Screaming at My TV (and other theological rifts)

by Sarah Harrison
I’m going to ruin a perfectly optimistic Christmas movie for you, but I can’t help it. I suspect that this is a strange quirk of mine. See, in the past few years, there have been a handful of shows and movies I’ve watched where I can feel the good news of Jesus rising up within me. Watching the conflict unfold, I want to scream “IT’S THE GOSPEL” at my screen and tell the writers and producers that the resolution to the protagonists’ strife is found in a carpenter who walked the earth 2000 years ago. I’ve felt this way watching The Good Place, and it rose up again within me this weekend as I watched Spirited.

Now, let me disclaim: this is not a Christian movie. There’s bad language, crude references, and the general inappropriateness that accompanies a movie in 2022. However, Spirited demonstrates Christian principles in the same way me jumping off a roof demonstrates gravity. The Gospel is inevitable, intend it or not. God’s word accurately describes reality, which is why you’ll find God’s saving grace as the only satisfying answer to the questions posed in this film.

Whether or not you trust what God says, you end up perfectly playing your part in His story, and it follows that our media would reflect each stage of our journey. A few years ago, I heard someone say that our world had just received its Leviticus. All of a sudden, there were very strict, absolute rules for what was acceptable in society and your ability to tiptoe within the lines determined if you were a garbage person who shouldn’t have a career, life, or anyone to love them. The capital “L” Law had been handed down on humanity, except this time, not by God on Mt. Sinai, but by mankind through public discourse. Popular streaming content revolved around exposing the darkest people in society, seeming to echo the Pharisee who prayed, “Thank you, God I’m not like... sinners.” There was no wiggle room. It’s what’s led to call out and cancel culture, and it’s exasperated us. I remember thinking at the time, “it won’t be long before these people have to reckon with grace. Who can live up to such an inflexible standard?”

What’s amazing is individuals who would vastly disagree with my quoting of Romans are coming to the conclusion, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of…” self? society? my personal convictions? While they don’t complete the verse properly [God], it’s become clear that humans can’t and won’t live up to any moral standard they set for themselves (see Romans 1 and 2).

It’s not surprising, then, that our movies start to reflect these longings. The narrative presented in Spirited wonders, how can a person be redeemed? This movie starring Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds, and Octavia Spencer presents a happy new take on Scrooge, complete with the world’s best answers to the evil we see in humanity. One character is so particularly evil that his file reads “unredeemable,” although that doesn’t stop the ghosts from trying. Along the journey, the story explores if anyone is redeemable. It wonders if the unredeemable can truly change.

In the end, the characters exclaim, “Do a little good!” which sounds heartwarming, positive, and realistic. If everyone does a few kind things, on top of a mountain of moral failures, the ripples will change the world. Maybe I’m a pessimist, but it begs the question, what effect does the large sum of bad that you do have on the world? If they’re right that a little good makes a huge difference, a lot of bad should be catastrophic!

See, they have to resign to only doing a little good, because the thought of permanent life change is impossible. Can anyone really sustain a 180° turnaround until they die? Spirited has its own answer, depressed in the reality of what is impossible for man and lacking the hope found in what is possible for God.

There are many other theological issues found in the conclusions that Spirited draws, surely to be expected in a film made by people who don’t profess Christ as Lord. The movie claims that you are the sum of your choices. This very idea strips us of our God-given dignity and even goes against the thesis of identity so prevalent in our world today. Do we actually have a choice to do what is right? And if so, don’t we bear responsibility when we choose to act in bad ways, despite our feelings? While these aren’t the focus of my writing, we ought to highlight these inconsistencies when they present themselves. We have the only coherent solution to the evil in our world and within ourselves. The God-man, Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us to redeem us who were otherwise unredeemable. This salvation is more than a one-time event; it is an ongoing process that God directs and empowers that makes us holy. True life change is possible, but not for man, only with God.

The lapse left that makes me want to shout isn’t so obvious for many. God’s grace removes the veil. He helps us see good and evil for what it is. Maybe that’s why I can’t help but see the truth of the Gospel as the missing link in Spirited, The Good Place, and many others. What Jesus did on the cross in our place is as relevant today as it was when he accomplished it. Take a look at the world’s best answers, and you’ll see our world needs a Savior as much today as a tiny town of Bethlehem did so long ago.
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So yes, I’ve probably ruined this movie for you. You may not be able to passively enjoy this star-studded Christmas movie without seeing the gaping hole left by the exclusion of God’s saving work. Maybe that’s a good thing. I hope that as you see Jesus as the one true answer, the burning in me to shout at my TV translates to a conversation with a family member, to asking questions of a friend, to an invitation to a coworker. They may not know it, but our neighbors are desperately seeking hope that only comes from Christ. Let’s share Him.