Christian Educators Journal: October 2025

Christian Educators Journal October 2025 Vol. 65 No. 1

Movies

From Screen to Soul: Movies in the Christian Classroom Programmed for Purpose: Exploring Themes of The Wild Robot Films That Inspire Grit From First Impressions to Informed Perspectives Visual Literacy, Written Skills Movies Your Mother Wouldn’t Let You Watch

Contents

3 Editorial 5 From Screen to Soul:

The Transformative Threshold of Movies in the Christian Classroom COLIN WARD

12 Programmed for Purpose:

Exploring Themes of The Wild Robot in the Christian Classroom JENNIFER SHONIKER

18 Films That Inspire Grit:

Teaching Perseverance Through Story ADAM RASMUSSEN

22 From First Impressions to Informed Perspectives: Elevating Student Responses to Movie Scenes Through the Critical Analysis Process HEATHER J. S. BIRCH, NICOLE FLETCHER, CHERYL METCALF, AND CLARA BIRCH

33 Visual Literacy, Written Skills:

Screenwriting as a Tool for Student Voice PRISCILLA MEEUWENBERG

38 Movies Your Mother Wouldn’t Let You Watch MURRAY STILLER

Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

1

Christian Educators Journal Vol. 65 No. 1, October 2025 cejonline.com Editor Abby Zwart cejeditor@gmail.com The Christian Educators Journal (CEJ) encourages letters to the editor in response to articles presented in the CEJ. Letters must be accompanied by the author’s name and email address. The CEJ reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Where a letter addresses issues raised by the author of an article, the CEJ reserves the right to invite the article author to respond to the letter.

Subscriptions Klaas Wolterstorff 2474 Westboro Dr NE Grand Rapids, MI 49506 business@cejonline.com Subscription Price (US dollars) Digital only: $25.00 per year Beginning October 2025, all subscriptions are digital only. Please visit www.cejonline for subscription information.

US Postal Information Nonprofit Organization Postage paid in Grand Rapids, MI Permit No. 657 Return postage guaranteed to: Christian Educators Journal 2474 Westboro Dr NE Grand Rapids, MI 49506 Address Correction Requested Canadian Postal Information Registered under Publications Mail Agreement: No. 40022165 at Norwich, ON Return postage guaranteed to: Christian Educators Journal PO Box 39 Norwich, ON N0J 1P0 Indexed in Christian Periodicals Index Copyrighted 2000 CEJ. All rights reserved. Christian Educators Journal (130630) is published quarterly by Christian Educators Journal Association.

Scripture All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Statement of Purpose The Christian Educators Journal Association publishes the Journal as a channel of communication for all educators committed to the idea of Christian day school at the elementary, secondary, and college levels. The views expressed are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the association.

Reprint Policy We allow free reprinting or photocopying of individual articles that have appeared in our journal, as long as the copied articles are used within the context of schooling and the source is acknowledged.

Editor Abby Zwart Copyeditor Bethany Murphy Design Editor Klaas Wolterstorff Business Manager Klaas Wolterstorff Web Shepherd Heather Altena Board of Trustees Dr. Henry Algera Heather Birch (Chair) Eunsub Cho Justin Cook Albert Kok Dave Loewen Gayle Monsma Sean Schat Christine Scholma (Secretary) Tricia Stobbe Heather VanDyke Supporting Institutions Calvin University The King’s University Redeemer University Trinity Christian College Tyndale University Subscribing Organizations Christian Educators Association Christian Educators of British Columbia Edvance Christian Schools Association Prairie Centre for Christian Education Printed back issues (if available) can be purchased for $7.50 per copy (cost of shipping to be added to total).

Some back issues may be available in digital format.

Cover photo by Jared Murray on Unsplash

Editorial

D

epending on your age, the sights and sounds of movie day in class varied. If you were in school in the ’60s or ’70s, maybe you heard frustrated sighs from your teacher as they struggled to thread the reel-to-reel projector. Or maybe you can still hear the click of a film strip as the machine advanced the slides while a record or cassette tape played the narration.

If you’re more of an ’80s or ’90s student, you probably rejoiced at seeing your teacher push the big TV cart with a squeaky wheel down the hall and laughed when they discovered Mr. McGuire forgot to rewind the VHS tape again. Perhaps your school even invested in the short-lived LaserDisc player!

You early 2000s kids mostly watched DVDs, and your teacher probably had a dedicated player that got to stay in the room. But there was still that one old school teacher who insisted on showing an ancient VHS from a now-defunct educational media company. These days, students likely still watch DVDs, but a teacher might even pull up a streaming service in the classroom to show a film.

What never changes, though, is the excitement both students and teachers feel at the prospect of showing a movie in class. Students look forward to a low-key hour where notetaking is minimal and the story is engrossing.

Behind the desk, teachers are glad someone else is doing the talking for the day while they knock out some report card comments or tackle an overflowing email inbox.

But today, film in the classroom is more than just an easy lesson plan.

Twenty-first-century students are adept at reading the messages behind a moving image, and most teachers recognize that movies and even YouTube videos are key texts for understanding the world around us. Plus, many of our students have far exceeded their teachers’ ability to create video—it’s their native language and can be used effectively as an assessment tool.

In this issue, we hope you’re reminded of the power of film in the classroom. Colin Ward, Jennifer Shoniker, and Adam Rasmussen offer suggestions for specific movies and genres that can foster deep analysis and conversation in the classroom, while Heather Birch and her coauthors outline a critical analysis process that can help those conversations flourish. On the assessment side, Priscilla Meeuwenberg offers an assignment suggestion for getting students to think outside the box—the screenplay.

At the close of the issue, Murray Stiller tackles a question Christians have been debating for centuries: How do we approach films or other media that contain strong language, violence, or sex? It’s a question I often ask myself on the first few days of school when I’m getting to know my students. I open the floor for them to ask me any questions about myself, and they often want to know what my favorite movie is. I always have to pause.

Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

3

I pause first because I’m a huge film buff and this is such a hard question. But I usually answer that my favorite is the 1987 classic Dirty Dancing starring Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze’s dreamy dance moves. I assume many students haven’t seen this film, and it gives me pause again because the title always generates a few giggles in the room. I sometimes worry they’ll start a rumor that Ms. Zwart watches saucy movies. And sure—the film has a sex scene and some dancing that might have shocked 1980s audiences (but looks pretty tame in 2025).

But then I think about the transformative power the movie had on me when I watched it as a teenager, and I feel confident I could defend recommending it to any high schooler. Abby, you might be thinking, it’s just a sappy romantic drama with the most predictable ending of all time and the problematic issues of most 1980s movies. But Dirty Dancing mattered when I was fifteen. It was the first piece of media I remember that talked about abortion in a nuanced and empathetic way. It was a story of class inequality. The main character made a gray-area moral choice in order to defend someone powerless.

The sexual relationship between the characters felt respectful and earned.

I hope you have a film in mind that mattered when you were young. It may not have aged well, or maybe your kids think it’s corny, or maybe your tastes have changed. But movies have a certain magic, a power to transport us and teach us and make us fuller, more empathetic people. I hope that in this issue, you’re reminded of some of your favorites and inspired to pass on great cinematic stories to your students.

—Abby Zwart

4

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

From Screen to Soul: The Transformative Threshold of Movies in the Christian Classroom COLIN WARD

We all come into the world looking for someone looking for us.

—Curt Thompson, The Soul of Shame

G

rowing up in the 1980s, I found that movies felt more like mirrors than mere entertainment. Stand by Me, Dead Poets Society, The Outsiders— these weren’t just films; they were companions that walked with me through the formative years of adolescence. Many years later, I now realize the impact those films had as they gave shape to many quiet questions: Who am I becoming? What will I stand for? How do I stay true to myself in a world that often asks me to conform? Looking back, I now see those movies as thresholds, moments of crossing, when something inside me shifted or awakened and a deeper sense of self began to form.

As a Christian school teacher today, I watch my students wrestle with those same questions, often quietly, often beneath the surface. I’ve come to believe that carefully chosen films can become sacred spaces for them too: not just entertainment, but invitations—invitations to linger at the thresholds where questions of identity, belonging, and courage are already pressing in on their vulnerability, anxiety, and convictions. These stories help students navigate the in-between places of growing up, where innocence fades, complexity emerges, and faith begins to take deeper root.

Stories matter—not just that we tell them, but how we tell them. The right stories help students recognize and step into moments of courage, discovery, and transformation. These stories don’t just teach: they awaken.

They help students cross the thresholds of adolescence into a deeper understanding of who they are and who God is calling them to become.

If, like me, you remember yourself as a child captivated at a campfire, where storytellers wove fiction into moral and formative experiences that stirred reverence and awe as the embers slowly dimmed, then you know the power of story. Today’s students experience coming-of-age films in much the same way. These stories open a space to explore what it means to live with integrity, courage, and compassion as they strive to examine and live out faith in a broken world.

Films like Akeelah and the Bee invite reflection on identity and perseverance. Eighth Grade speaks honestly about anxiety, loneliness, and the pressure to conform. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind helps students see innovation and resilience in the face of injustice and poverty. These stories ask essential questions: Are these characters trying to prove themselves, or

Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

5

I now see those movies as thresholds, moments of crossing, when something inside me shifted or awakened and a deeper sense of self began to form.

These stories open a space to explore what it means to live with integrity, courage, and compassion as they strive to examine and live out faith in a broken world.

are they discovering who they truly are? In asking that, students begin to reflect on their own lives through the lens of faith.

Sacred Screens in a Secular Age

In the Christian classroom, film can open space for reflection, formation, and transformation.

As a teacher who believes that Christ is restoring all things, I want my students to grow not just academically, but emotionally and spiritually. That’s why I return each year to clips from Pay It Forward to explore author Curt Thompson’s insight: “Shame makes us hide; compassion helps us heal” (34).

I’ve seen students moved to tears by the vulnerability of these characters, and more importantly, moved to action in their own relationships.

We are living in what Jonathan Haidt calls “the anxious generation”: a time when young people are increasingly disconnected from embodied experiences and deep, meaningful relationships (9). This disconnection is fueling a growing mental health crisis and hindering spiritual growth. As Christian educators, we are called to respond with wisdom and compassion, dedicating ourselves to the holistic formation of our students.

I believe stories, especially well-told stories in film, can provide a spiritual jolt and reawaken wonder, empathy, and emotional courage. These stories offer the very possibilities of meaning and formation that today’s youth so desperately need. Haidt’s research offers a sobering backdrop. But film can offer a hopeful response to the very challenges he describes: the loss of relational learning, embodied presence, and emotionally formative spaces.

