After the Backlash: Some Support from CT Readers

After the lashings I received from Christianity Today readers for my film commentaries there over the last few months, I can only take it as a gesture of support from the folks at CT that they posted these letters this week.

But I can’t say I'm not grateful.

Having shared with you folks some of the highlights (low-lights?) of those angry ultimatums, I figure it’s only fair to share with you some of these rather encouraging notes . . .

3 Cheers (and More) for Overstreet

The following e-mails are in response to two of our articles, "Justifying Profanity?" and Jeffrey Overstreet's response to our readers in the wake of their many e-mails on the topic.

posted 6/21/04
When I read Jeffrey Overstreet's response to readers, I was thrilled beyond words. It is so refreshing to read an article on a Christian site by someone who gets it. I am an aspiring filmmaker, hoping to make it big in Hollywood some day. And instead of making more "Left Behind" movies, I am hoping to be a Christian who can impact the industry from the inside. Instead of making movies where everyone gets out their Bibles and discusses Scripture, I want to reveal the hope of our faith through stories of redemption and grace. And yes, they might even have a "bad word" every once in a while, but like you said, some people (even Christians) use foul language from time to time. That's reality. Your article made my day. I fully support your commentary, and we need more writers like you, who understand that Christianity can't be lived behind closed gates, shut off to the outside world.
Adam Rosenbaum

posted 6/21/04
I appreciate Overstreet's perspective and I always gain much from his reviews. Keep up the good work.
Scott Adrian

posted 6/21/04
Cheers to Jeffrey Overstreet for adeptly speaking the truth. Press on!
Kelli B. Trujillo

posted 6/21/04
When I read Jeffrey Overstreet's first column, I thought, "My, how logical, thoughtful and balanced this is." Then I read your "reaction" column, I thought, "I guess some people just don't care for logic, thoughtfulness or balance." What I saw in those reader reactions were people with NO faith in their own culture, their own country, their own people. NO faith that Christ and his Word can be found anywhere besides in the Bible or in a church. NO faith that anyone aside from people that they happen to know and approve of is motivated by anything except money. And evidently NO faith in their own ability to decide what to accept and what to reject in modern culture. If there can be value in showing the evil of concentration camps, as Spielberg did in Schindler's List, why do so many intelligent Christians automatically classify any display of foul language as "Oh, the director just did that in order to make more money"? Huh? Did Spielberg include foul language in Saving Private Ryan only to make more money? Or because that's the way soldiers talk? Would it have been a better movie without the cursing? Would Schindler's List have been better if it had sanitized or ignored evil? Would a bowdlerized Lord of the Rings been superior to the vivid movies so many of us saw? Would they have been more spiritually rewarding? No. A thousand times no. Portraying sin isn't the same as condoning it.
Kathleen Dutro Adams

posted 6/21/04
I appreciate all that Jeffrey Overstreet does to bring a level of wisdom and grace to his reviews. His position about profanity in movies is right on. We appreciate his statement of faith in his work and in his character.
Stephen Oliver

posted 6/21/04
Thank you for Jeffrey Overstreet's efforts in bringing the complex art of cinematography to a level the lay can understand. I am even more grateful for giving such a sound apologia (defense) of your stance as a film critic. As a film aficionado myself, I very much appreciate what you do. May our God continue to give you strength, wisdom and grace to fulfill the calling he has given you as a film critic.
Rev. Carlos S. Pellot

posted 6/21/04
Jeffrey Overstreet ROCKS! This is exactly the kind of debate we need in Christianity today (pun intended). Our culture is in desperate need for a spiritual encounter and the "salt" are hiding in their rooms! Fighting made up issues that as Ecclesiastes clearly states are "dust in the wind."
Richard Hunt