One Joe Lynch asked this question somewhere in the wilds of the world wide web...
"Can you point out ONE positive Christian character on TV or in the movies? I mean one who actually reflects Christianity, not a "Christian" who is shown as "liberal" or "progessive" on social issues?
"I can't think of ONE."
I can't think of one either. What say you?
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Of course I reject the notion that progressive Christians are not christians, but Ned Flanders would be, I think, a great example of a well wrought conservative Christian, shown positively 90% of the time.
Which is much preferable in my book to creating an impossibly perfect character to represent Christianity. Yeah, boy, Hank Hill is an amazingly well done representation of a traditional-valued Christian. If you haven't seen that show, you should give it a try.
Father Mulcahy on MASH might be considered a fairly moderate to conservative Christian, as I recall.
In fact, I'm having difficulty thinking of a good representation of progressive Christians on TV (can you?), but then, I hardly watch TV (beyond the Simpsons and King of the Hill) so that may not be fair.
Both films were highly acclaimed and all the major "good guys" were faithful Christians.
In another favorite movie of mine, O Brother, Where Art Thou, two of the major characters get saved and baptized right in the movie! What a tremendous scene!
Which reminds me of the salvation scene in the movie, Sergeant York, in which preacher Walter Brennan sings Gimme that ol' time religion in his crazy, cranky old voice while Gary Cooper (York) walks down the aisle to repent of his wild and sinful ways. Another fantastic scene.
But then, you're talking about recent movies, I suppose.
Of course, there was the Narnia movie that was out (with more coming, no doubt), as well as the less-popular but very well done CS Lewis biographical movie, Shadowlands (about 10-12 years ago?). Of course, it can be debated (and has been) as to whether Lewis is more "liberal" or more "conservative," or somewhere in between.
Just some more thoughts.
I'm still trying to think of an overtly progressive Christian character appearing favorably on TV or in film.
Well, then I reckon the conservative Christian presence in entertainment is much larger than the progressive Christian presence, but that both are curiously dwarfed by the non-religious characters who dominate the media (out of disproportion to their presence in the real world - at least in the US).
Ned Flanders is a cartoon. As is Hank Hill. Except on extremely rate occasions Ned Flanders is an object of ridicule in the Simpsons. Hank Hill, for all he's a great 'down to earth' guy is hardly an example of a concervative 'Christian'... a CONSERVATIVE certainly, but hardly Christian. And did I mention he's a cartoon? Let's talk about live action. And let's talk about recent television since the question asks for modern examples... hence the prohibition on "Liberal" and "Progressive"...
Come on! Are cartoons the best you can do?
Hank Hill is a God and Jesus-believing, church-attending Christian. How does the fact that he's an animated fictional character make it any different than a live action fictional character?
He's a great representative of all the good Christian traditionalists and conservatives that I knew and know. I certainly don't always agree with him, but he's a tremendous role model and example of what it means to be a conservative Christian.
Ned Flanders is an object of ridicule sometimes on the Simpsons, but the ridicule is more of the nature of Homer saying, "Stupid Flanders," when Homer's done something really stupid and he's trying to take it out on Flanders.
Flanders is one of the few decent, compassionate, consistent characters on the Simpsons (except for Lisa and Marge) and the writers do NOT ridicule his Christianity. They DO ridicule Reverend Lovejoy and sometimes Ned's kids, but they don't ridicule Ned's Christianity, it's treated quite respectfully.
These two shows I am familiar with and these characters fit the criteria you asked about. But if you want to eliminate animated Characters, then I'm drawing a blank on television.
Of course, I DID cite three relatively recent movies that had prominent Christians in them - that weren't animated.
We agree that Christian characters of any stripe are a rare commodity in entertainment.
I did finally think of a progressive Christian in a movie - Oscar Romero.
Walden Media, the family-friendly and just-a-bit religious company behind The Chronicles of Narnia, has announced plans to make another, non-Narnia film based on the works of CS Lewis. But this time, it’s the turn of The Screwtape Letters...
That book, I'd think, would have a hard time being translated to screen. I'd think they'd have to take some liberties and craft some sort of story, as it is a bit plot-less in the traditional sense.
for what it's worth...
Try again.