Inviting Christians to "have a conversation with a movie's story, not an
inquisition," Barsotti and Johnston add to the growing number of film study
guides on the market for pastors, youth leaders and religious educators. By
even mentioning an inquisition, Barsotti, a film reviewer for The Covenant
Companion magazine, and her husband Johnston, a professor of theology and
culture at Fuller Seminary, make it clear that their primary audience is
evangelical Christians who see film as a guilty pleasure. For the guilt-free,
some parts of the book will feel like unnecessary apologetics, and the
language sometimes lapses into evangelical jargon. The heart of the book is
its evocative, open-ended questions for each film-a study in how to approach
visual texts in a postmodern world. Instead of telling readers what they
should think of the popular films, the authors simply share their delight in
each film, and then invite us to enter the stories with new eyes. Each film
gets a synopsis and theological reflection, a few "dialogue texts" from
scripture, discussion questions and suggested clips for viewing and analyzing.
Anyone wanting to discuss Christian theology or spirituality found in film
will enjoy exploring these 33 well-tested movies and will appreciate the
well-articulated model for engaging spiritually with popular culture found in
this study guide. (Aug.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
