MovieChat Forums > To Save a Life (2010) Discussion > Propaganda Film disguised as Teen Drama

Propaganda Film disguised as Teen Drama

posted 14 years ago by rollstuhlwolf
42 replies | jump to latest

The movie looks, feels, sounds, an IS nothing more than Christian Propaganda. It is transparent, obvious, simplistic, and uses common tactics to recruit followers. The confused, troubled, or generally unsatisfied masses will almost always look for inclusion in SOMETHING so they don't feel isolated. Religion loves to prey on those in need. I am reminded that although your imaginary friend Jesus may love you, the rest of us find you an elitist, non-including, hypocritical *beep*

Please people, if you have a mind of your own feel free to watch this film. But do not dwell on it. The message is simple. Be a Christian or bad things happen. Oh wait, but even if you are a Christian bad things happen. Oh well, let the HypoChristians tell you what this film really means. Then realize it for what it actually is.

Propaganda and a recruiting device for a dwindling myth that no longer appeals to the sane, educated, free thinkers of the world that aren't interested in fear mongering story tellers and would rather take personal direct responsibility for actions and incidents in this world. Instead of blaming it on or thanking an Invisible Space Daddy that lives in the clouds judging you that promises eternal life and happiness, WE the sane people of this world take responsibility for our actions, pride in work well done, and enjoy THIS life instead of worrying and planning for a life here after that may or may not exist.

[–] trac10011 14 years ago

very true indeed

it's sad to note how in the previews there's no mention of church, jesus, god or any other imaginary friends, it just looks like a standard teenage drama...
but as soon as the film roles the propaganda wheels start turning and unfolds the true hideous nature of the movie, a Christian recruitment vehicle

too bad, the premise of the movie wasn't all that bad, of course it was all a ruse

[–] runfromzombies 14 years ago

ya God forbid people get saved and go to heaven instead of Hell. Thatd be awful.

[–] longshanks-5 14 years ago

runfromzombies said:
"God forbid people get saved and go to heaven instead of Hell. Thatd be awful."

My answer:
But, it's just a fairy tale. None of it is real. No one goes to Heaven or Hell, because neither of those things exists.

[–] killbill_tarantino2003 14 years ago

WOW..suprisingly i also got the vibe. I already could sense it even tough i haven't yet watched the film. Man..Don't Let Christianity corrupting Hollywood!

Signature from Asian Atheist

Star-Gate sequence(Space Odyssey)
Baptism scene(Godfather)
"I'm as mad as hell"(Network)

[–] jsweendog7 14 years ago

"Man..Don't Let Christianity corrupting Hollywood! "

Don't worry, scientology has a stranglehold on hollywood. Apparently it's more popular/less weird to believe we are all reincarnated lost souls from space.

As for those accusing God of being behind wars and destruction, you are ignorant, mal-informed and have no idea about what Christianity is about.

It's unfortunate that you choose to make sweeping generalizations about Christianity based on a small percentage of Radicals who destroy and try to justify it by saying it's in God's name. Romans 2 explains that it's not our job to judge others. A lot of people missed this

As for the movie, I haven't seen it. Those who feel "cheated" of their time should probably do some research so you know what kind of movie you're going in to next time.

[–] DaliParton 14 years ago

As for those accusing God of being behind wars and destruction, you are ignorant, mal-informed and have no idea about what Christianity is about.

God is omnipotent, ergo he is behind all wars and destruction. The best the christians have been able to do when faced with this basic contradiction in their faith is to push the ejection seat button labeled: "God works in mysterious ways."

It's unfortunate that you choose to make sweeping generalizations about Christianity based on a small percentage of Radicals who destroy and try to justify it by saying it's in God's name. Romans 2 explains that it's not our job to judge others. A lot of people missed this

So, let me get this straight, you are complaining that non-christians aren't following christian scripture? Yeah, they sure are terrible christians!

[–] vampslayer33000 14 years ago

So, let me get this straight, you are complaining that non-christians aren't following christian scripture? Yeah, they sure are terrible christians!

How on earth did you get that from what was written earlier?

[–] DaliParton 14 years ago

How on earth did you get that from what was written earlier?

From the part that I quoted, you know where he wrote, "It's unfortunate that you choose to make sweeping generalizations about Christianity ... Romans 2 explains that it's not our job to judge others."

Is Romans 2 not scripture? Are the non-christians making "unfortunate" generalizations not judging others?

[–] vampslayer33000 14 years ago

I took the original post about Romans 2 to be referring to Christians missing the point about not judging others. I didn't take it to be referring to non-Christians.

