Yesterday, Time’s movie critic Richard Corliss released what he considers to be “The 10 Greatest Movies of the Millennium (Thus Far).” The Artist launched the list at No. 10. Corliss named Pixar’s WALL-E as the best of the best.

 

I love lists like these. It’s great to cruise through things like this and see where you agree (nice that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon got a little love), disagree (Avatar? At No. 3?) and what might be missing. (What? No superheroes?) But this particular list reminded me of another important truth: You don’t need edgy content to tell a fantastic story. When a prominent, secular critic begins a “best-of” list with a charming and mostly clean silent movie and ends with an animated G-rated fable, it’s evidence that sometimes a great family-friendly movie can be great art, too.

 

But as we’ve seen, the reverse isn’t always true: Great art isn’t always family friendly. It sometimes lacks God-honoring content. And that’s where we as moviegoers can feel some tension.

 

This Friday marks the official end of a meandering journey through the world of problematic movies. We’ve gone from philosophical to pragmatic; we’ve talked about fallen worlds and frames. We don’t get a chance to talk about some of this stuff very often (being busy counting f-words and all), so this series has been a real treat for us—and hopefully you as well.

 

I’ve been particularly gratified to hear from you—to hear your passion, your honesty, your willingness to engage with this stuff. Sure, sometimes we all may disagree over what we should or shouldn’t see: You might go to the occasional R-rated movie. You might find the very thought anathema. But to hear from all of you from across the spectrum made for some challenging, fascinating and deeply rewarding conversation. Frankly, I might’ve learned more than I taught here, and that’s a cool thing.

 

So even while this series is ending, I hope the conversation doesn’t. We love to hear from you, and if you ever have a question you want us to answer, ask it—here, on our Facebook page, via email (letters@pluggedin.com) or even by writing a letter, taping it to the back of a snail and sending the little guy on his way to our headquarters (Plugged In, Focus on the Family, Colorado Springs, CO 80995).

 

We all know that entertainment’s important. I wouldn’t be here right now if I didn’t believe that—and frankly, neither would you. But dealing with entertainment … well, it’s an ongoing process—a journey if you will. The movies we see are imperfect products in an imperfect world, and our engagement with them is bound to have a few imperfections, too.

 

Thank goodness we’re on the road together.

 

This post is the sixth in a series. Feel free to click on these related posts:

 

Don’t Watch. But If You Do …

Sorting Out the Good, the Bad and the Excellent

How Come They Get to Watch Bad Movies and I Don’t?

Getting to the Very Art of the Matter

It Didn’t Really Bother Me at All

OK, 80% of people are convinced that 90% of statistics are made up on the spot and completely useless (ba-dump-chuck). But I’ve got a few to share with you about online gaming.

 

I know, at the mere mention of the phrase “online gaming,” you’re probably seeing a teen boy huddled in his parents’ basement killing aliens and demon creatures. But the numbers say that more and more of that online fun-seeking is being spent playing something different. Something nicer.

 

Social games.

 

That’s right, it’s those FarmVille friendlies and CityVille chums that are grabbing a lot of attention. Experts estimate that over 20% of the U.S. population regularly plays social games, and about 300 million are into it worldwide. And they aren’t all teen boys. In fact, recent studies say the profile of the average social gamer is that of a 43-year-old woman. Adding to that, bizreport.com reports that last year 50% of all American girls 12-17 were tapping and clicking their way through social games. And I saw a techie-buzz.com stat that claims FarmVille farmers actually outnumbered real farmers 80 to 1. As for that alien and demon zapping, “Begone!” Social gamers are into more, well, social pursuits.

 

All of that preamble to get to this: Tuesday, while gaming sites were abuzz over the release of a new demonic quester called Diablo III (that sports hellish battlers and carries the tagline “Evil is in its prime”), the statistically larger social gaming world at least had a chance to set off on a polar opposite journey: to find Jesus.

 

The Facebook game Journey of Jesus: The Calling is actually a pretty unique, enjoyable experience. It’s not that it’s all that different from other well-made social interaction/gathering/building games of this type—you search for objects, tools, artifacts and energy boosts while exploring a colorful 2-D world. But compared to other faith-based games I’ve seen, it’s very cool indeed.

 

 

 

And it’s free. You simply sign in to the appropriate Facebook page. It fits you with a male or female robe-and-sandal character and then sends you off to systematically explore the story of this curious figure named Yeshua. In fact, at the game’s start you quickly see Him being baptized—with descending dove and heavenly voice—in the nearby river by a rather shaggy guy named John.

 

Players then have to explore the animated biblical landscape, gather things such as an ax to clear a pathway, deal with political figures and Roman soldiers, and meet new friends. And you do good deeds along the way: fixing boats, finding flowers to lift a friend’s spirits, feeding the hungry. In a fun way, your character is called upon to serve others as he or she walks through Jesus’ tale.

 

Lightside Games CEO Brent Dusing told us that new chapters would be released weekly. And it should be noted that this is one of those social titles designed to get you to come back over and over—giving you prizes if you invite your friends to join in. And it offers up purchasable energy and article bonuses that can aid you in your quests. But, frankly, inviting your friends to explore Jesus’ story is a win/win. And you don’t have to part with a dime in the process if you don’t want to.

 

If nothing else, I’ll bet you sleep better after a social gaming stint of serving saints then you do after a bloody bout of killing monsters. Somebody needs to come up with a stat to support that.