Four Types of Films

In Faith and Film, Edward McNulty urges film viewers not to judge a film by its rating, any more than we should judge a book by its cover. He then proceeds to list four types of films to help us to sort out “the wheat from the chaff” when dealing with films. I think these may come in handy as we think about and watch movies. I’m going to resist giving examples of each of the four types. See what films come to your mind as you consider each. Here you go:


Harmless Throwaway Films
“About as valuable as the throwaway popcorn boxes and candy wrappers that we discard at the theater, these films make up the bulk of the more than four hundred and fifty films that Hollywood releases each year,” says McNulty. We would probably characterize these films as harmless fun, nice diversions. The plots are formulaic, characters predictable, and you see everything coming the proverbial mile away. But if it’s done well, who cares? Whether you're laughing or crying or cheering, it’s a nice distraction from whatever life pressures you may be facing.

Toxic Junk
“These films are dangerous, even in small doses.” Actually, I think the Message rendering of Paul’s classic “works of the flesh” text in Galatians 5 sums this category up pretty well:

It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. Galatians 5:19-21

Now, I wouldn’t say that a film that has any or all of these elements is necessarily toxic – it’s the wallowing in it, smuggly parading it, I would say. The fact is this is all the stuff of real life, so if we are moving beyond throwaway diversions to something connecting more with life, we will be encountering this. I suppose the question is how it’s handled. Toxic junk is serving it up as a main course and it tends to leave you feeling slimed to no end. It’s not a diversion, it’s a waste (and you know it when you see it).

Gritty Reality Films
“These take us to places, usually to the darker corners of our world, which we could never experience in reality.” These films are usually not pleasant to watch. Some might consider them toxic, but they are simply exploring the darker places of life where niceties are removed, the gloves are off, the fluff is gone. We see a vision of the way the world is, and it’s communicated in such a way that we are moved to think, to read, to act. They are life-impacting rather than merely nerve-numbing (the domain of the toxic junk film). These can be hard movies to watch, and when it’s done well, you’re often sorry you went to see it (especially if you were expecting something from the first category).

Visual Parables
“A small percentage of the 450 films released each year illuminate the great themes of life and faith. Like the parables of Jesus they point beyond themselves to a moral or spiritual truth.” These are the great stories that stick with you, haunt you, shadow you, or bring you wide-eyed into wonder. They don’t rely on shtick or formulas, and they end up probing the deeper places of life. They honesty visit the despair and darkness of life, prod us to ponder and probe it, often lead us to a place of hope and light in the midst of it.

So there you go. I didn’t think I could go through those without launching into this or that film, but I made it. At least for now. The films we’ll be watching together in Cinegogue will be drawn from the first, third and fourth categories (probably a disproportionate number from the fourth category), at least in my view – and such classification is in the eye of the viewer, isn’t it? What I consider gritty or parabolic, you might view as toxic waste or just a waste of time. Regardless, hopefully these categories will be helpful in your own personal film viewing – and in the movies we watch together in Cinegogue. And if you love the movies, check out McNulty’s book.

See you at the movies.