[–] xXxCalinaxXx 14 years ago

"God is a relationship, trust, love, peace, healing, mercy, forgiveness..and on and on :)"

Your right about 1 thing god is a relationship but its one of mistrust, hate, war, murder, mercilessness, unforgiving and on and on lol

God has been used as an excuse to commit some of the worst atrocity's in recorded history... even now there are people killing others "In the name of God" its funny when they want something bad enough all that love, trust, peace, and understanding goes right out the window.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] vampslayer33000 14 years ago

God has been used as an excuse to commit some of the worst atrocity's in recorded history...

Perhaps some atrocities. But not nearly as bad as those committed in the name of the State like aethistic USSR, Red China, Nazi Germany. Religious wars can't be mentioned in the same breath as Communism and National Socialism's atrocities.

even now there are people killing others "In the name of God"

And even now the U.S. kills more in the name of the State than others do "in the name of God".

[–] cinderella_daisy 14 years ago

Well, this is how I see it:

Hollywood likes to push and use a lot of propaganda to make us feel better; wealth, sex, money, and all that kind of stuff. But people do suffer, do go through hard times. Eat, Pray, Love, probably promotes some kind of eastern spirituality and a religious proganda, but will you be against that with such anger?

I think not. I think there is more to this than meets the eye.

Why does Christianity and God make you so angry? And not other religions? I guess my point is this; they make movies about other religions all the time and there's no problem, so why the problem with this? Would I have a problem with an athesistic movie? No. But all promote beliefs and organizations and ways of living that not everyone agrees with and that's okay. Try to be more open-minded, instead of judging. Perhaps you could actually learn something from a Christian point of view, instead of just labeling it has hypocritical and non-including.

All are welcome into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Everyone. Period. Whoever told you otherwise, was not being a true Christian and did not know the Bible. Period. Does this mean that life will be easier? No. Christians still do have the same struggles as everyone else. We are not super human. I guess the difference is, believing in someone who loves us for ourselves and not going through the world, and out of that love, we are better people. What is wrong with that?

[–] alanjobe 14 years ago

Excellent post, Cinderella Daisy.

And very true.

Al - Alicia
An - Andrew
Jo - Joseph
Be - Benjamin

[–] DaliParton 14 years ago

I guess my point is this; they make movies about other religions all the time and there's no problem, so why the problem with this?

You sure put a whole lot of assumptions in there about other religious movies. I'm pretty sure they are all bogus assumptions and that similarly bad judaic, hindu, buddhist, etc movies are just as boring - there just aren't as many of them released in the US.

Here's the basic problem with 'christian' movies - they suck. They sacrifice story and character development for preaching the gospel. The problem is that the only people who are interested in the gospel already know it. So you end up with a movie that doesn't do anything more than preach to the converted.

Hollywood is generally smart enough to avoid that trap, so even when they do make a movie with an explicit agenda, it is usually wrapped up in good storytelling. But 'christian propaganda' film makers almost universally fall into that trap and thus they end up with boring movies that nobody, other than fanatical christians can ever enjoy as entertainment. (Well not quite, I'm a fan of "rapture" movies and they all suffer from the same problems as other 'christian propaganda' films but they are always so goofy that they are entertaining because of those failures.)

The only 'christian' movies that have any appeal to anyone besides the hopelessly devout are the ones that don't push the propaganda. Like the CS Lewis movies or The Book of Eli as recent examples.

[–] joshdestardi 14 years ago

DaliParton got his/her post RIGHT.

The problem with "Christian" movies are exactly that: they suck.

They have low production values, and the problem with this movie is that I was suckered into watching it. Usually I can get a clue from the film producer, studio etc that it's a cheesy wankfest of "Amen, Jesus, Praise Him" etc.

The problem with "Christian" movies are that they are not realistic; they are so Leave It To Beaver-ish" that real people cannot connect to them. They are shamefully living in a "Christian" fairy-tale world where things like gay people, prostitution, and nitty gritty stuff like pedophilia, incest don't exist.

Screw that...I am not into being recruited for ANY religion. And FYI - Christianity - definition
"a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny; "he lost his faith but not his morality".

Yep, Christianity IS a religion. The Christian God's name HAS be invoked with such sentences as "In the name of God".

Do I believe in a higher power? Absolutely. I draw the line at horribly inadequate and infallible human beings' attempts to enforce their collective lunacy (Muslims think stoning is A-OK; Christians though slavery was A-OK; abortion doctors are murdered, and some SAY that they don't condone it, but deep down you know that many people do.)