The right film, prayerfully chosen and thoughtfully engaged, can do more than support a lesson. It can become a spiritual invitation. In the Christian classroom, film can open space for reflection, formation, and transformation.

John O’Donohue speaks of “thresholds,” moments of change, charged with possibility and risk. In To Bless the Space Between Us, he writes: “Thresholds are places where the old and the new world touch, where something is ending and something else is waiting to begin . . . frontiers that cannot be crossed without the heart being passionately engaged and woken up” (49).

I’ve come to believe that certain films can function as thresholds for our students. When we enter these stories with eyes to see and ears to hear, film becomes more than entertainment: it becomes an encounter. These stories help students examine the world around them and the world within them, inviting wonder, empathy, and spiritual curiosity.

Movies, then, can become what Charles Taylor in A Secular Age calls “cross pressures,” spaces where the sacred still breaks through the secular, often in surprising ways (594). A well-chosen film can nudge a student to ask deeper questions; it can awaken sleepy hope; it can stir a passion a student had been unaware of. In these moments, a film isn’t just entertainment or curriculum support; it becomes an encounter, and this is where, in the new image- and visual-rich reality of students, the work of formation begins.

We now live in an age where belief and authenticity are constantly contested, not because faith has vanished, but because we are surrounded by competing narratives and a culture of expressive individualism. What Taylor calls “substation stories” urge us to consider a “radical reflectivity,” which allow us to start to dismantle our illusions (28–30). In this noisy, distracted world, film can cross the threshold of what Taylor calls a “sense of 6

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

fullness” (5). These are the glimpses that awaken and stir our longing for something beyond. For our students shaped in a visual and digital culture, these moments act as echoes to Taylor’s “enchanted world” (25), and now, the sacred is able to haunt the secular. The right scene from a movie creates the tension between our “buffered selves” (27) and the mystery that lies in that space between our consciousness and spirit—a tension that calls to them, There must be more!

Crossing the Threshold In James K. A. Smith’s ably titled book You Are What You Love, we are reminded that we are not simply thinkers or even believers; we are desiring creatures shaped by the stories and rhythms we inhabit, which are “shaped and configured by imitation and practice” (19). In this way, films function as cultural liturgies: patterned narratives that rehearse particular “visions of the good life” (19). Like the liturgies of worship, they form our imaginations and affections, inviting us to love rightly and to pay attention to what God is doing in the world.

Each film becomes a kind of threshold, a sacred space where formation can happen. Liturgies and thresholds are deeply connected. Both are transitional and invite transformation. Just as a worship liturgy moves us from distraction to presence, from confession to renewal, the right scene in a film can move a student from passive spectatorship to active participation in God’s unfolding story. In this way, movies move beyond mere instructional strategies. They become sacred invitations, a threshold that invites students into deeper understanding, compassion, and calling.

In my experience, films can serve five essential purposes in the Christian classroom. I’ve come to see them as gateways into formative moments and opportunities for students to cross thresholds and encounter something deeper.

1. Crossing from Apathy to Empathy: Listening, Lament, and Compassion To love others well, students must learn to see and feel with them. These films cultivate empathy as sacrificial presence, a willingness to carry another’s story. These stories call students to listen deeply and lament the injustice of the world as they reframe how to love well.

• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas reveals the human cost of hatred through a child’s eyes.

• Wonder invites compassion across visible and invisible differences.

• Inside Out opens space for conversations around emotional honesty.

• The Breadwinner and The Kite Runner show courage and grief in unjust systems.

Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

7

Films function as cultural liturgies: patterned narratives that rehearse particular “visions of the good life.”

2. Crossing from Passive Watching to Active Wondering: Justice Seeking and Community Building These films question how one lives into faithful action. The imagination is stirred, and visions emerge of courageous living in a broken world. These films challenge response—to see the world through gospel eyes and act as restorers.

• The Hate U Give, Selma, and Freedom Writers confront systemic racism with human dignity.

• Queen of Katwe affirms dignity through education and perseverance.

• Pay It Forward highlights the power of motivation, compassion, and creativity.

3. Crossing from Predictable Knowledge to Deeper Discipleship: The Long Obedience We all suffer. Some of it is chosen suffering, and some is not. But the very place where hope takes root is the place of grace and mercy, often disguised as hardship. These stories form spiritual resilience in a deeper, more faithful journey.

• The Chronicles of Narnia and The Hobbit anchor courage in our identity.

• Soul Surfer, A Hidden Life, and Facing the Giants explore grit and trust amid suffering.

• Akeelah and the Bee and The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind picture resilience rooted in imagination.

4. Crossing from an Isolated Story to God’s Unfolding Story: Love as Formation In a fragmented and digital world, students long for meaningful connection within our human commonality. These stories remind students that they are formed in relationships and that God works through love to restore all things.

• A Monster Calls explores grief, anger, fear, and reconciliation.

• Dead Poets Society, Good Will Hunting, and Finding Forrester reveal the power of mentoring and belonging.

• Coco, Up, and The Iron Giant speak beautifully about memory, identity, and sacrifice.

5. Crossing from Distraction to Attention: Seeing with Gospel Eyes These films help students slow down and truly see the world, especially its brokenness and beauty. They create awareness of real-world issues and stir compassionate action.

• Wall-E and The Social Dilemma critique consumerism and technology.

• Rise and He Named Me Malala highlight resilience through real stories of injustice.

8

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

• Lion, Boyhood, and October Sky explore identity and perseverance amid hardship.

In the Christian classroom, movies allow students to linger at the threshold of transformation as they search for deeper meaning and formation. When used with prayerful discernment, film becomes an instrument through which students are invited to see differently, feel deeply, and respond faithfully.

As Christian educators, our calling is not merely to deliver content but to curate sacred space. We present films not as ends in themselves, but as invitations to beauty, to wonder, to truth, and to love.

At its best, the Christian classroom becomes more than a place of instruction. It becomes a place of encounter. A place of holy disruption. A place where students are reminded that they are not just observers of stories but participants in the Greatest Story.

Works Cited Haidt, Jonathan. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. Penguin, 2024.

O’Donohue, John. To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings. Doubleday, 2008.

Smith, James K. A. You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit. Brazos, 2016.

Taylor, Charles. A Secular Age. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007.

Thompson, Curt. The Soul of Shame: Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves. InterVarsity, 2015.

Colin Ward teaches social studies and Bible at Covenant Christian School in Leduc, Alberta. He has recently completed his doctor of ministry at Carey Theological College in Vancouver in the field of teacher efficacy and spiritual resiliency.

Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

9

Film becomes an instrument through which students are invited to see differently, feel deeply, and respond faithfully.

MASTER O F EDUCATION Your students are not the only ones learning. Making a lasting difference as an educator requires your own continued growth. Graduate study In a context that values a thoughtful marriage of faith and practice can help you to thrive In your calling and serve your students and their community with fresh Insight.

FALL 2025 Term 2, October 27 - December 20 EDUC 522 - Reshaping Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning EDUC 620 - Faith and Pedagogy (1 credit)

SPRING 2026 Term 1, January 19 - March 14 EDUC 510 - Framing Questions, Global Forces, Constraining Structures EDUC 516 - Leading Educational Communities

Term 2, March 16 - May 9 EDUC 514 - Educational Research and Evaluation EDUC 557 - Building and Sustaining Inclusive Culture EDUC 621 - Teaching and Christian Community (1 credit)

Learn More calvin.edu/go/gradstudies education@calvin.edu 10

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

11

Programmed for Purpose: Exploring Themes of The Wild Robot in the Christian Classroom JENNIFER SHONIKER

C

The Wild Robot, drawing by Emma Touw, grade 2, student of the author

an a castaway robot inspire students to light up the world in new and impactful ways? The 2024 movie The Wild Robot (based on a novel by Peter Brown) provides a beautiful backdrop for helping students explore Christian practices and themes like hospitality, home, truth, and community. Rated PG and suitable for almost all ages, the film would be an excellent addition to any Christian classroom.

The film’s protagonist, a robot named Roz, was designed, assembled, and destined for service in a distant industrial setting but finds herself suddenly marooned on the wildest of islands. How can she survive and possibly even thrive in a world where she doesn’t belong? At first seen as a monster, Roz is an outcast and learns from the wildlife about camouflage. She might have gotten away with hiding in the shadows indefinitely, but one fateful day, the robot, incapable of emotions, accidentally slips down a cliff and falls right into the nest of a family of geese. Only the smallest of the eggs survives the tragedy. The gosling hatches, and Roz, designed for service, finds her purpose in motherhood. When Fink the fox sees the hatchling, Brightbill, as only a snack, Roz realizes that if Brightbill is ever to truly thrive and take his own place in the world, she must access the entirety of her design to defy the limits of her programming and build the safe, supportive, peaceful community he needs to flourish.

This sci-fi animated film contains unexpected godly wisdom and has found a huge and enthusiastic audience (the original novel has sequels, so perhaps we’ll be treated to more films soon!). This story, told in short, fable­ like chapters, provides engaging and thought-provoking illustrations of how love can be made visible even to those who act wildly or instinctually, and how love can become a transformative, community-building influence. Below are some of the rich Christian themes of the film that could encourage a welcoming classroom community and foster great discussion with students.

Hospitality Though she arrives as a

Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another.

Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. (Rom. 12:13–16)

stranger, Roz wins trust not through persuasion or power but through consistent acts of welcome, care, and service.

Roz’s story is, at its heart, a masterclass in how to win friends and influence people. Though she arrives as a stranger, Roz wins trust not through 12

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

persuasion or power but through consistent acts of welcome, care, and service. Her kindness becomes contagious, even among a feral crowd. Over time, what begins as cautious survival blossoms into community transformation. In this way, The Wild Robot offers a compelling parable of the early church’s mission: not to grow through force or argument but through visible love, faithful presence, and radical inclusion. Just as the first disciples in Acts 2 made God’s love known by breaking bread and meeting needs, Roz demonstrates that selfless hospitality provides us with an irresistible taste of heaven, and we were made to be moved by it.

After building a lodge for Brightbill’s protection, Roz knows she must convince the islanders that she is not a monster. The beavers and Tawny the deer suggest Roz grow a garden in the meadow so the animals will visit her lodge. They know that this will help Roz make friends. The garden is just the first of Roz’s acts of hospitality that she extends so often and generously, and the animals begin to respond to her with more openness. Viewers can easily see that quality relationships take time and care, and some people are more open than others, but all are worthy of understanding and dignity. The surge of personal growth in the islanders gives Roz the hope and courage to introduce a bold vision and challenge them to establish a daily safe space to gather, connect, and be supportive. Named the Dawn Truce, this safe space allows the animals to suspend their focus on pecking orders and food chains and gather in the Great Meadow. The commitment to these daily moments of suspended instinctual drives and shared experiences opens the door to greater connection and understanding that was unheard of previously and transforms many relationships on the island from fearful to friendly.

