MEDIA
The public relations (PR) representative at the front of the theatre was unashamedlycandid. The scores of people seated before her for the special advance screening of The
Shack were there for only one reason –
“We need you to get the word out about
this movie,” she enthused. “We wanted to
handpick the key influencers we know will
be using their social media to promote it.”
The PR company was aware the movie
had been controversial. But it contained
“an incredible message about the hope
of God,” the rep promised. And so we
would need to “be brave and courageous”
in talking about the film and in taking
our friends to see it if we hoped “to see
more Christian movies like this one
come to Canada.”
The call for courage, and the plea to
exercise influence in favour of the film,
was no doubt due to the uproar it was
generating on the Internet. From the
president of The Southern Baptist Theo-
logical Seminary Albert Mohler Jr. label-
ling the story “undoubtedly heretical,” to
author and blogger Tim Challies accusing
the film of blasphemy, the heat seemed so
intense as to give off a whiff of smoke.
Attendance at the by-invitation-only
screening came with perks. Each person
was handed a small “gift bag” upon arrival containing a copy of the William Paul
Young blockbuster novel The Shack (on
which the movie was based), a pen with
the PR company’s name on it, and a copy
of Faith Today magazine – among other
items. There was also a package of tissues
which the rep promised would be useful
during the film.
I admit I bristled at the sales pitch. It
felt, well, manipulative. I had mixed feelings about seeing the movie. I had read
the novel years ago when it first came out.
I recalled it as a story that deals with dark
subject matter, and I am not a person who
enjoys going to dark places – even in the
cinema. Further, the book had left me
HOW THE LABEL “CHRISTIAN” CAN LEAD US ALL ASTRAY BY PATRICIA PADDEY
THE SHACK CONTROVERSY
with a vague sense of unease. I wanted to
make up my own mind about this film that
tells the story of one man’s encounter
with God (an encounter that happens,
incidentally, within a dream) – not be told
what to think.
So I was pleasantly surprised to realize,
just over two hours later, that I liked the
film. It moved me – with its themes of
good and evil, human loss, brokenness
and suffering, God’s mercy and sacrificial
love for us – even if my package of tissues
remained unopened.
Yes, it also left me with some questions
about the theology behind the story, but
it was good to be reminded through that
story that God is “especially fond” of me,
and that trusting God is an essential path
to peace with Him.
In the days that followed, I pondered the
film (and the PR pitch that had preceded
it.) I read the rave reviews and the cutting
critiques, the cries of “See it!” and “Don’t
see it!” And I found myself wondering
whether the problem at the root of the
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