Careful Thought

We took the kids to see Bridge to Terebithia (link to FOTF Plugged In review) over the weekend. It was reasonably well done and (I’ve heard) was reasonably faithful to the book. The basic premise is of two outsider grade school kids, Jesse and Leslie, banding together to create an imaginary world where they are the king and queen. There are some very positive elements in the relationships and in the lessons that are learned, and when Leslie goes to church for the first time, she tells Jesse, “The whole Jesus thing is interesting. I think it’s beautiful.”

My concern, though, was the overall view of faith presented in the movie. God is either an angry deity “who damns people to hell for not believing in the Bible” or fluffy caricature “who would never send good people to hell.” It’s a binary thing - either He’s the ultimate angry judge or a pushover who asks nothing of you.

That night at AWANA we used the film to discuss the importance of worldviews. We discussed with the teens and preteens how movies, books and television often look at faith and God with a decidedly non-biblical view. It was gratifying to see some of the kids beginning to realize that not everyone has the same view and that it really is important to have a foundation.

I give the movie a 2 out of 5.