Viewers can easily see that quality relationships take time and care, and some people are more open than others, but all are worthy of understanding and dignity.

Home as Purpose As the robot looked out at the island, it never even occurred to her that she might not belong there. As far as Roz knew, she was home. (Brown 24)

Can you remember the moment it dawned on you that this world is not your home? This truth explains why we have pain, suffer loss, fall ill, or lash out when we are angry, but is that a consolation? We spend a lifetime being uncomfortable and chasing happiness, contentment, peace, and fulfillment.

Our only consolation is knowing we have a divine purpose that we have been equipped to fulfill. Any ground covered or mountain climbed is often short lived but provides a glimpse or taste of where and what we are meant to be. Because she is alone on an island with no client or distinct service to render, Roz struggles to find her purpose. Is she wild as the robots would say? Is she defective as the CEO of TechLab would say? Is she a monster, as the island animals do say?

Maybe the RECOs were right. Maybe Roz really was defective, and some glitch in her programming had caused her to accidentally become a wild robot. Or maybe Roz was designed to think and learn and change; she had simply done those things better than anyone could have imagined. (Brown 268)

This moment captures Roz’s self-awareness and growth—a moment where she questions whether her transformation is a fault or a feature, and Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

13

The Wild Robot, drawing by Shari Doseger, student of the author

Roz’s programming didn’t include motherhood, but she shows us that home isn’t necessarily a place as much as it is a fulfillment of purpose.

where she affirms that what some call a defect may actually be design. Like Roz, Brightbill’s world is unconventional, and he has to adapt. Roz’s programming didn’t include motherhood, but with help from her allies, she shows us that home isn’t necessarily a place as much as it is a fulfillment of purpose. You can call it love, service, kindness, or hospitality. Such things are transformative on their own, but when they defy programming and align with the pursuit of purpose, the kingdom of heaven—where the lion lies down with the lamb—is revealed. In this parable, the Dawn Truce has all manner of predators living peacefully with their prey. Although God does not appear as a character in Roz’s story, readers who seek wisdom in parables can recognize the fingerprints of his presence and catch a glimpse of the importance of purpose in building and finding our true home—the kingdom of heaven.

Truth

Mistakes do not disqualify us from God’s love or purpose, and truth sets us free to live in a restored community.

Scripture reminds us that truth is both beautiful and freeing (John 8:32), yet at times it wounds before it heals (Prov. 27:6) and may even be resisted (Gal. 4:16). Roz’s story illustrates this tension, revealing just how sacred, powerful, and messy truth can be. A pivotal moment arises when Brightbill discovers that Roz, his beloved mother, was responsible for the accidental death of his biological family. This confrontation brings deep pain to both. Roz must share what happened and confess the truth, while Brightbill must wrestle with the difficult path of forgiveness and grace. This moment further illustrates the higher truth that mistakes do not disqualify us from God’s love or purpose, and truth sets us free to live in a restored community.

Because Roz lacks emotions, her apology is not driven by remorse, but by an understanding of truth and responsibility. This invites students to consider whether doing what is right is dependent on how we feel or on what is true. Roz’s story challenges us to consider that truth is not less true when it is hard. It is only more necessary.

Camouflage Scripture reminds us that we are “foreigners and exiles” in this world (1 Pet. 2:11), called to live differently while seeking peace and blessing for the arenas where God has placed us (Jer. 29:7). Roz, an outsider, finds herself in a world she was not created for, surrounded by creatures who see her as strange, dangerous, and different.

At first, Roz recognizes her need to understand this new world before acting. She camouflages herself by standing still among rocks and trees, observing the animals while remaining invisible so she can learn how to survive. She watches how the animals live, how they find food, how they interact, and what dangers they face. Over time, Roz learns their language, allowing her to communicate and eventually build relationships with them.

Roz presents students with a unique perspective on sharing our light with the world. Her patient observation and willingness to be curious before acting demonstrates wisdom in navigating an unfamiliar world as a peculiar 14

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

robot. This mirrors our call to live faithfully and wisely in a world that does not share our beliefs or values—by listening first, reflecting on our purpose, and seeking peace while remaining rooted in our identity as God’s children.

Roz presents students with a unique perspective on sharing our light with the world.

Community Roz was designed to complete tasks and follow commands, but on the island, she faces challenges that require courage, creativity, and compassion. Not only does she recognize these qualities that lay hidden beyond her programming, but she also identifies similar qualities in those around her and calls on them to put their gifts to good use serving others. When Roz asks the beavers to build her a lodge, they agree in exchange for her labor and protection from the grumpy pike, Rockmouth, who has been attacking animals in the pond. Roz discovers that Rockmouth is angry because the beavers’ dam trapped him away from his stream, and she offers a plan to restore the peace with a special task for the beavers.

“I need a large container,” said Roz to the beavers. “Something I can fill with water so Rockmouth can breathe while I carry him home. I could make it myself, but I thought you might like to help.”

It couldn’t have been easy to overcome her anger with Rockmouth, but after Mrs. Beaver had a chance to cool off, she finally came around. “I suppose we’re partly to blame for this whole situation,” she muttered. Then the beavers did the right thing, and together they carved out a wooden barrel for the fish.

“Here you go.” Mrs. Beaver rolled the barrel over to the puddle, where the robot and the fish were waiting. “This should work nicely. Rockmouth, I hope you’re happy back in the river.” (Brown 198–99)

Roz becomes more than a robot; she becomes a caregiver, a friend, a peacemaker, and a leader by stepping beyond her limitations. Like Roz, we are created with certain gifts, talents, and personalities, but God sees who we can become in him beyond who we are today.

God’s Kingdom

Through quiet acts

In The Wild Robot, Roz’s story invites us to imagine what it looks like when even the most unlikely among us becomes a vessel of love, service, and hospitality. Through quiet acts of care—protecting the weak, reconciling enemies, sharing food, and welcoming the stranger—Roz cultivates a community that embodies the values of God’s kingdom. As Jesus taught us to pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt.

6:10), we are reminded that building the kingdom begins with daily faithfulness to his Word. When we, like Roz, live with purpose, courage, and humility, we become part of God’s work in transforming fear into peace and strangers into family, one act of love at a time.

Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

15

of care—protecting the weak, reconciling enemies, sharing food, and welcoming the stranger—Roz cultivates a community that embodies the values of God’s kingdom.

Conclusion The Wild Robot is more than an adventure; it is a narrative rich with opportunities to discuss faith, identity, truth, love, community, and hospitality.

Christian educators can use this book to illustrate how even in unexpected places, God’s call to live truthfully, build his kingdom, love deeply, and welcome others can be explored in ways that resonate deeply with students. If even a robot can reflect God’s love and transform a community, how much more can we, as God’s children, live out his truth and love in our classrooms and beyond?

Work Cited Brown, Peter. The Wild Robot. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2016.

After an unexpected thirty years in school leadership, including twelve as principal of Kingston Christian School in Ontario, Jennifer returns joyfully to the classroom this fall, grateful for a journey that, like Roz’s, reveals how we must often grow beyond what we were programmed to be.

16

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

Holistic Ongoing Professional Education Tyndale University offers HOPE for educators. Take Additional Qualification (AQ) Courses with the lens of well-being and emotional awareness: • • • •

First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Studies, Part 1 Mathematics, Primary and Junior, Part 1 Special Education, Part 1 & more!

Visit tyndale.ca/education/aq

Films That Inspire Grit: Teaching Perseverance Through Story ADAM RASMUSSEN

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another . . . that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

— Romans 15:5–6 (ESV)

A

In positive psychology, grit is not defined as talent or intelligence, but the sustained pursuit of a meaningful goal over time.

long time ago, in a farming community far, far away . . .

But seriously, folks. I grew up in a small Midwestern American town built upon loyalty, hard work, and grit. These values were passed on through slogans spoken by our coaches, pastors, teachers, and parents. Of course I could be wrong, but it seemed like every single older individual was on the same team, channeling one simple message. “Rub some dirt on it,” the football coach demanded after I got my bell rung. As we were bailing hay, over the roar of the tractor engine, the boss exclaimed, “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” And all those times I felt like pouting, giving up, or feeling sorry for myself, I heard, “Lift your chin up.” My mom would correct me by saying it straight: “Remember, you are a Rasmussen.”

Grit is necessary because we live in a fallen and broken world. Seldom are things easy; rarely are things quick. A life worth living always requires dedication, effort, and perseverance.

In positive psychology, grit is not defined as talent or intelligence, but the sustained pursuit of a meaningful goal over time. One study by A. L. Duckworth (et al.) shows us that gritty individuals often outperform their peers in school, sports, and life—even when they lack natural aptitude. The military, especially through programs like the U.S. Army’s Master Resilience Training, intentionally cultivates grit by emphasizing growth mindset, purpose, and deliberate practice (Duckworth et al.).

Scripture affirms these insights. Romans 15:5 describes God as the “God of endurance and encouragement,” showing that perseverance is a gift from the Lord. Scripture urges believers to “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1). Paul’s own life exemplifies commitment to Christ in the face of pain (2 Cor. 11:24–28). We can conclude that for the Christian, grit is not just a natural trait—it’s a fruit of the Spirit working through personal discipline and a supportive community.

Hollywood gets many, many things wrong, but every once in a while, it provides praiseworthy contributions (see Phil. 4:8). Thank you, Rocky Balboa; my hat is off to you, Luke Skywalker. You captured my young imagination. When you endured those grueling regiments set up by Mickey and 18

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

Yoda, I was watching and learning. But above all, I felt inspired. Your story was the same story—whether set in Philadelphia or Dagoba—and then it became my story. This Iowa boy became a true believer in grit.

Let’s find some films that will help us teach grit to a new generation.

Sports films provide emotionally charged, narrative-driven contexts where perseverance triumphs over hardship. In this article, I offer McFarland, USA (2015) as a primary case study for modeling grit in faith-based classrooms, followed by applications from The Boys in the Boat (2023) and Unstoppable (2024). Through these stories, students can reflect on endurance, examine their own goals, and learn that sustained effort, grounded in purpose, leads to flourishing.

Sports films provide emotionally charged, narrative-driven contexts where perseverance triumphs over hardship.

