9 questions to engage a film with

Engaging with film is a seminar by Andrew Fellows, which you can find on the bethinking website.

Andrew Fellows explores how Christians can engage with film and the culture that we are in. I am just going to outline Nine questions that we should ask to uncover the films worldview. This is a good framework to have when watching anything and hopefully this will change the way we watch, read or listen to any forms of media.

1. How does the story reflect what it means to be human? - the glorification or the depravity of humanity? Evil and goodness?

2. What kind of universe exists? - Is it naturalist? Is it legoland? Is it super-naturalist (The Matrix etc)..

3. How does the story reflect history? - Is it tragic? Do our choices determine the outcome?

4. How is evil portrayed in the story? - Are we entertained by the evil in the film? Does it take evil seriously?

5. Does existence have meaning? - Do we have to create the meaning or is it bestowed upon us?

6. How does the story deal with the issue of justice? - We long for justice, does the story reflect this longing?

7. How does the story reflect relationships? - Does it show that we are relational people? What happens when its perverted?

8. How is redemption reflected in the story? - Who needs saving? Who is the Messiah?

9. Does the story have hope when it looks to the future? - is there a future we can look forward to?

These are all deeply embedded in the christian worldview. We need to learn to evaluate film from this perspective.

I hope you have found this helpful!