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Hollywood movies are a lot different today than they once were. We could almost always count on the fact, no matter how dark the story, there would be some type of redemption, motivating message, or justice at the end. But that’s not true anymore.\u200b<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do we watch movies?\u201d an archived article from Relevant Magazine suggests, \u201cWe all agree movies allow us to escape\u2026but it\u2019s more than simple escapism,\u201d writes Brett McCracken who has a MA in cinema\/media studies from UCLA. \u201cMovies take us to places we\u2019ve never been and inside the skin of people quite different from ourselves.\u201d\u200b I am a self-admitted cinema lover, and part of it is escapism. An entertaining flick and buttered popcorn can make everything in a day gone terribly wrong seem instantly brighter. For me, to be a good movie, it has to have a happy ending, but not necessarily the syrupy predictable kind.\u200b<\/p>\n
Even if it\u2019s an action picture, one looks forward to seeing how the good guys will ultimately defeat the bad guys. That\u2019s why James Bond has survived the decades. It\u2019s also why many of us dish out our hard-earned cash to go to the theater or to rent a film. So, when a movie comes to the end, and lacks a cathartic conclusion or has no ending at all, we might be frustrated. There are exceptions with a story being set up for a sequel. Even then, we can feel manipulated.<\/p>\n
\u200bSome of us want to escape, be inspired, or simply entertained by a movie, not depressed.\u00a0That\u2019s why I enjoyed last year\u2019s film, Gifted, so much. Without giving the plot away, it\u2019s about a little girl (Mckenna Grace) who is a mathematical genius being raised by her ill-equipped single uncle (Chris Evans).<\/p>\n
It has lots of twists and turns, and critics and moviegoers really liked it.\u00a0I\u2019m a devoted fan, because Tom Flynn, the movie\u2019s screenplay writer is from Lima, my hometown, and is a fellow Lima Central Catholic graduate. Not only that, but Mr. Flynn\u2019s mother, Eileen, and my late mother were close friends.<\/p>\n
On April 5, 2018, Flynn visited Lima, returning to our mutual Alma Mater to conduct a master class for prospective screenplay writers. I drove the 100 mile roundtrip to hear Flynn\u2019s presentation, not because I want to write a screenplay, but because I wanted to meet him. After all, once when my mother was going through a challenging season as a single mom, his mother who was a pioneering lady realtor, helped Mom buy a home with a dollar bill. My account of this miraculous event can be found in the 2017 Chicken Soup for the Soul: Best Mom Ever<\/a> book.<\/p>\n Besides, Flynn\u2019s Gifted is a Hollywood movie that\u2019s beyond inspirational. Although not a faith-based film, it certainly doesn\u2019t leave the viewer with an anti-climactic non-ending or a feeling of hopelessness as the credits role. We have enough hopelessness in our world.<\/p>\n Maybe that\u2019s why hopeful storylines based on faith issues have also become quite prevalent in recent years. In 2004, Mel Gibson\u2019s self-funded blockbuster, The Passion of the Christ, boasted a domestic gross of an incredible $370 million, and the movie industry took notice.Yet the movement for faith-based films appears to lie largely due to the independent companies who started producing Christian movies, doing their very best on extremely limited budgets and with amateur actors. Understandably, sometimes their best fell short for sophisticated theatergoers who have been raised on spectacular special effects and seemingly bottomless studio budgets.<\/p>\n Faith flicks are gradually, but greatly improving overall with more professional casts, bigger budgets, quality writing, plus industry experience, and their domestic gross bears witness. For example, 2008\u2019s Fireproof and 2011\u2019s Courageous both grossed over $30 million. Then 2014\u2019s God\u2019s not dead; 2015\u2019s War Room; 2016 Miracles from Heaven; along with 2017\u2019s The Shack all grossed almost or over $60 million according to www.boxofficemojo.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yet no one could have anticipated the instant success of the Christian film, I Can Only Imagine starring Dennis Quaid.<\/p>\n Released on March 16, 2018, the $7 million dollar budgeted project had recorded box office receipts of approximately $75 million by mid-April. (www.boxofficemojo.com<\/a>)![\"\"](\"http:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/image-1-300x225.jpeg\")
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\nApparently, lots of folks are willing to support motion pictures that align with their beliefs. Plus, the underlying message of a positively impactful movie \u2013 whether a secular inspirational or faith-based \u2013 can lend to the promise of a better tomorrow. The bottom line is happy endings offer hope, and our society desperately needs that hope right now.<\/p>\n
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