Toss Up Between Hollywood and Fundamentalism

A review of the movie Saved! (MGM/US, 2004, PG-13)

Hollywood does it again to Christianity in the PG-13 movie Saved!, staring Jena Melone as Mary and Mandy Moore as Hilary Faye. The movie, directed by Brian Dannelly, portrays Christians as hypocritical, condescending, and stupid. However, there are uncomfortable and insightful grains of truth in this movie for Christian viewers who can get beyond the glaring prejudices. 

Yes, I know that Hollywood could never get away with an anti-Jew, anti-gay, anti-feminist, anti-black movie in a similar vein. I know that Christian fundamentalists and evangelicals are now on the same level with the KKK in the hierarchy of acceptable targets. Still…at least the statue in the movie of Jesus, with outstretched evangelical arms, looks quite fake. It’s a legitimate question as to who most portrays Jesus inaccurately, fundamentalists or Hollywood.  

This movie hits all the major fundamentalist sin issues: homosexuality, premarital sex, divorce and adultery, but the premise of a teenage girl (Mary) thinking God wants her to cure her boyfriend of homosexual feelings by having sex with him is unbelievable and offensive to Christians. The believable part of the movie is that she carries out this act with her bra on, signifying this is not a sin of lust, but an act of rescue. The scene effectively portrays the angst of many Christian teens torn between sexuality and spirituality. 

Mary's ploy doesn’t work (of course—since the message is that homosexuality can't be cured anyway) and her boyfriend is sent to Mercy House for “degayification” where he eventually finds his true love—another boy. Meanwhile, Mary sees on the news that cancer can cause irregular menstrual cycles. She displays one of the most revealing and devastating characteristics of a teen under too much pressure to perform religiously. She prays about her late cycle, “Please let it be cancer.” This is one of the most realistic moments in the movie. Many girls growing up in the church would opt for cancer over being pregnant, choosing a dread disease or death rather than face the shame of illicit sex. 

Of course the hero in the movie is a Jewess, Cassandra, played by Eva Amurri, who saves the physically handicapped brother of the most offensive Christian, Hilary Faye (a play on Tammy Faye?), from being the Christians’ little "handicap project." The movie also calls the fundamentalist bluff concerning modesty when Cassandra pretends to be speaking in tongues and nearly rips her top off, while the boys in the Christian school watch expectantly with delight. She later becomes the true rescuer, saving others from the perils of Christianity. Cassandra tells Hilary’s brother, “You need to be out of here.” 

During one overdone moment, Hilary Faye throws her Bible at someone and says “I am filled with Christ’s love.” Another telling moment is when she says, “Prayer works. It’s been medically proven.” Okay, so Hollywood didn’t get it all wrong with its portrayal of Christians. They must have done at least a little research.  

The pastor in the movie has major marriage problems while his open-minded son, Patrick, falls in love with Mary. These one-liners reveal the essence of the movie: Patrick tells his father, “It’s all a gray area,” while his dad responds “the Bible is black and white” and Mary chimes in with, “It’s too much to live up to.”  

In the end, the statue of Jesus falls on the windshield of Hilary Faye’s car, knocking off her tiara which she had donned for a dance. The queen of Christianity is dethroned and all is well--even Mary’s pregnancy and her ex-boyfriend’s gay relationship, as they all line up for a group picture when the baby is born. All is right with the world…as long as we stay away from those fundies. 

Where did Hollywood get this view of fundamentalists? Fred Phelps? Jim and Tammy Bakker? Maybe the portrayals were actually too nice. It isn’t religion and religious devotion that Hollywood can’t portray. They did an excellent job of that in Chariots of Fire and The Mission. It is religious hypocrisy they can’t stand. They have no problem with their own hypocrisy, but ours really irritates them.

by Rachel Ramer