In February of 2007, Bridge to Terabithia was released in theaters. The film was produced by Disney, in association with Walden Media. Although the film was made by the same producers who filmed The Chronicles of Narnia, the religious themes were slightly more subtle.
“According to press reports I’ve read about Mr. Anschutz and Walden Media, the films they’ve chosen to produce usually have a Christian theme and/or moral values,” One viewer states, “But I didn’t feel the film preached to me, even during a discussion between Jesse, May Belle and Leslie in a ride home after church. The conversation seemed honest as to how kids that age would talk about religion.”
True. Usually you would not like to be preached to as you watch a children’s film. We are very aware of our “comfort level” of religion in movies and we would get slightly uncomfortable if it got by our level of tolerance.
Try out this clip from the movie and see how you react:
“It’s in the Bible, Leslie.” Religion is that simple. Or is it?
This is an interesting dialogue within the movie that presents a curious issue about children and how they talk about religion.
Throughout the film, Leslie is portrayed as a confident, sweet, young artist with a wild imagination. She moves into town and befriends Jesse, a shy, reserved boy. They become friends and share a secret world together known as “Terabithia” where they can escape their troubles. Leslie’s view of the world is more open and accepting. She is even friends with the school bully. She is carefree and loves life. She had no prior view of God until she went along to church with Jesse. This conversation on the ride home from church is what I would like to analyze.
I think that Leslie is portrayed as open and accepting of the preacher’s message. She initiates the conversation when she asks, “That whole Jesus thing, it’s really interesting, isn’t it?” But the four-year-old Maybelle replies that it’s scary. When she explains why it’s so scary, she says, “We’re all vial sinners. God made Jesus die.”
I think it is interesting how children interpret religion. It seems that Maybelle was listening to what the preacher said (We’re all vial sinners), but also tried to explain it in her own terms (God made Jesus die).
When explaining why Leslie must believe in this harsh view of God, Jesse says it’s in the Bible. It is strange that children have a very black and white view of religion. If Jesse and Maybelle were the Christians in the film, why would the producers portray Leslie with a more accepting view of Christ?
Some Christians were upset with this film, because of the contrast of free-spirited Leslie and Jesse’s mislead Christian family. His father is unkind and scenes of the family fighting are dispersed throughout the movie.
A Christian’s mother only criticism of the film was directly related to the film’s portrayal of Christianity, specifically referencing the ride home.
“The children’s conversation on the way home from church showed Jess and his sister warning Leslie that if she doesn’t believe the Bible she will be damned to Hell for ever. This made me feel that the Christians in this movie are portrayed in a somewhat typical Hollywood fashion—judgmental, critical, and negative. While, on the other hand, Leslie and her family are shown to be sweet, kind, successful and loving even though Scripture has no influence in their lives.”
One Christian movie reviewer references Leslie’s imagination and how it is almost a mystical religion in its own: praying to the spirits in the forest, etc. The reviewer states that this can “almost give one the impression that churches and stained-glass windows are little more than nice add-ons to an already active imagination.”
Organized religion and children’s imagination: How open should a child’s mind be? Should they be free to act on their own, or forced to go to church and believe in the Bible? How appropriate is it for children to discuss religion in movies? Is it exposing them to ideas outside their capacity?
I feel like this scene is very influential in the movie. It depicts a scene that could naturally occur in a child's life. I also think that it brings the issues of religion to an adult’s attention as well. Am I forcing my child to go to church? Am I helping my child interpret the Bible? I love that truth can be felt no matter the organized religion. I find this scene very beneficial to Hollywood, and not demeaning to Christians. I think that Leslie’s schema (mental structure that helps her interpret the world) is broader than Jesse or Maybelle’s because of her sensitivity to the truth.
So, the questions remain: Do you think this is a normal interaction for children? Do they often talk about religion? What are the implications of a Christian producer adding this scene? What does it say about Christianity? A recurring theme in the film is to "close your eyes and keep your mind wide open." How open should a child’s mind be to religion? How do you know if it is too open? How much should we talk about religion in children movies? Are they too young to understand the concepts or are the producers exposing a conversation that comes naturally?
Click here to get more about the author’s views on God and how it influenced her book.
My immediate reaction to the question of whether children are too young to understand religious concepts is yes. Of course they understand the basic ideas of religion such as the simple themes of love, kindness, forgiveness, etc. However, much of the deeper meaning in lost on a child. Despite that fact, our religion exposes children to concepts of faith as early as possible. Even though they may not be able to understand it all at the time, this builds a foundation for a strong faith later in life.
ReplyDeleteThe conversation depicted in this scene seems very realistic. All children wonder about religion and are even frightened by many of the concepts--particularly some of the ideas (ie damning people to hell) that are vehemently preached preached over the pulpit in some religious services.
~Rachel Finley
My aunt loves to tell a story about my cousin when he was very young and his early understanding of the Church. Until he was around five or six they had always lived in the same house, and therefore, the same ward. When they eventually decided to move to a new neighborhood my cousin got a worried look on his face and pensively asked if they would start going to a different church. My aunt replied yes. Tears welled up in his eyes as he said “But I thought that we went to the one and only true church!”
ReplyDeleteWhile this story is cute and one could argue that this is a display of his budding testimony, the fact of the matter is that this is a very good example of how many children view religion. Due to the sensitive nature of religion in society, young children, especially those growing up in Utah, are very rarely exposed to other forms of worship or spirituality. They typically take what they hear from adults, particularly their parents as fact without much serious question.
I can’t generalize that with all children because my little brothers are ridiculously inquisitive by nature, however they have become more so that way in recent years. When they were very young, they seemed to have a similar, but less extreme, understanding of Christianity as the girl in the clip. Kids have a hard time grasping the greater concepts of the Atonement, but early on children learn the concept of punishment in their own lives. It is sad to think of it in that way, but by majority, the ethical and moral code of children is vastly guided by a fear of consequence.
However, it is fascinating to watch the development of a child’s understanding of religion. The group of children surrounding my brothers in school is very diverse in ethnicity and religious practices. As my brothers get older, one is 10 and the other is 8, they are taking notice of those differences in a very innocent way. They exchange questions with friends of different faiths and interact without any prejudice. They seem to be moving away from the stage of faith demonstrated in the clip and now seem to have a greater interest in developing an understanding of the world around them rather than fearing the unknown.
Children may enjoy the storyline and miss the underlying meaning. If children are too young to understand deep religious messages from the media, they most likely will not understand it. There is so much violence and profanity in television and movies. Children are constantly exposed to things that they don't understand in the media. Exposure to religious messages in the media is is much better for children than most of the things that they are exposed to in the media. Who is to say at what age children can really understand religion? I would argue that children learn religion piece by piece, starting with the basics. These religious messages have a better influence on children than the majority of media that children are likely exposed to.
ReplyDelete