Saved

[fif1189]

So I recently re-watched the movie Saved that came out in 2004. I’m wondering what opinions are on it. I personally think it’s an excellent satire of a certain aspect of Christianity. When I first watched it my friend and I were actually pointing at characters and saying who they reminded us of (we both went to a conservative Baptist school and were both treated badly there, for different reasons).

So, thoughts on the movie?

 

[Dale_M]

I haven’t seen it, but reviews from critics seem to have been mixed. Two popular websites collect professional movie reviews from across the country: Metacritic.com and RottenTomatoes.com. The first one computed the average of reviews as being 52%, while the other site calculated the average of reviews at 61%. Those figures indicate that reviews were mixed, with roughly equal numbers liking or disliking it. I quickly glanced at some of the reviews, however, and my impression is that the reviewers didn’t have strong feelings about the film, one away or the other.

Unfortunately, two sites which Catholics often turn to for advice, DecentFilms.com and the Catholic News Service / USCCB website, did not review the movie.

According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, the film cost $5 million to produce, and grossed $10 million worldwide, so (deducting expenses of distribution) it likely turned a small profit.

Here is the movie’s official plot summary:

Mary (Jena Malone) is entering her senior year at American Eagle Christian High School. She seems to be in an ideal social position as one of the “Christian Jewels,” the most devout and popular clique of girls in the school, led by the aggressively cheerful Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore). But things take an unexpected turn when Mary’s boyfriend, Dean (Chad Faust), tells her he may be gay. Mary hits her head and has a vision, in which Jesus tells her how to help “cure” Dean of his unnatural urges.

 

[SilverGracie]

I also could match the characters to people I know, and even though I can disagree with these people on matters of faith, I could not laugh at this irreverant satire of them. It just didn’t seem to do justice to the goodness, sincerity, or morality of the people who were satired.

Maybe that’s why I enjoyed Dogma - I felt like the most of the characters either had good intentions or cooperated with the good intentions of others. I even had an appreciation for Azrael’s selfsih intentions…I just didn’t see any positive motivation for the evil hockey players, though.

 

[AthenaC]

I’m with fif1189 - I LOVED the movie. Also primarily because I was in a “Christian” (read: Protestant and anti-Catholic) middle school, and it was absolute hell. Virtually everything about that movie was spot-on -

1. People really getting into awful music just because it’s “Christian” music (South Park actually did a really great job of satirizing this particular trait.)
2. Literally every character has a moral blind spot the size of Alaska while simultaneously tooting their own horn about how “Christian” they are
3. The additional layer that the student body is all proudly “Christian” and yet if I squint just right, I think I am watching the movie “Mean Girls” from the way they all treat each other.

I could go on, but I think I’ve made my point.

 

[AthenaC]

I also could match the characters to people I know, and even though I can disagree with these people on matters of faith, I could not laugh at this irreverant satire of them. It just didn’t seem to do justice to the goodness, sincerity, or morality of the people who were satired.

If that is the case, then the people you are thinking of are not the ones being satirized. The reason the satire is funny is not because it targets the people with “goodness, sincerity, and morality” but because it targets the people with truly awful character who think they are filled with “goodness, sincerity, and morality.”