McFarland, USA: A Model for Teaching Grit Set in a predominantly Latino farming town in California, McFarland, USA tells the true story of Coach Jim White and a group of boys who rise from obscurity to win the 1987 California state cross-country championship. But this is not a typical underdog story. What makes McFarland so compelling is its portrayal of grit in the face of systemic obstacles—poverty, labor expectations, racial stereotypes—and the spiritual and communal transformation that results from endurance.

What makes McFarland so compelling is its portrayal of grit in the face of systemic obstacles and the spiritual and

Passion and Perseverance

communal transforma-

Duckworth’s grit model focuses on two dimensions: passion (sustained interest) and perseverance (effort over time). McFarland displays both through the characters’ growth. Thomas Valles, the team’s fastest runner, nearly quits due to family trauma. His decision to stay with the team after Coach White reaches out to him reflects grit forged through hardship. “There’s nothing you can’t do with that kind of strength, with that kind of heart,” Coach White tells the boys before the final big race (1:52).

Coach White himself undergoes a transformation. Initially reluctant to remain in McFarland, he sacrifices ambition for purpose, rooting himself in the lives of the boys and their families. His choice to persevere—even when easier jobs beckon—models grit as commitment to a higher calling.

A Christian Pedagogy of Grit Educators can use McFarland not merely to entertain but to inspire and teach.

Romans 15:5 calls believers to endure in unity and worship. The cross-country team becomes a parable of this truth—each member pushes through fatigue not just for himself but for the team. One runner falters; another sacrifices pace. They win not by sheer talent but by gritty interdependence.

Pedagogically, McFarland is a gold mine. Teachers might assign journaling prompts, such as “Describe a time you wanted to give up. What helped you persevere?” Or they might facilitate a “Grit Timeline,” tracing each boy’s obstacles and breakthroughs. The film also encourages vocational reflection.

Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

19

tion that results from endurance.

White tells the team, “You’re already workers.” He dignifies their farm labor, connecting it to athletic discipline and life success.

In Christian education, this is powerful: Our faith affirms that grit is not separate from grace. As Paul reminds Timothy, “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:3). Perseverance is the proving ground of discipleship.

Extending the Model: Two More Stories of Grit The Boys in the Boat

Use group tasks like team-building challenges to illustrate how trust and rhythm amplify personal grit.

George Clooney’s The Boys in the Boat recounts the story of the 1936 University of Washington crew team that won Olympic gold in Berlin. The team, composed mostly of working-class students, faces physical hardship, class prejudice, and skepticism from their own coach. Yet they rise by grit— through consistent training, trust, and unity.

Joe Rantz, abandoned by his family and living in poverty, becomes the film’s emotional center. He has several conversations with the sagacious shipwright for the Huskies, George Yeoman Pocock, in his workshop. In the book version of the conversation, the craftsperson encourages the young athlete with these words, “So is life: the very problems you must overcome also support you and make you stronger in overcoming them” (Brown 53).

A classroom application could be to assign students to explore the metaphor of rowing as Christian life. One could summarize the movie in this phrase: You fight, you pull, and sometimes you catch a rhythm. What does it mean to row in unity (Romans 15:6)? Use group tasks like team-building challenges to illustrate how trust and rhythm amplify personal grit.

Unstoppable Unstoppable tells the real-life story of Anthony Robles, a one-legged wrestler who won the 2011 NCAA wrestling championship. His journey—refusing to be defined by his disability, turning down easier opportunities, and choosing harder paths—is a living portrait of Paul’s teaching: “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10).

Robles’s grit is not just personal ambition; it’s anchored in identity.

“When people look at me, the first thing they see is what’s missing. If I win . . . having one leg won’t be the most important thing about me” (movie trailer). His mother’s encouragement, “You can show them that anything is possible,” illustrates how supportive community and a sense of purpose foster grit.

A classroom application could be to use reflection prompts such as “What do you want others to know you for?” Or, organize group activities where students map out Anthony’s setbacks and responses. Discuss how a gospel-centered identity can fuel perseverance, especially when the world expects failure.

20

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

Why Christian Students Need Grit Why does all this matter for Christian education? Because the Christian life is not easy. Jesus taught his disciples to accept hardship as integral to following him, calling them to “take up” their “cross” (Luke 9:23). Yet we live in a culture increasingly allergic to discomfort. Teaching grit—through story, Scripture, and life—helps students prepare for the long obedience of faith. It trains them not just to succeed but to triumph. Mostly in life we will not be able to escape suffering, but we can learn to endure it for a higher purpose.

Martin Seligman’s PERMA model of flourishing highlights positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment as essential to well-being. Grit can, under the right conditions, fuel each one of those components. It does so by keeping students engaged in difficulty while they find meaning in struggle and achieve goals that glorify God. Most importantly, grit forms Christlike character.

Conclusion: A Classroom Guide to Cultivating Grit Films like McFarland, USA; The Boys in the Boat; and Unstoppable are not just cinematic triumphs with contributions from big-name stars like Clooney, Lopez, Cheadle, and Costner; they’re teaching tools for faith-based formation. They provide students with concrete, compelling examples of perseverance. By pairing these stories with Scripture and classroom reflection, educators can inspire a generation that doesn’t quit, even when it’s hard.

As Paul writes, “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Gal. 6:9). In classrooms, homes, and churches, let us sow seeds to grow grit—trusting God to bring the harvest.

Works Cited Brown, Daniel James. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Viking, 2013.

Caro, Niki, director. McFarland, USA. Walt Disney Pictures, 2015.

Clooney, George, director. The Boys in the Boat. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 2023.

Duckworth, Angela L., Christopher Peterson, Michael D. Matthews, and Dennis R. Kelly, “Grit: Perseverance and Passion for Long-Term Goals.”

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 92, no. 6, 2007, pp.

1087–1101.

Goldenberg, William, director. Unstoppable. Amazon MGM, 2024.

Seligman, Martin. Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being. Free Press, 2011.

Adam Rasmussen, PhD, joyfully serves as the Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at Arizona Christian University, where he inspires students to seek connections between faith, reason, and culture as they flourish under the Lordship of Christ in all of life.

Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

21

Teaching grit—through story, Scripture, and life—helps students prepare for the long obedience of faith.

From First Impressions to Informed Perspectives: Elevating Student Responses to Movie Scenes Through the Critical Analysis Process HEATHER J. S. BIRCH, NICOLE FLETCHER, CHERYL METCALF, AND CLARA BIRCH

T

The Ontario curriculum is designed to guide learners through thoughtful, deep engagement with artistic works, including digital media works such as movies.

he development of critical analysis skills and habits of mind is significant in this particular era of education when students are growing up with a greater volume and frequency of daily media inputs. Short clips peppered throughout childhood and adolescence make it more difficult to distinguish the value between virtual and in-person experiences and constantly compete for attention and influence regarding identity formation (Haidt 9). Foundational systems-theories of child development, which placed media at the outermost circle of human interaction, have seen transformation and critique in recent years (Navarro and Tudge). Media content today can be as influential on the socio-emotional development of children as family, teachers, and members of a faith community. When we give students the tools to interact with and understand media, they engage in a process not only of critical thinking and expression but of formation as well.

The Ontario curriculum offers a practical and well-structured framework known as the “critical analysis process” (Ministry of Education 23) designed to guide learners through thoughtful, deep engagement with artistic works, including digital media works such as movies. This article describes how K–12 teachers within Ontario and beyond might apply this process in connection with drama curriculum expectations, based on movie scenes, which can foster critical thinking as well as active engagement in dramatic arts.

Overview of the Critical Analysis Process The critical analysis process in Ontario’s arts curriculum is a framework teachers can use to guide their learners through an intentional and reflective journey toward understanding artistic creations such as movie scenes.

This process consists of five core stages that scaffold students’ thinking and expression. The stages are intentionally ordered to prompt students to first express an initial reaction and then to conduct further investigation to build knowledge. It is important to note that the “consideration of cultural context” stage can be revisited at any point during the process, and this stage must be engaged in for at least one round or more before reaching the final stage, where an informed point of view is expressed. Each stage can be done through discussion with a partner, or a small or large group, and is effectively done through recording individuals’ or the group’s ideas throughout, in order to be able to refer back to the results of engaging in each stage. Here is a short description of each stage in the critical analysis process, as described in the arts curriculum (Ministry of Education 23–28), as applied to movie scenes.

22

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

Initial Reaction Students experience a movie scene and then record their first impressions and emotional responses. Writing and drawing are both legitimate ways to record the initial reactions that are experienced at this stage, without yet getting to deep thinking, conversation, or time to reflect.

Description Students view the movie scene again and identify and describe details they observe such as shapes, colors, framing, camera angles, background images, and so on, focusing on concrete observations without immediate interpretation or asking why.

Analysis and Interpretation Students think critically about the details listed in the previous stage and what they might mean, why they may have been included by the movie makers, and how those details contribute to character, narrative, messages, or themes. Before this stage is complete, students should also engage in the stage “consideration of cultural context.”

Consideration of Cultural Context Students investigate the context surrounding the creation of the movie scene, or the culture represented within the scene. This is a fact-finding mission to bring information to the background of the scene. Students can look for information about topics as general as the time period, setting, or genre of the movie, or as specific as information directly from the movie producers and actors about what they were intending to accomplish in the scene. The information gathered during this stage is put together with the previously gathered information to inform, deepen, or enlighten the previous thinking.

Expression of an Informed Point of View Putting everything together, students now articulate their own point of view about the movie scene, which is informed by their engagement in all the stages of the process so far. This informed point of view will be supported by evidence from their analysis and research and go beyond a statement of personal preference to demonstrate a nuanced and more critical understanding of the scene.

The Ontario arts curriculum (Ministry of Education 23–28) lays out the five stages in the process and provides a sample set of guiding questions to help students engage in each stage. The following section presents the stages in a linear fashion; however, in the curriculum presentation, “consideration of cultural context” appears at the center of the process to depict that we may go back to engaging in this stage at any time during the process to continue informing our approach to any stage. These questions are printed here, directly as they appear in the curriculum (reproduced with permission).*

Initial Reaction • What is your first impression?

• What does this work bring to mind?

• What does this work remind you of?

• What do you feel? What emotions does this work evoke?

• What puzzles you? What are your questions? * © King’s Printer for Ontario, 2009 Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

23

Putting everything together, students now articulate their own point of view about the movie scene, which is informed by their engagement in all the stages of the process so far.

Graphic created using CANVA based on five stages in the critical analysis process, Ontario Ministry of Education, 2009.

