The Nativity Story

"The Holy Family with the infant St. John the Baptist (the Doni tondo)" by Michelangelo c.1506, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

 

Whilst I am still picking up the pieces from my technical issues here on ATB, I am posting an article I know you will find interesting, written by Brent Bozell, my inimitable publisher over @ NewsBusters.  Difficult to cut as every word is brilliant, I give you the whole thing, in sincere hope that Brent will not object to ATB's presumptuous indulgence:

We lead fairly schizophrenic lives during the Christmas season in America. Our popular holiday rituals are bifurcated between the sacred and the secular; between the very worldly commercial extravaganza of Christmas as offered by our department stores – when they have the guts to employ the word “Christmas” – and Christianity celebrating the birth of Our Lord.

Hollywood hasn’t been so split on this question. It is firmly ensconced, and comfortable, in the secular world. Year after year, it offers commercial Christmas movies this time of year, with Grinches and Rudolphs, good Santas and Bad Santas, the Kranks and the Muppets. We’ve been Scrooged, been on Christmas Vacation, and taken rides on the Polar Express. We’ve seen the Christmas-as-a-backdrop movies like “Home Alone,” which, like so many others, might offer something about the Christmas “spirit” but wouldn’t dare to touch the Birth of Christ itself.

No, what we haven’t seen in decades from Hollywood is a reverent recounting of the birth of Jesus in a stable in Bethlehem. But the void is now filled. The New Line studio is set to release a movie to retell that tale. It’s simply called “The Nativity Story.”

The pre-publicity story line is easily written: Hollywood saw the box-office receipts of “The Passion,” looked around for another story line to attract that long-forgotten audience, and is going back to the Christian audience for some very profitable seconds. It’s clear that New Line hopes for that response, since all the graphics and colors, and even the soundtrack of the film and its promotions make it look like Mel Gibson prepared a pre-quel.

Unlike other movies that the some in the media comically have claimed might rub off some “Passion” magic as they trashed and satirized Christians, “The Nativity Story” is reverent, generally true to the Gospel, and a moving experience for the Christian faithful. It reminds the audience that these distant figures in the stained glass window were real humans with real struggles and real suffering, and responded to their calling with timeless devotion to their creator.

Those looking for the standard Hollywood fare will be disappointed. The story of Our Lord’s passion is packed with drama and violence, and similarly though to a far lesser extent are these elements present in the story of the birth of Christ. But whereas “The Passion” is replete with conflict – the essential ingredient in the Tinseltown soup – the story of the birth of Jesus has none of it. Mary obediently accepted God’s will, as did Joseph. The Magi, the shepherds, the peasants – all who beheld the Child Jesus, believed. Thus in the movie we see Joseph take Mary on a donkey to Bethlehem. She has a baby. Shepherds and kings arrive with awe. Without a religious background, it might seem too saccharine to excite the taste buds of your average popcorn-chomping cineplex citizen.

The makers of “The Nativity Story” have included action, and (sanitized) violence in the story because they were present, too. Thus we watch the armored goons of Herod on horseback executing the terrible command to slaughter the first-born sons in Bethlehem under the age of two in the futile attempt to foil the plans of God, while the Herod character chews the scenery with dead-eyed menace. Still, it seems a bit forced, the resignation to the reality that today’s moviemaker must find some way to “entertain” today’s moviegoer in this age of bombastic sound effects and computerized whiz-bangery.

But at its heart, this is a gentle, serene, beautiful story about the creation of the Holy Family; how Mary quietly accepted that which logically could not be understand [sic]; how facing a life as outcasts once their community in Nazareth learned Mary was pregnant before marriage, Joseph took Mary on the long, arduous trip to Bethlehem; and how, contrary to all human expectation, the King of Kings chose birth in the most humble of settings, the animals' manger.

“The Nativity Story” is part of a promising trend in Hollywood: pleasing the religious segment of the marketplace. Fox has created a new FoxFaith line. Small films made by Christian hands, from the football film “Facing the Giants” to “One Night with the King,” about the biblical story of Esther, are making noticeable profits in limited release.