Religion has screwed with more people's minds than anything else; human beings were not meant to be 'perfect', and were meant to have choices so that they DO grow mentally and spiritually, not forced into repressive obedience (or forced to watch cheesy indoctrination film).

My fav kind of religious nut (not just "Christians) are the self-righteous kind, and the new breed that pushes worshipping God to increase your bottom line, and the kind that get behind 'conservatism' and tries to push legislation that is neither Christian in values, or compassionate.

Wow...what disgusting pigs.

[–] vampslayer33000 14 years ago

Religion has screwed with more people's minds than anything else

Actually, the State has screwed with more people's minds than anything else. It's not even close. They don't even deserve to mentioned in the same sentence with one another.

Do I believe in a higher power? Absolutely. I draw the line at horribly inadequate and infallible human beings' attempts to enforce their collective lunacy (Muslims think stoning is A-OK; Christians though slavery was A-OK; abortion doctors are murdered, and some SAY that they don't condone it, but deep down you know that many people do.)

Pretty much everybody thought slavery was OK. There are some governments (Red China) that still do.

You must be some sort of Jedi, being able to know deep down what people really feel in their hearts.

Screw that...I am not into being recruited for ANY religion. And FYI - Christianity - definition
"a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny

That couldn't be more incorrect. That's the definition of the word "Religion", not "Christianity".

My fav kind of religious nut (not just "Christians) are the self-righteous kind

You should hang out with the Lefties on a university some time like I have the pleasure of doing. There are no more self-righteous people on earth than univeristy Leftists.

The problem with "Christian" movies are that they are not realistic;

I don't disagree with this. They are usually painful to sit through. There have been good ones like Robert Duvall's The Apostle (though I'm not that can be classified as a "Christian" movie) and The Passion of the Christ. Most, however, are not well done.

[–] joshdestardi 13 years ago

Define "state"? What state?
=====================
Are you disagreeing with how long the Catholic Church has controlled behavior AND the "state"?
=====================
If you actually think that having infallible human beings returned to power under a Christian flag instead of any given 'state' flag will make a difference in the world, oooooh boy I have a bridge to sell you.

Everyone thought slavery was ok, so that makes Christians excused from the behavior? Where was the God-inspired teaching on owning another human being as property??????????????
=====================

Jedi..eh, no. I prefer Star Trek. But really, you should know that "stereotypes exist for a reason" and that is why I'm sure many people who are rabid anti-abortion folks don't shed a tear for a blown-to-bits abortion doctor.
=====================

So are you saying that Christianity does not teach the belief in a being who is not natural to earth? God? Does God not have plans for us humans? Is that not an ultimate control?
=====================

Really, this is the bottom line: I completely and utterly respect your right and belief in whatever God you pray to. I pray as well.

But you pick and choose what lines you respond to, just like many weak people pick and choose what passages from the Bible that they enforce and use to batter down other human beings; I can't respect that. There are really good points made on this board about 'Christianity' in general that you ignored, and went after the silly ones.

With that said, I am not a conservative or liberal. I have seen what following any path blindly can do; "follow a path blindly, and it will become false, and you a fanatic" (or a Rush Limbaugh or Al Franken drone, eh heh).

I can agree to the point that a twisted type of 'liberalism' has taken hold and is damaging youth in our educational system, and American society in general. I believe it's only a matter of time before mainstream America stands up and says "that's enough". Or at least I hope they do.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Hythlodaeus 14 years ago

Hey, I'm a Christian and I agree with you this movie is propaganda - not because it's not true just because it's badly done and heavy handed. However, realize this, all the world is propaganda.

Do you think that mainstream movies aren't propaganda also? At the top of my screen right now Step-Up 3d is being advertised, it's clearly all about sex.

Just because that's propaganda everyone wants doesn't make it any less propaganda. Do you think that Madison Avenue doesn't stand to gain by the oversexualizing of our culture. It sells Aberchrombie jeans which are overpriced, it also sells abortions at Planned Parenthood which profits on the death of the unborn.

Wake up man.

And by the way, it ain't propaganda if it's true. The Bible is true.

What hump?

[–] joelcpslo 14 years ago

To all who have dismissed Christianity, I have a very important question. Have you ever checked out the claims? Have you ever really investigated the story of Jesus and the claim that he rose from the dead? If you're so confident of your opinion, then what do you have to lose? If Jesus really did rise from the dead, then all the other stuff is pointless. What would it matter if there's some fanatic on a street corner getting in your face? Or if you found a phony Christian who only talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk. What would any of that matter to the issue of whether Jesus is who he claimed? All that stuff has no bearing on it. This would be the equivalent of saying, "Richard Nixon was a fraud, therefore there could never be anything good in the Republican party or its values because Nixon was a Republican."