• What connections can you make between this work and your own experience or other art forms?

Description • What do you see when you examine the work closely?

• What grabs your attention in the work?

• What do you sense (e.g., see, hear, smell, feel, taste) when you examine the work?

• What stands out for you? What do you notice (e.g., elements)?

• What “qualities” do you hear or see in this work (e.g., strong, repeated rhythm; rapid and slow movements of the upper body; vibrant paint colours; bold brushstrokes or lines; a performer speaking in role with clarity and conviction)?

• What do you think the artist worked particularly hard at while he or she created this work?

Consideration of Cultural Context • What interesting things did you learn about the artist’s life and work? Is there something important that we need to know in order to understand the meaning of his or her work?

• Were working conditions for people in the arts more or less favourable at the time this artist lived than they are today? Why, and in what way?

Are there viewpoints or voices that are left out or never heard in the works?

• In what ways do you agree or disagree with what the artist or critics 24

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

said about the work? Also, were there competing beliefs and practices at the time?

• Why might different audiences view a work in a way that is different from the artist’s intention (e.g., parents and a teenage audience might understand something different from seeing or hearing the same work)?

• How might the work be understood differently by different people in the same time period or by people in the past and in the present?

• Were you surprised by anything you discovered? If so, what?

Analysis and Interpretation • What elements and conventions of the art form are used in this work?

• How are the elements organized, combined, or arranged?

• How does the work evoke ideas, feelings, and images?

• What do you think is the theme or subject of the work? (i.e., What is the artist trying to communicate, and why? or, in reflecting on their own work: What did you intend to communicate, and why?)

• Why do you think the choreographer, composer, playwright, or visual artist created this work?

• What message or meaning do you think the work conveys?

• In your opinion, what is the artist’s view of the world?

• How does this view match or contrast with your own view of the world?

Expression of an Informed Point of View • How effectively does the artist select and combine elements to achieve an intended effect in this work? (i.e., What works?)

• What doesn’t work and why?

• Has your point of view shifted from your initial reaction? If so, how has it changed?

• Have your thoughts or feelings about the work changed since your first impressions? If so, how have they changed?

• What made you change your mind?

• If you have not changed your mind, can you now explain your first reaction more fully or precisely?

• Is this an important work? Why? These questions, based on the critical analysis framework, encourage a thoughtful, layered engagement with media. Rather than experiencing a movie scene and defaulting to surface-level reactions or perhaps even stereotypes, moving through the five stages of the process by formulating and articulating responses to these questions can prompt students to take time to think, observe carefully, ask questions, and seek out further information.

The ultimate goal of the process is to lead students to express an informed point of view, which is most effectively arrived at through engaging in all the stages within the process.

Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

25

Rather than experiencing a movie scene and defaulting to surface-level reactions or perhaps even stereotypes, moving through the five stages of the process by formulating and articulating responses to these questions can prompt students to take time to think, observe carefully, ask questions, and seek out further information.

Engaging Students with Movie Scenes

Even in moments when learners appear physically still, their bodies are actively engaged, as subtle physiological shifts in heart rate, breath, temperature, and circulation reflect an ongoing process of interaction and adaptation.

Our students are accustomed to consuming media in short, highly engaging bursts; therefore, we advocate for carefully selecting an individual scene from a movie, which may be effective for instructional purposes, without needing to show the entire production. Strategic selection of one scene, chosen for its relevance, emotional impact, or message, may be effective in immediately capturing students’ attention and creating a strong point of connection with the content, even for a student who may not usually be drawn to viewing that type of movie in full. A pedagogical benefit of using shorter movie scenes is that more time is available for active learning, including follow-up drama activities that can deepen comprehension and embodied understanding.

Embodied learning theory highlights how knowledge and concepts are grasped through active use of the body in learning experiences (Branscombe 3). Grounded in the principles of embodied cognition, embodied learning positions thinking as inseparable from the body’s sensory and physical interactions with the world (Sanz et al. 395; Stolz 475). This pedagogical approach places the human body at the center of the learning process, acknowledging that learning unfolds within interconnected biological, social, and cultural contexts (Fraleigh 13). Even in moments when learners appear physically still, their bodies are actively engaged, as subtle physiological shifts in heart rate, breath, temperature, and circulation reflect an ongoing process of interaction and adaptation (Anttila 3). Recognizing this connection between mind and body underscores the value of drama-based and movement-rich activities, which allow students to embody the concepts and analytical skills they develop through the critical analysis process (Vettraino et al. 194) When students encounter a movie scene, they are exposed to a rich set of messages about identity, community, problem solving, or relationships.

An initial reaction may simply consist of noticing or recognizing what is already familiar to them, or what easily stands out as important, resonant, or agreeable. Guiding students to pause, reflect, and ask questions about what they see transforms passive viewing into an active exploration: Who made this? What choices did they make, and why? How do I, and others, respond to this story or character? Formulating responses to these questions can enhance students’ engagement in drama activities; trying out a different voice, movement, or emotion may represent a deeper level of complexity after engaging in this process.

Practical Application—Example Lesson: Inside Out In this example, the critical analysis process is used to prompt informed thinking and responses to a scene from the movie Inside Out. When the character Joy attempts to suppress the character Sadness in order to keep Riley happy, the situation backfires.

26

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

Analysis Initial Reaction After viewing the scene, invite students to share their immediate responses in a class discussion: What did they feel while watching?

What stood out to them? Have they ever been in a situation similar to Riley?

Which character did they agree with? This stage invites students to become aware of their own gut reactions while setting aside judgments for later exploration.

Description View the scene again, repeating and pausing as needed. Ask students to describe, without judgment, exactly what they are seeing and hearing in the scene. This will be a list of details such as shapes and colors, how the characters move, their tone of voice, the soundtrack, and so on.

This concrete observation is meant to sharpen attention and give time for students to see more as they continue to look.

Consideration of Cultural Context Discuss how Riley’s emotions are based on her own cultural lens. If these were your emotions, would the characters act differently? How do different cultures express or suppress emotions such as sadness or joy? Prompt students to consider whether their own family and friends encourage them to embrace all emotions, or to favor pleasant feelings over unpleasant feelings.

Analysis and Interpretation During this stage, students think about the motivations of the animation team that created the scene. Why did they design the characters with droopy posture or with a bright-sounding voice? Talk about how these choices communicate emotional meaning and how they affect the audience. Discuss how each item that was observed during the “Description” stage might have been in the animator’s mind as an intentional step toward communicating emotion.

Expression of an Informed Point of View Discuss how the different emotion characters convey provides more information about Riley than her dialogue and facial expressions alone. Invite students to make connections with their own experience of having more than one emotion at a time, and to reflect on how their understanding may have shifted or deepened, based on all the information they have gathered throughout the stages. Are they now more likely to listen to and value all emotions, both pleasant and unpleasant?

Drama Activity Invite each student to create their own superhero or villain inspired by a chosen emotion. After fleshing out these creative characters, pair students up to combine contrasting emotions in small scenes or conversations. They will collaborate on writing simple scripts and then perform their scenes for the class, using their informed understanding to portray complex emotional interactions.

Using the critical analysis process as a guiding framework with a logical progression helps students engage with movie scenes beyond quick, surface-level reactions or unthoughtful judgements. The process is intended to slow down the rush to form an opinion without first considering what Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

27

This stage invites students to become aware of their own gut reactions while setting aside judgments for later exploration.

can be learned from the other stages, all of which revolve around cultural context.

Cultural Context

Exploring the cultural context of a superhero film, a Bollywood musical, or a Hollywood remake may involve studying long-running franchises, industry trends, and evolving audience tastes.

When we ask students to consider the cultural context of a media text, we are helping them situate a work within a wider frame of meaning. Thus, this is one of the most important stages in the process. We will take time to focus on it here, providing further description, examples, and drama activities that can connect to this stage.

Cultural context in critical analysis can take more than one form. Sometimes it means investigating the traditions, values, and social norms of a particular country or cultural group in order to better understand how a film reflects or challenges those perspectives. At other times, cultural context involves examining the shared conventions, history, and audience expectations within a specific genre or type of movie. For example, when analyzing a movie adaptation of a Shakespeare play, students might explore not only the historical and social world of Shakespeare’s England and how his plays were originally performed, but also the cinematic history of past adaptations—that is, how directors across decades and cultures have reinterpreted the same text. Similarly, exploring the cultural context of a super­ hero film, a Bollywood musical, or a Hollywood remake may involve studying long-running franchises, industry trends, and evolving audience tastes.

In this way, considering the cultural context can mean looking outward to the broader human culture that shaped the work, inward to the artistic culture of the medium itself, or both at once.

The following examples provide specific prompts that can be used to help students consider the cultural context of movie scenes, some suggestions for scaffolding the learning, and some hands-on drama activities for deepening student understanding through embodiment. As a reminder, this cultural consideration step can take place during any stage of the critical analysis process once the initial reaction has been done.

1. Example Text: Hollywood Animation and Implicit Cultural Norms

Students choose an everyday object (e.g., a chair, a pencil, a traffic light) and create a short improvised scene in which that object has human feelings, dilemmas, or ambitions.

Cultural Context Prompt Hollywood has produced some of the most popular animated movies for children, often featuring objects or creatures with feelings, such as cars, toys, or even emotions themselves. Why do you think Western audiences find it easy to believe in these stories? What values, beliefs, or cultural ideas are present in these films that might be different from stories in other parts of the world?

Scaffolding Students can identify which emotions or social norms are emphasized (e.g., independence in Toy Story or individual achievement in Cars). Then, ask students to compare this to examples from movies created by studios representing the film industry outside of Hollywood.

Drama Activity: Objects with Feelings Role-Play Students enact how cultural norms are embedded into storytelling, making visible what they identified in the movie scene. In small groups, students choose an everyday object 28

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

(e.g., a chair, a pencil, a traffic light) and create a short improvised scene in which that object has human feelings, dilemmas, or ambitions. Students should infuse their scene with one cultural value they identified in the original analysis (e.g., independence, teamwork, self-expression).

2. Example Text: Bollywood Music Numbers Cultural Context Prompt Watch a Bollywood music number. Can this scene be understood without watching the whole movie? What cultural traditions or values are being expressed through the music, costumes, and dance? What are common aspects of these musical numbers?

Scaffolding Invite students with personal connections to Bollywood culture to share their own experiences and knowledge. Encourage students to investigate the role of music in storytelling and social gatherings, as uniquely expressed in Bollywood culture.