Time and Newsweek go a little overboard with cute headlines like “Hooray for Holy-wood,” but that’s fine. Nor can we expect that Tinseltown will forego the appeal of sleaze at Christmas or any other season. More stupid “Christmas” movies that have nothing to do either with the Christmas story or the Christmas spirit will appear. It’s all the more reason to savor “The Nativity Story” now, while you can. New Line deserves a cheer for making this movie, just as the public needs to be reminded of that which the ACLU would rather it forget.

UPDATE: The Nativity Story is not welcome in the 'politically correct' city of Chicago. But for us, the eternally politically incorrect, like my friend The Anchoress, we are very much looking forward to seeing it...

Comments

[Crusader.NoRegrets.]

justasking

I'd rather see all God's children safe, saved and happy, walking and living in the presence of the Lord, but unfortunately many choose to deny themselves and their children that opportunity, and choose instead of the many cults, fads, and fashions, one which is unique in the rejection of value of all who do not adhere to its barbaric teachings.

There is a reason the Renaissance didn't happen in the Muslim world, just as those reasons are still the cause of the Muslim world's sorrows today.

The Muslim world will soon acquire widespread access to the Bomb, making one's desires concerning nuclear war irrelevant. They will start one, and will be annihilated in the process. Their victims have had just about enough of them. God has been holding them in His hands for as long as He can, but soon, even His patience will run out.

[Joe]

I'm sorry to hear of your blog's recalcitrance, Alexandra, but glad you're sticking it out. ;)

There is an outfit that sells films for families, and it was an invaluable source of entertainment for my daughters' formative years. I highly recommend them as an alternative to the shallow trash produced for children by most of Hollywood today.

[just asking]

When has American capitalism not overpowered and/or diluted the true meaning of any religious holiday?

Crusader NoRegrets,
Wouldn't you rather see Arabia collapse from within? Nuclear wars are kinda messy.

[Crusader.NoRegrets.]

God HATES Arabia, with its obsession with killing and destroying His most beautiful creation - people. He sent His Son that the blind might see, and the deaf hear, and they spit in His face. Every day they print this garbage is another day they crucify our Lord again, and again, and again.

Be afraid, Arabia, be very afraid. God hates your world. He has given you many chances, and through His patience, grace and mercy there are websites galore, and television, places you might seek refuge from the lies of Islam.

But soon He is going to have had it with you, and you will burn in the fires of nuclear war.

[Alexandra]

Thanks Mac, not quite there yet, still have to use a proxy server to comment on my own blog, which makes it a pain, and other technical matters not sorted...But yes, getting there slowly but surely, which in blogging terms is a lifetime...

[Ernesto Ribeiro]

THE GUIDE FOR KILLING AMERICAN, CHRISTIAN AND JEWISH CIVILIANS

A 56-page book titled: “Guidance for Uncertain People Regarding the Legitimacy of Killing the Christians (In the Arabian Peninsula),” which was recently mass-distributed to jihadist forums and e-groups by the Global Islamic Media Front, is the re-release of a document from Saut al-Jihad (Voice of Jihad) sometime in 2001-2002. Written by Hafid Abu Basir, it is a compendium of research divided into sixteen chapters which provide Qur’anic and Islamic scholarly declarations regarding the legitimacy of attacking American, Christian and Jewish people and interests in Saudi Arabia. He places particular emphasis on the justification of reciprocity, using such as a means to declare that it is acceptable for Muslims to kill American men, women and children, due to the acts committed by America against both Muslim and non-Muslim throughout history.

[mac Brachman]

Alexandra: Hope you and your family had a good Thanksgiving. And it's really good to see your blog up/running again. Shalom, Mac Brachman

[Francis W. Porretto]

This is indeed a pleasant development. The stories of Jesus's birth, ministry and death have traditionally been referred to as "the greatest story ever told." There's a reason for that. More than one, actually.

The visual media have an unusual power to move and inspire their audiences. It's more than just nice to see them presenting something wholesome and uplifting again.