If there is no God, then why do we have an instinct to love? Everything should come down to survival of the fittest, right? You shouldn't then even mourn the death of a spouse. He/she simply wasn't fit enough, nature selected him/her to be gone. This should be no different than discarding a pair of socks. If anything, you've been handed a big favor because now you can choose someone else who will be more fit, helping you reproduce and advance yourself.

Or what makes anything right or wrong? Who sets the standard? Is it simply what the majority says? That idea falls apart pretty quickly; at one point in time the vast majority of Americans thought it was no problem to enslave an entire race of people. So what's the standard? If you're an atheist, there's no other logical answer except individual preference only. So why then are we able to condemn the Holocaust, Darfur, Soviet gulags, etc.? There's no rationale if you're an atheist.

[–] longshanks-5 14 years ago

joelcpslo said:
"Have you ever checked out the claims? Have you ever really investigated the story of Jesus and the claim that he rose from the dead?"

My answer:
And, how are we supposed to 'really investigate' the resurrection? If it happened, at all, it happened two thousand years ago. Just how am I going to check anything out? Oh, wait, the Bible says that there was a resurrection. Sorry, but that's not good enough. If there's no proof outside of the Bible that something is true, then there's no actual proof.

joelcpslo said:
"If there is no God, then why do we have an instinct to love?"

My answer:
Now, how on Earth does that follow? Why can't we love without God? What does an outside supernatural force that I can't perceive have to do with whether I can love someone?

joelcpslo said:
"Or what makes anything right or wrong? Who sets the standard? Is it simply what the majority says? That idea falls apart pretty quickly; at one point in time the vast majority of Americans thought it was no problem to enslave an entire race of people. So what's the standard? If you're an atheist, there's no other logical answer except individual preference only."

My answer:
Slave owners would quote the Bible to justify slavery. Slavery wasn't ended because the true and righteous Christians ended it.

joelcpslo said:
"So why then are we able to condemn the Holocaust, Darfur, Soviet gulags, etc.? There's no rationale if you're an atheist."

My answer:
What do you mean? Why can't an atheist have a rationale of right and wrong? Why does an outside supernatural force that I can't perceive get to be the arbiter of correct behaviour?

[–] Death163 12 years ago

Ok you're crazy how many people have you seen in real life rise from the dead?????? and move giant boulders????

We have an instinct to love to futher the human population every animal has that instinct we also have it because deep down no species wants to die alone every human like every animal wants and needs to be loved by someone or something.

It's because over the years we have evolved emotions our brains are not as easy as saying survival of the fittest even dogs mourn the loss of there friends you should learn atleast a little bit about the human brain before speaking because other wise you just look stupid.

"The People Of America Have Spoken THE REAL TITLE TOWN U.S.A IS VALDOSTA GEORGIA"

[–] Hythlodaeus 14 years ago

Yup, every philosopher from Plato to Schopenhauer recognized that atheism means that there is no standard of morality and that such a standard is absolutely essential to humanity's survival. Nietzsche went nuts (not just from syphilis either) - and oddly the culmination of his "work" was "recurrence" or "eternal return" a sort of determinism where everyone should worship a perfect man of whom we will be. Sounds a bit like Jesus, eh?

The Bible says that those who hate God love death. A society that has rejected God is suicidal.

What hump?

[–] DaliParton 14 years ago

Nietzsche went nuts (not just from syphilis either) - and oddly the culmination of his "work" was "recurrence" or "eternal return" a sort of determinism where everyone should worship a perfect man of whom we will be. Sounds a bit like Jesus, eh?

Let me get this straight - your argument is that after Nietzsche went crazy he ended up being a christian, in action but not in name. Therefore christianity is a universal truth, because a real smart guy only started to believe in it after he lost his mind.

[–] pauldonnelly64 14 years ago

Couldn't agree more. The movie no doubt would have sucked less if it didn't come across as christain brainwash vehicle. Plot was weak, acting was lame and please, the chick that played the high school sweethaert? She was 27 at the time of filming and looked every bit her age! This movie was a complete joke.

This movie is not worthy of being aired on the Lifetime channel.

[–] Imortala 14 years ago

i agree all the way

[–] smysnk 14 years ago

Couldn't of worded this any better myself.