Drama Activity:Music and Dance Performance Students actively embody their own cultural expressions, reinforcing their understanding of how cultural context shapes artistic choices and how the audience views musical movie scenes. In small groups, students create a short performance that blends music and dance elements inspired by Bollywood (such as expressive movement, vibrant costumes, and storytelling through song) with storytelling traditions from their own cultural backgrounds. After performing, students explain the cultural elements they chose, how they integrated them, and what they feel this reveals about the power of cultural context in media.

3. Example Text: Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet (1996) Cultural Context Prompt Baz Luhrmann’s film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet has a distinct visual style with intense colors and a modern setting. How does this 1990s rainbow-hued palette and modern urban backdrop change the way we understand Shakespeare’s original story? What aspects of contemporary culture are included or exaggerated, and what effect does that have on the audience?

Scaffolding Identify elements that are “of the ’90s” versus original Shakespearean traditions. Discuss whether these choices help or hinder understanding for someone not familiar with the original play or time period.

Drama Activity: Then and Now Mash-Up Students physically feel the shift in tone and meaning when cultural and stylistic contexts change. In pairs or small groups, students choose one short excerpt from Shakespeare’s text and perform it twice, first in a style reminiscent of the Elizabethan stage (neutral staging, minimal props, period language delivery), and then in a “Luhrmann-inspired” 1990s version with updated clothing, contemporary gestures, and fast-paced dialogue and expression.

Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

29

How does this 1990s rainbow-hued palette and modern urban backdrop change the way we understand Shakespeare’s original story?

4. Example Text: Superman and Its Many Adaptations Cultural Context Prompt Superman has been portrayed by multiple actors across different eras. What do the differences in Superman’s character, costume, and surroundings tell us about changing ideas of heroism and masculinity in American culture? How might these films and actors reflect the concerns or hopes of their time?

Ask students how a version of Superman might be different if he lived in a different country.

Scaffolding Go further than comparing actors; instead, look at what each depiction of the Superman character conveys about values and relationships. Ask students how a version of Superman might be different if he lived in a different country.

Drama Activity: Superman Interview Panel In groups, students role-play an interview panel where one student acts as Superman from a chosen movie scene and others play journalists asking questions about his values, challenges, and role in society. The Superman must answer in ways that reflect the cultural context and social concerns of that time period. Following the interview, the class discusses how the character’s identity and message shift over time.

5. Hollywood Studios, Franchises, and Remakes Cultural Context Prompt Hollywood is known for producing franchises and remakes, often casting familiar actors in interconnected movies. What does this say about American cultural values, business models, or audience expectations? How is this different from the movie industry in other countries or regions?

Scaffolding Encourage students to investigate why remakes are popular in Hollywood. Consider the influence of global versus local storytelling.

Drama Activity: Franchise Pitch Students act out the business and cultural decision making that underpins franchises. Students divide into two groups: Hollywood studio executives and rich funders. The executives pitch a remake or sequel. They must justify casting choices, location, tone, and soundtrack. The rich funders decide whose movie they will make, providing a rationale. Both groups can refer to target-audience values and cultural trends as they make their decisions.

When first testing out the process, students and teachers may be pleased to discover how it can unlock richer, more nuanced ways of thinking.

Conclusion The critical analysis process provides a practical pathway for teachers to guide students from passive viewers to active, informed responders to movie scenes. Though we have made explicit connections here to Ontario’s arts curriculum, the five stages could be used as a guide in any context, with stages being re-ordered, lengthened, or shortened as needed. When first testing out the process, students and teachers may be pleased to discover how it can unlock richer, more nuanced ways of thinking. One teacher candidate we worked with, Veronica, captured this experience, saying, 30

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

One key takeaway for me while engaging in this Critical Analysis Process was how it really stimulated deeper thinking and provided the opportunity to look at the content more than just at a glance. We often stop at our initial reaction when seeing anything from a book cover to an Instagram reel. If our initial reaction is not curiosity, intrigue, or instant appreciation and [recognition of ] something we can relate to, we simply swipe and don’t look at the creation twice. To be honest, if I saw this . . . [movie clip] online, I’d likely scroll past it, but this process of beholding a work really invited me to see through the creator’s eyes, and as a result I was able to gain more meaning from this content than I otherwise would if I hadn’t taken the time to consider all of the question prompts.

Collaborating to come to an informed point of view can be empowering and confidence building for all learners, and perhaps especially for younger students who do not yet have as much experience with thinking critically about media. Scaffolding the critical analysis process in teacher-led large group discussions at first and then in small group explorations can lead to independent writing and thinking. Teacher candidates we have worked with also enjoy collaborating to arrive at an informed point of view. After watching a Bollywood clip, Nardine shared, When I answered the prompting questions . . . I started noticing all these details, like how the movement felt energetic and joyful and how the natural landscape made everything feel connected to something bigger. Then, when we shared as a group, it was amazing to see how everyone noticed different things even though we watched [the same thing] and answered the same questions. It showed me that art isn’t just about what you see . . . it’s also about how it makes you feel and what it teaches you about people and places.

By seeking to “test everything; hold fast to what is good” (1 Thess. 5:21 NRSV), as Paul instructed the Thessalonian church, teachers and learners alike can move from being passive consumers to wise and informed citizens, trained and skilled to engage and interact with media of all kinds. Thinking deeply and critically, as well as practicing discernment individually and communally, are not simply academic endeavors, but spiritual ones.

Works Cited Anttila, Eeva. “The Potential of Dance as Embodied Learning.” Proceedings of Embodied Cognition and the Arts Conference, University of California, Irvine, 2018, pp. 1–6. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3s7118mr.

Branscombe, Margaret V. Teaching Through Embodied Learning: Dramatizing Key Concepts from Informational Texts. 1st ed., Routledge, 2019, doi. org/10.4324/9780429462986.

Fraleigh, Sandra Horton. Dance and the Lived Body. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1987, doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjrjj.

Haidt, Jonathan. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Books, 2024.

Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

31

Collaborating to come to an informed point of view can be empowering and confidence building for all learners.

Keogh, Andrew. God Loves You Infinitely. Xlibris, 2010.

Ministry of Education. The Ontario Curriculum Grades 1–8: The Arts. 2009, www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/arts18b09curr.pdf.

Navarro, Jessica L., and Jonathan R. H. Tudge. “Technologizing Bronfenbrenner: Neo-Ecological Theory.” Current Psychology, vol. 42, 2023, pp.

19338–54, doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02738-3.

Pope Pius XI. Studiorum Ducem, 29 June 1923, www.papalencyclicals.net/ pius11/p11studi.htm.

Sanz, Ricardo, et al. “Thinking with the Body: Towards Hierarchical, Scalable Cognition.” Handbook of Cognitive Science: An Embodied Approach, edited by Paco Calvo and Antoni Gomila, Elsevier Science, 2009, pp.

395–421, doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-046616-3.00020-7.

Stolz, Steven A. “Embodied Learning.” Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 47, no. 5, 2015, pp. 474–87, doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2013.879694.

Vettraino, Elino, et al. “Click, Clack, Move: Facilitation of the Arts as Transformative Pedagogy.” Journal of Transformative Education, vol. 11, no. 3, 2013, pp. 190–208.

Heather J. S. Birch is an associate professor of education and the director of the bachelor of education program at Tyndale University in Toronto, Canada. Her research interests include cross-curricular arts integration and teacher education.

Nicole Fletcher is an assistant professor of education at Tyndale University. She teaches environmental education, spiritual formation, and arts integration to teacher candidates. You can often find her writing music for the local church and exploring the Bruce Trail with her husband and three children.

Cher Metcalf is in her twenty-second year of teaching in the arts with both secondary and elementary experience. Cher also teaches the arts and instrumental music to pre-service and in-service teachers at Tyndale University. Her passion is musical theater, and she recently started the Burlington Broadway Birds, providing dramatic opportunities to children in grades 2 through 12. Her favorite role is as mom to her two teenage daughters, who also love the arts.

Clara Birch is a young professional currently working as a data analyst in the consulting sector. She has conducted research projects relating to accessibility and operations research for healthcare systems. She is a pop culture enthusiast and enjoys using her technical and research skills to interact with pop culture in creative ways.

32

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

Visual Literacy, Written Skills: Screenwriting as a Tool for Student Voice PRISCILLA MEEUWENBERG

R

ecently, my teenage son introduced me to the “Absolute Cinema” meme.

If you’re not familiar, it is a black and white image of famed film director Martin Scorsese sitting stoically, hands in the air, with the words “Absolute Cinema” below him. It’s a meme that, in a way, captures the reverence some people have for the purity of film: an almost sacred view of cinema that holds certain directors and movies above all others. In my son’s and his friend’s usage, it usually means someone just made a “sick” move in a video game. Or didn’t. Whichever is funniest.

When teaching and using the medium of film in the classroom, this idea of “absolute” filmmaking begins to feel a little limiting. When we approach visual literacy across the curriculum, what if we expanded our view beyond this rigid ideal? Instead of focusing solely on “absolute” standards, why not empower students to explore and express their own cinematic voices? Most of us aren’t cinematic geniuses like Scorsese, but we know a good concept when we see it, as do our students. Using the genre of screenwriting across subject areas can be an excellent tool for educators in eliciting creative and multi-layered responses from our students.

I’m fortunate to be able to teach an exciting eleventh/twelfth grade elective in our English department, “Literature and Film.” Contrary to some students’ hopeful expectations, we don’t “just watch movies all day.” We get to explore how literature is interpreted through the medium of film, comparing screenplays, graphic novels, novellas, and more, along with their cinematic interpretations.

One of my favorite units in this course is our Raisin in the Sun unit, where we read Lorraine Hansberry’s controversial screenplay adaptation of her Broadway play and then compare that screenplay with the 1961 and 2008 film adaptations. Along the way, we learn the various components of a screenplay and how it differs from stage plays and prose in general. We keep the vocabulary simple and stick to learning the seven most common screenplay terms: scene heading, action, character, dialogue, parenthetical, and extension. We look for those in our class text and gradually start applying them to what we see in film in general.

A great resource for applying general screenplay knowledge and a fun hook for students is the website screenplayed.com. The site creates videos of a scene from a movie with the official screenplay scrolling below. Using discretion, I allow students to choose from the many options on the website. We project the chosen scene and read along with the screenplay. It’s a fantastic way for students to see these terms in action in films they already know and love. A bonus is that the website also contains dozens of complete

Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

33

Using the genre of screenwriting across subject areas can be an excellent tool for educators in eliciting creative and multi-layered responses from our students.

Students write their own short screenplay using the free website writerduet.com.

