Grant Horner - Meaning at the Movies: Becoming a Discerning Viewer

This book will help Christians learn how to apply their faith to watching movies, to think more deeply and discerningly about those movies, and to avoid the pitfalls of both cultural anorexia and cultural gluttony when it comes to the cinema. Grant Horner writes from the most helpful perspective: that of a biblically informed teacher and a plain and simple movie lover.

Brian Godawa, screenwriter, To End All Wars;
author, Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films with Wisdom and Discernment

This book is a thinking persons guide to movie watching. Its most obvious virtue is its scope. The early chapters establish a biblical and theological foundation on which the rest of the book rests. Building on this foundation, the author covers a tempting menu of movie genres from comedy to romance to dark film. Illustrations are drawn from a seemingly inexhaustible reservoir of movies from over half a century of film history.

Leland Ryken, Professor of English, Wheaton College

This is definitely one of the best times I have ever had while learning discernment! Dr. Horner is a brilliant storyteller. He captures human emotion in an economy of languageI found myself laughing as well as becoming choked up as I read his highlights from movie plots. The authors premise, that it is a sin for a Christian to not exercise discernment, is developed in a highly positive manner. By dividing the book into various movie genres, the author uses film culture as a powerful tool to teach us how to discern the human condition from film. Dr. Horners section on comedy and irony is sheer genius; by showing us why reality is filled with the comedic, we learn why the truths of Romans 1 are inescapable. In an age in which Christian discernment of popular culture is waning, this book renders a much-needed service; readers will come away with a new lens with which to view movies from the perspective of a biblical worldview.

Jay Wegter, Executive Director, Gospel for Life; Adjunct Professor of Theology,
The Masters College; coauthor, This Little Church Had None

If youre looking for just another everyone-says-that-about-Hollywood kind of bookor interviewlook elsewhere. Grant Horner is anything but predictable! Hes a world-class mountain climber, a Classics professor who has students on waiting lists to get into his classes, and an all-around fascinating guy who weaves insights from Plato, Aquinas, Shakespeare, and C. S. Lewis into just about every discussion whether were talking about the big news story, the latest hit television show, or the blockbuster that just opened up over the weekend. Youre sure to become a more discerning viewer after reading his Meaning at the MoviesI am.

Frank Pastore, host, The Frank Pastore Show

Grant Horner has tackled a very appropriate subject for todays media saturated world. Meaning at the Movies develops a needed, insightful biblical perspective on how we, as believers, should process what is heard and seen in todays entertainment culture. It will encourage any reader, as it did me, to not just be a passive audience member, but to develop a desire to find whats at the heart of the films we watch. Mr. Horner explains how films mirror societal beliefs. By breaking down these varying secular worldviews, through a discerning Christian lens, we will be better equipped to respond to a culture in dire need of a Savior.

Rick Dempsey, Sr. Vice President, Creative, The Walt Disney Studios

Grant Horner provides a straightforward, biblically sound answer to a complex contemporary question: Can a Christian love God while also loving movies? Rooted in a carefully constructed, creative application of the Scriptures and an encyclopedic fascination with the cinema, Horner affirms thoughtful, joyful engagement with popular culture. Meaning at the Movies will certainly empower, perhaps even transform, Christian education in the arts.

Charles T. Evans, Executive Consultant, Paideia, Inc.; coauthor, Wisdom and Eloquence: A Christian Paradigm for Classical Learning

This singular voice from the suburbs of Los Angeles reveals the unexpected theological vision of uprooted and fallen man in some of the great cinematic artifacts of the twentieth century.

Christof Koch, Lois and Victor Troendle Professor of Cognitive
and Behavioral Biology, California Institute of Technology;
author, Quest for Consciousness: A Neurobiological Approach

What is so refreshing about this book is that it does not fall into the usual Christian trap of simple answers, shallow analysis, and judgmental portraits of the culture around us. On the contrary, Horner eloquently points out that the great Christian communicators of the New Testament were immersed within their cultures, and this worldly interaction garnered them the tools to communicate the gospel. With a steady barrage of thoughtful analysis, vivid examples, and witty humor, Horner articulates how each genre of film, from horror to romance to comedy, has something truthful to say about human nature. He is pointed when necessary and whimsical wherever possible, resulting in a vibrant and imaginative expedition. This type of reading experience seems to be missing from the modern Christian cannon and helps illuminate an equally overlooked part of the Creators nature. After all, to create was his first recorded act.

Jesse Negron, story consultant, Hollywood;
Creator and Director, AFP: American Fighter Pilot

If the medium is the message, then Grant Horner shows us in his powerfully insightful book that film is the single most important message of our time. I absolutely love watching movies, but now that Ive read Meaning at the Movies, Ill see them in a whole new light.

Dave Berg, writer; former coproducer, Jay Leno

The impact of movies is profound and impossible to ignore. For the faithful Christian, whether as a filmgoer or filmmaker, discernment of the underlying worldviews behind movies is critical. Yet many of us approach film viewing more or less thoughtlesslyas either a simplistic, black-and-white judgmental exercise, or without any critical evaluation at all, as if meanings did not matter. Grant Horner issues a thoughtful, powerful challenge to us as believers and lays out a clear road map, that we might bring an acute scriptural mind (the mind of Christ) along with the clear analytical skills to recognize truth from error with us into the theater.

Robin Armstrong, filmmaker; Entrepreneurial Media and Real Estate Exec;
Open Road Communications/The Gentry Group

Meaning at the Movies: Becoming a Discerning Viewer
Copyright 2010 by Grant Horner

Published by Crossway
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Interior design and typesetting: Lakeside Design Plus
Cover design: Dual Identity Design
First printing 2010
Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible,English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible

Scripture references marked NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. The NIV and New International Version trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica. Use of either trademark requires the permission of Biblica.