As a christian filmmaker, I’ve always struggled with portraying violence in films. On one hand, violence is an integral part of conflict, which is part and parcel of what storytelling is about. To portray a realistic world, one where sin prevails, violence is essential. On the other hand, as a follower of Christ I am commanded to not glorify sin. Glorifying a product of sin is glorifying sin. By portraying violence in an exalted, emphasized manner, one that focuses on the violence as entertainment rather than as an aspect of story conflict, an artist is committing sin. Destroying the human body, a body that we are told is “The image of God”, solely for entertainment, is a deeply disturbing concept to me. This is why I hate films like “Saw” and “Hostel”. Last year I watched a short film on studentfilmmakers.com that aped the style of these films. I was troubled by what I saw and sent this message:
The film “Murdergenic” on the Summer Shorts ’07 contest page is EXTREMELY
offensive. Its portrayal of the twisted destruction of human life is
inappropriate for an educational website. I respectfully request its
removal.Deeply disturbed,
Sean Anderson
I had not heard back from anyone at studentfilmmakers.com, and until recently, I had forgotten I ever sent such a message. Until today, when a representative finally replied:
Was it for example something not as evil but still along the lines of the
“…twisted destruction of human life is inappropriate…” as the
destruction of the life of the most and only devoted King of Eternity when
he walked the earth as a man and was nailed to a cross?Truly
Kim
I’m not sure if Kim is a Christian. She might have visited my website and realized that I was. She makes an interesting point though. If Christ died such a terrible death on the cross, why can’t we portray similar death in our art? She doesn’t really address the film in question though. Here’s my reply:
Hey Kim,
I remember making this comment almost a year ago. I’d forgotten I wrote it. Thanks for getting back to me though. If I were you, I would have just ignored me. As I recall, the video in question was of an extended scene of torture, mostly mental, ending with a man brutally murdering a young woman, then, in the next scene, committing suicide. As far as I could tell, the filmmakers weren’t making any deep comments about sin or death, they were just emulating their depraved elders responsible for the Saw and Hostel franchises.
As a Christian, I understand the importance of violence. Christ’s death was the most violent and painful death anyone could ever face. Christ died for us, and it was only through such a severe sacrifice that he could pay for our sin. As a Christian I have the responsibility to remember and dwell upon that death, in all its ugliness, so as to worship Christ even more for what He did for me. But as a Christian, I also have the responsibility to create art that is not celebrating the sin that Christ died to cover. Exploiting a scene of such horrendous violence and doing so in such a graphic way has no place in my life. As a filmmaker I believe I should realistically portray the sin in this world, but not in such a way that would glorify that sin. I feel that this film, as well as the majority of slasher and horror films being produced today, glorify and celebrate sin.
These students have as much a right to make this film as I have to complain about it. We live in a free country, and I am proud of that fact. The truth is, this film deeply troubled me. I had trouble sleeping at night, even thinking clearly in class. I thought that if I was so painfully affected, others would be as well, and I wanted the staff at your website to consider this.
Thank you for your time,
Sean Anderson