Coming Soon To A Theatre Near You - More Christian Bashing!

Yesterday (for those of you keeping track, that'd be 5th March, 2006), Tracie and I went to the movies, sort of a weekly ritual. Sometimes, the movies are good. Other times (too often), they aren't. Yesterday's movie fell into a chasm between the two, and for good reason. But I'll get back to that in a moment.
Before the movie, they showed a trailer for "Stay Alive", a horror film set to open in the next few weeks. The premise; there's this computer game, and once you start playing it, you're fate is linked to that of your character. This is role playing taken to the next level. As the trailer played, it showed some very interesting statistics.
- Right now, there are roughly 100 million people in America involved in computer games. That number might be a little on the high end, but it certainly seems close to numbers I've read elsewhere.
- 25% of these people are addicted to games. Given that you have a 1 in 4 chance of becoming addicted to anything... again, pretty close to reality.

That a movie would be made about computer online gaming being a vicious virtual reality tied to reality should have seemed obvious. Sooner or later, real life and Hollywood cross paths. Or is it that Hollywood likes to shape reality. Which brings me to the main thrust of this little essay.

The movie we saw was "Ultraviolet", starring that frequently-seen-in-this-genre

-actress Milla Jovovich. It dealt with a future (and I might really add alternate) Earth where society has been ravaged by some virus that has turned a significant chunk of the populace into hemophages; basically vampires. Our heroine is one of these. But that's not what bothered me. It wasn't the plot (very much graphic novel inspired), nor the effects (surely generated by the same software that generates much seen in higher end games). No, it was the Ministry of Health. "Ministry" is the key word here. Once again, Hollywood tied the bad guys to the cross.
The Ministry's symbol was the classic caduceus (the snakes wound around a staff, the accepted symbol of the medical establishment) combined with a cross. The big bad guy was named Vice Cardinal Daxus (played by Nick Chinlund, who, has luck would have it, has also played the scripture-spouting McGivens in the latest "Zorro" movie).
Vice Cardinal. How more blatant can you get?
Hollywood has been assaulting Christianity since at least the 1970's. The assault has been getting worse. Part of an agenda? Some would say yes, I think no... or possibly. Hollywood always wants to think of itself as the nexus of civilization, the great manipulator and shaper of all things fashionable and trendy. It is inhabited by an assortment of folks who fancy themselves intellectuals. Artists but intellectuals. They look in disdain at the older, established cultures, and too often this means religion.
They do not care. If suddenly Christianity became fashionable, they would probably jump on board. Since it isn't, and they really want to impress the elite crowd out there, as well as each other, the religion bashing will continue.
And it will continue until enough people become appalled enough to simply stop buying the stuff.
Am I advocating a boycott of Hollywood? No. But, as a society, we've already become desensitized to the point where violence is meaningless and values merely fashion accessories. If you see something anti-Christian in a film that appalls you, don't be surprised. It's simply what Hollywood passes off as high art. We don't have to buy it.