claims that truth is a certain casualty and the Christian is at risk of a mediocre spiritual existence.

 

Hollywood Worldviews uses popular examples most readers will be familiar with. Each chapter includes a brief questionnaire useful for small group discussion as well as personal reflection. Director's Cut inserts pull out specific and related concepts and direct the reader to  Godawa's Web site (www.godawa.com). As much as I enjoyed tuning my spiritual antenna while reading the book, I find myself regularly visiting the Web site for insight on films. You will, too.

 

—Tom Piotrowski