How does God inspire filmmakers to reflect his glory and truth, especially nonbelievers? First, most Christian media makers embrace a platonic story concept. Their stories can be seen as a model for behavior to guide us to morals. Platonic stories tend to be more about ideas than reality. Good is represented by a protagonist while evil is represented by an antagonist. In the platonic world concept, there are no gray areas. Everything is either black or white.
Most nonChristians as well as some Christians embrace an Aristotelian story concept where the viewer is faced with a purgation of emotions. These stories will be more subjective and will lead us into our inner conflicts. It’s often a journey into fears and desires that we do not want to confront.
The Aristotelian stories will challenge us to identify with the characters, which often results in the process of discovering our hidden primal feelings. The end result is that they may offer us insight into our lives; however, they do not necessarily offer a clear, moral message. Aristotelian stories require the viewer to be more involved in processing the importance of the story and its impact on your life. They tend to reflect the world as it is compared to platonic stories which reflect the way the writer would like the world to be. God can use both story concepts. Many Christians have problems with the Aristotelian concept because they cannot see God at work in the process. The Aristotelian stories require us to deal with the internal struggle within us, which is a messy endeavor because truth becomes more illusive and intangible.
Aristotelian stories are ambiguous and never paint the world as black and white. They allow you the opportunity to draw your own conclusions and decide what you believe is true and untrue. Although some may suggest that Aristotelian stories support the idea of relevant truth, I believe God can use these stories more effectively than platonic stories because the viewer is more actively engaged in the story process and tends to ask legitimate questions about the nature and purpose of life.
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