Why Hollywood Gets the Bible Wrong - Part 3

[Gary Petty] We’ve been doing a number of BT Dailies based on a Beyond Today program we did talking about three ways Hollywood gets the Bible wrong. We’ve been talking about movies and how it’s amazing how many times that we’ll watch a movie based on the Bible, and yet, so many details – even sometimes the real meaning of what’s in the Bible – is distorted. When people come up to you and want to talk about going to movies and Bible movies and what recommendations – what advice do you give people about biblical movies?

[Darris McNeely] I tell them be careful, they might be wasting their money. That’s certainly what I did with the Noah review that we did several months ago when Noah came out, the movie that was a total mishap, really, about the story of Noah. I tell them just to be very careful, and certainly do not go thinking that they’re going to get an accurate, true representation of what the Bible says. And so I kind of say, in some cases, “Don’t waste your money”.

[Steve Myers] We were teasing about that earlier – let Darris go and watch it and spend the money –

[Darris McNelly] Yes!

[Steve Myers] – and listen to his review and then you’ll know not to go to the movie. And that’s one way you can deal with it. But I think another way is – all right, is it accurate? Is it portraying – and remember the context that they’re filmed in. The fact that they are based on a true story – they might not believe it’s a true story, but they take the stories and then they interpret the way they want. And so if you recognize that before you go and see these films, you’ll be that much farther ahead. But be sure you know the true story. So you’ve got to read the Bible. You’ve got to know what the facts are. So don’t just go there expecting to find truth. Know what the truth is. Read the book, because that’s really where the best story is.

[Darris McNeely] You know, I took that advice after I went to see the movie Exodus: Gods and Kings and we did a review on that here on BT Daily and I went back and I said – I hadn’t read Exodus for quite a while, so I read the first twelve or fifteen chapters of Exodus again, just to remind myself of all the detail, the fascinating story that it really is, which was missed and completely misrepresented in that particular movie. You should tell people, “Look, read the book”. It’s far more interesting. You’ll get far more out of it.

[Gary Petty] Anytime that you watch a movie that, say – “biblical movie” – what I suggest, afterwards, like you said, get the Bible, read the actual Bible account which will be much more enriching and more importantly, it’s the truth. So you’ll be able to discover what God wants you to learn.

That’s BT Daily. Join us next time.