Screenwriting is complex. It forces students to not only think about word choice and writing style but also about how things should progress and look visually.

screenplays. Feeling the urge to read all 198 pages of Oppenheimer? Screenplayed has you covered!

Once students have a general screenplay knowledge, the unit becomes creative—the best part! Students write their own short screenplay using the free website writerduet.com. This website does all of the formatting for students; the only thing they need to know are the seven basic screenplay terms they’ve already learned. They come with their ideas and click the correct screenplay component buttons, and the website does the rest! The end product is a professional-looking screenplay that shows their creativity, knowledge of screenplay terms, and cinematic interpretation in general.

This is all well and good for a literature-and-film secondary classroom, but what about other disciplines and grade levels? I’d like to encourage all teachers to find a way to incorporate the basics of screenwriting in whatever way makes sense for their classroom. Here are some benefits I’ve noticed over the years of utilizing screenwriting as a writing exercise in the classroom: 1. Students are naturally gifted at visual literacy, whether they know it or not. They are constantly consuming visual communication, and (even though my old eyes don’t get it) TikTok is perhaps largely to blame/ thank. They understand the power that an idea, paired with visual expression, has over an audience, and they know the ways to present this information in catchy and interesting ways. They’ve been watching TV and movies for years and have the knowledge—even if they don’t have the vocabulary.

2. Teachers are also naturally gifted! If you’ve watched a movie or TV show in your life, you can do this! Maybe you need to learn a couple new terms, but the ideas behind them are already part of your wheelhouse. If a computer program like WriterDuet sounds a little too daunting or time consuming, no worries! Pencil and paper, Google Docs, or the like can work just as well for a simplified version of screenplays. Choose which terms are best for your students’ learning levels.

3. Screenwriting is a new medium for students. Although students are naturally gifted in visual literacy, actually reading (and more importantly) writing screenplays is rare. They feel empowered with this new form of expression, which generates immediate interest. When I first introduce students to WriterDuet, the classroom is often silent with only the clicking of keyboards—a rare joy!

4. Screenwriting is complex. It forces students to not only think about word choice and writing style but also about how things should progress and look visually. Should there be a narrator? How much background information does an audience need? How do I transition from scene to scene?

What should an actor say versus imply through their delivery and actions? How does this scene move my plot along and/or develop a character? And the list goes on. Some students may only reach the first level of questioning, while others keep pushing their artistic choices and vision. Regardless of the level of complexity, some artistic choices must be made in screenwriting. This genre naturally meets students where they are.

5. Screenwriting is just fun! Students love to share their screenplays with each other much more than other writing, I’ve noticed. We’ve even gone so 34

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

far as to have “Best Original Screenplay” class Oscars (thanks, cheap Amazon trophies!) where students spend a day reading and voting. They routinely impress each other. They can also be really fun to write with a partner. Since screenplays involve lots of intricate decisions, a pair of students can each contribute seamlessly.

6. Screenwriting is a strong option across the curriculum. Rather than the traditional essay, paragraph, report, or speech, screenplays can be a unique way for students to display what they’ve learned while pushing their creativity. Teachers and students can decide how deeply they want to explore the formatting of screenplays. The process I use in my class may not necessarily work in every classroom, but with just a very basic knowledge of screenplay terms, teachers can create unique and fun assignments. I use seven main terms and encourage students to learn about and use more if they’re interested. Perhaps for your classroom, all that’s needed is “action,” what a camera captures, and “dialogue,” the words characters speak. Keep the cinematic knowledge as broad or detailed as makes sense for your class. Have students work alone or with others. Some cross-curricular options might include creating a documentary to explain a scientific theory, dramatizing a historical event, explaining a mathematical process through a short video, storyboarding an existing screenplay in an art classroom, taking a biblical story and giving figures within that story a voice we don’t actually hear in Scripture, writing a “missing scene” from a story, writing in a second language, and the list goes on. I often tell students that they have no budget, so they can go wild!

Regardless of how it’s used, screenwriting in the classroom isn’t about just learning the rules, actually filming the final product, or creating the next “absolute” masterpiece; it’s about discovering how those rules can be bent, twisted, or even completely reimagined to tell unique stories and demonstrate student creativity. Have fun with this genre, and see where it leads your students’ imaginations!

Works Cited “Absolute Cinema.” Know Your Meme, 2 Nov. 2023, https://knowyourmeme. com/memes/absolute-cinema. Accessed 29 July 2025.

Screenplayed: Comparing Movies to Screenplays, https://screenplayed.com.

Accessed 29 July 2025.

WriterDuet, https://www.writerduet.com. Accessed 29 July 2025.

Priscilla Meeuwenberg teaches English at Grand Rapids Christian High School and online for MI Virtual. She received a BA in theatre from Calvin University and an MA in education from Aquinas College. She enjoys cooking, traveling, and (mostly scary) films.

Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

35

Screenwriting is about discovering how those rules can be bent, twisted, or even completely reimagined to tell unique stories and demonstrate student creativity.

Movies Your Mother Wouldn’t Let You Watch MURRAY STILLER

Why Media Literacy Matters I experienced a Christian culture that distrusted secular media for promoting promiscuous sex, graphic violence, and foul language.

My mother was cautious about the movies I could watch. Thankfully, my dad was more flexible. I experienced a Christian culture that distrusted secular media for promoting promiscuous sex, graphic violence, and foul language. But avoiding media that offends, confuses, or even corrupts (thinking we are immune) is naive.

So I became a filmmaker, not to try to right some cultural moral wrong or as an excuse to watch movies my mother wouldn’t let me watch, but out of curiosity. Studying cultural theory, I realized that film is the modern practice of philosophy. Movies question reality, wrestle with meaning, and ask difficult questions.

Adults need advice navigating social media algorithms. Young people need to understand what they are watching on YouTube. Impressionable teens need to know that they won’t forget what they see.

Fortunately, media ethics gives us literacy tools to think critically.

Ethics for Dummies

Each of these principles of ethics can be useful.

But each has limitations.

Before tackling the ethics of a movie, it helps to have a grasp of major ethical traditions.

Ancient Greeks laid the groundwork. Socrates interrogated social authorities to discover truth. Plato’s Cave showed how people mistake the illusions of shadows for reality. Aristotle believed storytelling teaches virtue, arguing that we learn by watching our heroes make moral choices.

Medieval Christian thinkers like Augustine and Aquinas tied ethics to our relationship with God and natural law. The Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant spoke of a universal moral duty to treat others as we want to be treated. Utilitarians like Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill based ethics on outcomes that brought the most happiness to the greatest number of people. The twentieth century emphasized individualism, focusing on a person’s right to define what is best for themself.

We see ethics through three lenses: Universalism argues that moral principles, like justice and human dignity, apply to all people, everywhere, in all times. Utilitarianism focuses on ethical decisions that benefit the majority.

And individualism prioritizes personal rights and freedoms. Each can be useful. But each has limitations. Applying these principles to media helps us put what we watch into context.

38

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

Christianity and the Magic Lantern We see visual storytelling all the way back to prehistoric cave drawings and hieroglyphics. But in the 1600s, Athanasius Kircher, a Jesuit scholar, used his magic lantern invention to project shadow-plays. Supported by the Catholic Church to encourage church attendance, his projections were theological stories designed to scare people back to faith, warning about the torments of hell.

This was one of the earliest versions of what would become cinema: motion picture stories reflected on a wall in the dark, while the audience sat in lines with their backs to the projector, watching in silence. Kircher’s important invention also reminds us that the content of media has always carried moral messages.

Christians rejected cinema as corrupt—associated with content that encouraged sinful living—through much of the twentieth century. But in the 1960s, parachurch ministries like the Billy Graham organization used media to evangelize people. Eventually the popularity of faith-based entertainment became a booming industry.

But Christianity as a label on a film does not guarantee good art. Too many faith-based films were preachy, with poor-quality storytelling. And Christians realized that their favorite secular movies also offered powerful messages of hope and redemption. (How many times have you seen The Matrix used as an example in church? The Shawshank Redemption and Schindler’s List are about compassion. Life is Beautiful is about the importance of humor. There are movies about nearly every moral virtue and ethical pursuit.)

Public tolerance for what is ethically acceptable in media has shifted over the decades. Pastors now use salty language from the pulpit that could not be broadcast on television in the previous century. Nudity once confined to pay-per-view is now a mainstream marketing tool. Violence has always been more accepted than language or sex, but graphic images barely shock us any more.

Our mothers told us to avoid sex, violence, and bad language. But how do we tell stories about a sinful world without showing sex, violence, or bad language? Sanitizing content robs stories of their power to reveal grace and transformation. We need to ask instead, Does the content in a movie glorify sin or reveal its cost and consequences? We won’t agree on ethical boundaries. But to say “To each their own” is also shallow and lazy and does not lead us to solutions. Christian ethics demands from us more reflection on the content we consume.

A Critical Approach to Ethics and Movies We need to do two things when thinking critically about what we watch: 1) understand how ethical values are demonstrated in any given movie, and 2) recognize principles of faith that help determine our ethical values.

Although this is a general list, the following are foundations of beliefs that I think most Christians would agree with: God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are divine. God is relational and present in human history. Humans are stewards of creation. Jesus teaches love and sacrifice. The Bible Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

39

Christianity as a label on a film does not guarantee good art.

We need to ask instead, Does the content in a movie glorify sin or reveal its cost and consequences?

communicates truth. Although we are all sinners, God offers grace. There is hope beyond death.

The Bible isn’t a media rulebook, but it does offer guardrails. Consider these verses that provide a good place to start: Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable . . . think about such things. (Phil.

4:8)

The Bible isn’t a media rulebook, but it does

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. (Prov.

4:23)

offer guardrails.

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. (Matt. 6:22–23)

For a generation that recognizes the importance of mental health, these verses could not be more poignant.

Scripture reminds us to protect our hearts and minds. Media that dehumanizes, trivializes suffering, or exploits people as entertainment directly contradicts the Bible and the tenants of the Christian faith. However, this does not mean that we are to avoid images or ideas that challenge our beliefs and understanding of the world. Ethics and media literacy require wisdom and discretion as we ask good questions: Does the media I am watching uplift or degrade, teach or distract, challenge or corrupt? Answers are rarely simple.

This is not a checklist but a lens to help discern how ethics interacts with faith in a film. It is a more constructive approach to thinking about media than our mothers saying, “Because I said so.”

