laurak-94517
Just a note: I was forced to watch this, by my mother. I didn't have much of a bias toward this film, though, even if I did have to watch it. Honestly, I was almost looking forward to it a bit (we got it on DVD). "Maybe it'll be okay," I thought, "There are (several) good religious films out there, after all, it got a good review from the Dove Foundation!" Unfortunately, after a quick search, I realized that every Christian movie out there got a good review from the Dove Foundation, whether or not it was a decent film, and how I wish to live in the ignorant bliss of when I thought otherwise.So I sat down, and with a spark of anticipation in my eyes, I hoped that I wouldn't be disappointed.
I was disappointed. As well as shocked.This isn't an exaggeration, even, here's a quick rundown of the characters:
Our protagonist and the other Christians (except the girlfriend): Kind, compassionate human beings
Muslim dad: Emotionally and physically abusive, kicks his daughter out of the house because she's listening to Christian passages.
Liberalist reporter: Condescending to Christians (ironic, as the movie itself does that), arrogant and snobby (that is, until she gets cancer, as a wonderful moral, if you don't believe in god, you'll get a terminal illness and die slowly and painfully)
Last and the least 3-dimensional, the Atheist professor: The villain of the story, and he's an atheist because his mom died, instead of, you know, just not believing in an almighty figure because he chose not toLet's not even discuss that the entire concept is a plot hole (Dude, read your rights, report the professor, just drop out of the class, anything but this plan that's just going to hurt you and everyone else around you- and signing your religion away is also definitely illegal, so on that level, you should have no problem, just go with the first and/or second methods. If that doesn't work in whatever universe you're living in, really, just quit the class, you're fighting an obvious straw man here.)This piece of trash depicts everyone who's not Christian as the face of evil, and that's very offensive, and just wrong.And on the same level, it's offensive to the majority of Christians, by showing that they apparently have a hate-filled agenda to others, when really, they don't at all.
On the bright side, though, God's Not Dead did something truly unique- it united both the Atheists and most Christians to agree in tandem- this movie sucks.But subtleties matter- because there's a reason I said I DIDN'T have much of a bias, and MOST Christians were united on the stand that this was an awful flick.
If you check out the statistics for the reviews, you'll find that while a large percent of people gave this 1 star, almost 30% gave it a 10. That's because, although there were definitely some trolls, this movie did find an audience; that's how they raked in a lot of their $70 million bucks, in fact.These are the conservatives, the incredibly strict Christians who want to feel like the victim, and want to have everyone seem like terrible people except them, and my mother's one of them.(I'm not saying they aren't good people, I'm not going to judge that. I'm a teenager, which means I'm the exact opposite demographic for this, and I don't want to attack anyone or be attacked.)I DID not have a bias against religious films, but now I do, because guess what, my mother and her friends said this was a great film, not a good one, but a GREAT film.
And that's what terrifies me about this. There are people who, maybe not out of hate, believe this is the way the world is and this is the way non-Christians act. And because of this, there's an ever-growing supply of these hateful, brash films. There's a sequel of God's Not Dead, even more oblivious to real life than the first (the ending, it would be hilarious if it weren't so disturbing), and another in the making. I'm sick of these movies. I'm sick of the ignorant messages and bland pop songs and the fact that they all make a profit.Believe whatever you want to believe, I did Confirmation, I can accept that, just stop feeding the flame of these movies. Even if you are in my mom's demographic and have somehow stumbled upon this review, don't watch it. Please.
An Obnoxious Nerd
Before I begin the review, let me disclose that I am agnostic (not Christian, and probably partially atheist) so despite my best efforts, I might be just a little bit biased. That being said,this is one of the dumbest films I've ever had the displeasure of watching. No teacher who does the things that the main antagonist does would ever be allowed to be a university professor. All of our protagonist's arguments for the existence of God are completely nonsensical and can be debunked by simple rational thought. All of the subplots are almost worthless and add nothing to the story. The acting and writing are beyond terrible. And to top it off, this film subscribes to the insane notion that Christianity, the world's leading religion, with over 2.2 billion followers, is somehow under attack. The only good things I can say about the film are that the cinematography, directing, and editing are decent and the score, minus the song at the end, is at least passable. However, these don't even come close to redeeming this film. If there is a loving God,then the people who made this film deserve to burn in the fires of hell for all eternity.
johnhbeckmann
I would like to start by saying that I couldn't give less of a shit about religion. It's just not a part of my life. I don't call myself an atheist, I just don't like religion. With that out of the way, this movie is so horrifically offensive to anyone who isn't a straight, white Christian. Christian movies seem to follow the pattern of having a non-believer, or someone from a different religion. The whole point of the movie is the conversion of that person to Christianity. That's bad enough as it is, but what this movie does is so much worse. The movie paints anyone who isn't Christian as a horrible person with massive flaws in their character. And to make it even more insulting, one of the underlying messages of the movie is to let people believe what they want. So the message of the movie ends up being "It's ok to believe what you want, and shove those beliefs down people's throats, but only if you're a Christian. And if you're not a Christian you're a horrible person." I gave this movie a chance, and I went in thinking "Well I may not like the message, but it may be a well put together movie." I was so, so wrong. It has a blatant message that is insulting to the 2/3rds of people on earth who aren't Christian, and it's not even a well made movie. There's not subtlety. It relies on basic cliches and stereotypes. The quality and acting are something similar to a feature length porno.This is just a bad movie. It's technically bad, and insults the audience. This kind of propaganda is why people are becoming more and more fed up with American Christianity. I have no problems with Christians, but this kind of shit is destroying the image of all religion. Please, don't support this movie. If they keep making money, they'll just keep making more shit-shows of insulting Christian superiority.
