The Best Movie Critic   +  review

For the Bible Tells Me So (2007)

Luke here. I find it easier to do other stuff while putting on a documentary, like cleaning the living room or finding new music to check out. And they're rarely all that riveting, so I don't usually feel too guilty about not giving it my full attention. That said, I do feel like I'd seen some pretty good stuff, and I'd like to mention a few of them over the next couple weeks. This series will be leading up to a new, but familiar series. Let me put emphasis on the fact that these will be shorties...
Simul-posted here: Someone To Love More Than Music

For the Bible Tells Me So
A doc which focuses on Christianity's relative intolerance when it comes to the question of homosexuality. There are touching interviews with Christian parents of gay children, and with the gay children in question. I appreciated that they had a fairly diverse group, in that some parents still don't accept or even tolerate their child's homosexuality. Obviously the families that completely cut out their child aren't represented in the movie, because the point of this movie isn't to bring you down, it's to serve as a beacon of hope for people who may be going through a similar struggle with their own families.

The stories range from uplifting to disturbing as we're guided through the daily lives of not only the parents of the gay children, but the children's lives as well. The movie has a great message, but there is somewhat of a problem with it, in that the movie has no real distinct audience. It seems evident to me that the people who need to be swayed to the opinion that homosexuality is not a choice wouldn't ever choose to watch it, and the people who already think gay people are actually people really won't get much out of it, because it's a message they already agree with.

That said, it is nice to have something on record. Something that boldly, if calmly, stands up for gay rights. If anything, this movie is for the people who may be on the fence about homosexuality. And while I can envision a scenario where a fence-sitter is swayed to believe that gay people are all right, I can also see a showing of this turn into an explosive situation, with that person falling to the hateful side of the fence, spouting off about the "gay agenda." Even with that possibility, I'm proud of my fellow humans for putting their voice out there, and at least mentioning that the stories in this movie have happened.