Case Studies: Movies My Mother Would Not Let Me Watch When do we cross from the harmless and benign content to graphic media that my mother would never have let me watch? These three case studies feature sexuality and nudity, violence, and excessively crude language. I selected extreme cases as opportunities to measure the ethical and thematic values behind a critically acclaimed and popular movie, a streaming series, and a cable television show.

Boogie Nights: A Case Study for Sex and Nudity While there are no references to God, Christ, or Scripture, it is a vivid portrayal of the consequences of sin.

Set in Los Angeles, Boogie Nights (1997, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson) is a biopic about a dishwasher-turned-porn-star that chronicles the adult film industry’s rise and fall through the 1980s. It is a film about sex and includes substantial nudity. While there are no references to God, Christ, or Scripture, it is a vivid portrayal of the consequences of sin.

The characters are drawn into an industry that promises glamour, luxury, and fame but actually leads to alienation, addiction, and tragedy. Drug overdoses, broken relationships, and spiritual and emotional collapse all indicate that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). In the end, the film does not glorify pornography—it deconstructs hedonism.

40

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

Initially framed as playful and innocent, the dark consequences of an industry that exists based on exploitation emerge as we witness the characters’ pain, humiliation, and devastation. Anderson highlights the emptiness of the taboo world, critiquing the pornography industry.

Boogie Nights provides no utilitarian benefit. We do not see any way that the public benefits from voyeurism. Characters espouse individualism, following physical impulses. We watch as they are reduced to objects for the pleasure of others. Nudity gets our attention, but the same illicit images evoke pity rather than arousal.

The film’s use of nudity is purposeful, revealing how sex-as-commodity ultimately dehumanizes everyone. This is Boogie Nights’ unsettling universal message, using titillating visuals, subjects, and content to create a moral narrative that demonstrates human complexity. While my mother would never even consider letting me watch this movie, as a mature viewer I can see past the challenging imagery to appreciate a topic that exposes an important ethical principle.

Anderson highlights the emptiness of the taboo world, critiquing the pornography industry.

Happy!: A Case Study for Violence Happy! is excessive on all counts: violence, language, and sexual content.

Happy! is a 2017–2019 Netflix series about Nick, a divorced, alcoholic excop with a violent streak who is befriended by a blue winged cartoon unicorn named Happy. The animated character is only visible to Nick and his kidnapped daughter. They team up to rescue her from an evil Santa, and Nick begins a path toward redemption, fighting his way through a criminal underworld. (I know the premise is bizarre, but it works in a stylized, hyper-real blend of noir-action and animated fantasy.)

Like Boogie Nights, Happy! does not mention God, Scripture, or Christian tradition. Despite its dark tone, the story introduces important spiritual dimensions: the unicorn, Happy, embodies altruism and purity; Santa represents evil; and Nick’s world mirrors moral chaos. As one who demonstrates values of love and sacrifice, Nick becomes a hero that viewers care for in spite of his depraved behavior. The story is about Nick’s sin and redemption through his self-destruction and eventual transformation through love. Saving his daughter is a spiritual metaphor to regaining his humanity, moral purpose, and relational core.

At the start of the story, Nick is an abusive alcoholic whose sense of individualism has brought about his estrangement from his daughter and ex-wife. But utilitarian ethics are demonstrated when Nick sacrifices his life to save children and put an end to evil, doing what is best for others.

Happy! dramatizes redemption. Following the moral action of the hero is an example of what Aristotle valued in a good story. Nick resembles an Old Testament character caught up in his own selfish desire, called to a mission that requires him to ignore impulse and self-interest to serve others. It is a moral story of good and evil. The only way that Nick can defeat evil is by addressing his own spiritual needs. Nick never becomes a Christlike figure. Like other Old Testament characters, his flaws still exist at the end of the story.

Although cartoonish, using every cinematic trick in the book, Happy! is one of the most violent things available to watch. (It’s tied perhaps only with the documentary The Art of Killing, which is thematically more violent—but Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

41

Nick resembles an Old Testament character caught up in his own selfish desire, called to a mission that requires him to ignore impulse and self-interest to serve others.

We have to witness depravity on screen to make the message of salvation meaningful.

the redemption in the final scene makes it one of the best documentaries of all time.) Would my mother say “too much violence”? Absolutely! But is the graphic violence necessary to depict redemption? Like in Boogie Nights, we have to witness depravity on screen to make the message of salvation meaningful.

Trailer Park Boys: A Case Study for Swearing

He swears because he is emotional, and strong language is the only way he knows how to communicate his feelings.

Trailer Park Boys is a low-budget Canadian TV series that became internationally popular. The show follows three uneducated and perpetually broke friends—Julian, Ricky, and Bubbles—living in a trailer park. What makes them likeable is their loyalty and care for each other and their community.

The swearing is true to the characters, their backgrounds, and their limited cultural exposure. As a literary device, foul language tends to indicate a person’s inability to emotionally express themself. So while Ricky resorts to swearing to declare his frustration, vulgarity is not the full picture of his character. He swears because he is emotional, and strong language is the only way he knows how to communicate his feelings.

Trailer Park Boys does not engage Christian theology, Scripture, or spirituality. But the characters quietly reflect one of Christianity’s core principles and teachings of Jesus: love your neighbor. The characters swear excessively, but they are always committed, even when it means they have to turn down an opportunity or go to jail to protect each other. In that, they embody a Christ-like love buried beneath the crude language and behavior.

Despite the layers of conflict in the trailer park, the characters always put the interests of the community (utilitarianism) before their needs (individualism). Universal themes of love, loyalty, and responsibility to family are obvious . . . if you can get past the constant cursing. Could the show function without so much profanity? It is the contrast between the characters’ outward facades and the morality of their actions that leads us to recognize their ethical principles. In its own foul-mouthed way, Trailer Park Boys reveals that redemption comes from unlikely places. (Still, I’d never watch it with my mother.)

Watch Movies Without Your Mother

This framework for evaluation—universalism, utilitarianism, and individualism—can be duplicated to help students watch with presence, identifying the ethical principle at the heart of the story.

There is more to analyze beyond my mother’s warnings. Future articles might tackle examples with both more obvious and more nuanced connections to redemptive characters and Christian beliefs. Boogie Nights, Happy!, and Trailer Park Boys are extreme examples of sexuality, violence, and crude language in media, selected to demonstrate how we might think critically about ethics and faith, recognizing the potential value of media that is not explicitly Christian.

This framework for evaluation—universalism, utilitarianism, and individualism—can be duplicated to help students watch with presence, identifying the ethical principle at the heart of the story. With this framework we can consider the content of the film next to the foundations of faith, the teachings of Jesus, and the nature of sin, creation, grace, and hope.

We often complain that contemporary culture allows for too much sex, violence, and vulgar language in media. But it is important to acknowledge 42

October 2025

Christian Educators Journal

that this is not new, because every generation pushes ethical boundaries. If a film tells you what to think, it is propaganda and serves someone else’s interests. But if it encourages critical and creative thought, it is worth watching.

Exercises and Discussion As you explore modern media texts in the classroom that parents or other adults may consider edgy or inappropriate, here is a list of questions to help you think about the ethics of film. They can be used for classroom discussion or personal/journal reflections.

1. What did your mother not let you watch? Why? Was she right in not letting you watch it?

2. How do you determine what is ethically acceptable when watching a movie?

3. Is there a universal standard that determines what is acceptable? How would one discover this standard?

4. What do you think about this statement from US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, who wrote, in his 1964 opinion in Jacobellis v. Ohio, that he didn’t know how to define pornography, “but I know it when I see it.” What constitutes pornographic? Is it about exposure, an action, or voyeurism?

5. Create a “top three” list of movies, shows, or media that • you would not admit to your family that you watched (why?)

• you would not watch with your family (why?)

• pushes boundaries of sex, violence, and offensive language that you would still recommend (why?)

• demonstrates universal, utilitarian, and/or individualistic ethics?

What Christian themes emerge from the story?

Murray Stiller is a media professor and filmmaker with twenty-five years of teaching and creative experience. He is also the founder of Toolkit Media and Education, helping students and creators explore storytelling as an art form and cultural force. Blending philosophy, theology, and hands-on creative practice, Murray teaches courses in filmmaking, screenwriting, theory, editing and sound design, and the use of AI in media/digital storytelling with a focus on meaning-making and transformation. Known for connecting Socrates to Scorsese and turning classrooms into creative labs, he equips students to think deeply, work skillfully, and use media to engage the world with clarity and purpose.

Christian Educators Journal

October 2025

43

Future Issues December 2025—The Analog Issue Whether you’ve been teaching for five years or twenty-five, you have seen the ways that new technologies have transformed your own teaching and the education system as a whole. From the wonder of a simple word processor or an electronic grade book to the incredible things students can now do with Canva or virtual reality headsets, technology has certainly benefited teachers and students. But have we thrown the baby out with the bathwater? What “analog” practices do you still rely on in your classroom? When is doing something on a computer actually worse? Are there technology tools you’ve abandoned? What are your favorite lesson plans that don’t involve a single screen or iPad or website? How does your school deal with the ubiquity of cell phones? Maybe you’ll compare and contrast a low-tech and a high-tech way you’ve taught a lesson or write a narrative-style reflection on the way technology has changed education during your career. In this issue, feel free to write about anything you consider analog or old-fashioned—even if it does involve a little bit of technology.

This issue is no longer accepting submissions.

February 2026—Money Scripture has a lot to say about money. Many Proverbs encourage generosity or caution with money, many biblical stories serve as examples of what not to do with money, and Jesus speaks at length about how we as his followers should be using the financial blessings we’re given, be they big or small.

And while some of us think of it as a necessary evil, money is also a vital piece of our world that offers great potential for doing good in God’s world. In this issue, we’d like to hear about the ways you’re teaching students about money or how your school approaches various financial matters. What are your best lesson plans for teaching elementary students the basics? How does your high school’s social studies or family and consumer sciences department teach economics, budgeting, or investing? Does your school have any businesses that are planned and run by students? Beyond the classroom and curriculum, what fundraisers have been successful in your building?

What scholarships, church support, variable tuition, or other discounts does your school offer to help families with tuition? We’re looking for articles on Christian ways of teaching about and using the monetary blessings we’re given.

Proposals due October 20, 2025. Articles due November 17, 2025.

April 2025—Resource Review Each year we highlight the best books, films, websites, teaching tools, and other resources for Christian school teachers. We publish reviews of student-facing material (like which books to stock in your classroom library) as well as materials relevant to school staff (like curricula or books about teaching). Articles may focus on one text or may be written in a list style featuring multiple texts around a particular theme.

Proposals due December 15, 2025. Articles due January 19, 2026.