Researcher Says Movie 'Saved' May Leave Impressionable Youth Lost

by Rusty Pugh and Jenni Parker
June 17, 2004

(AgapePress) - The lead researcher for the American Family Association (AFA) says a new movie with a deceptive title attempts to portray Christians as hypocrites and is nothing more than anti-Christian propaganda.

AFA's Ed Vitagliano recently attended a showing of the movie Saved, and he is warning parents and their kids should stay away from this latest Hollywood attempt to discredit people of faith. The pro-family spokesman says the movie, which is set at a Christian high school, depicts the Christian characters as mean-spirited hypocrites, and the goal of the movie makers is clear.

"Basically the whole thing points to evangelical Christians as people who are mean-spirited, who use the Bible as a weapon, and who are hopelessly self-righteous and hypocritical," Vitagliano says. He notes that the movie turned out to be even worse than he had expected and says, "I had read a lot of reviews of it and was actually surprised to see just how overt this basically propagandistic film was."

At one point in Saved, the character played by actress Jena Malone believes she has been led by Jesus to sleep with her boyfriend, a newly-professed homosexual. She then gets pregnant and is condemned and cruelly ostracized by vicious and self-righteous "friends" at her Christian high school. Meanwhile, the heroine's mother is involved in an adulterous affair with the school's married principal, Pastor Skip.

Ted Baehr, a Christian film reviewer and publisher the pro-family Movieguide, described Saved in a recent press interview as a film that is downright hateful in its portrayal of Christians, and one that is likely to send young believers off with "Christo-phobia or anti-Christian attitudes." (See Earlier Article)

Vitagliano agrees that this is a genuine concern and says this movie is obviously trying to promote the postmodern idea that Jesus would tolerate people's sins -- a message that he says is very dangerous for impressionable young people to hear.

"The message comes across very clearly in this movie that Christianity -- and in fact, Jesus Christ -- would not point out people's sins," the researcher says, "and that diversity and tolerance are the way a true Christian would behave. Authority figures, especially pastors and parents, can often be hypocrites, which is what this movie talks about."

Vitagliano contends that Saved is a dangerous film that could potentially be damaging to young people's faith and could confuse them about the true nature of Christianity. Parents should not be fooled by this blatantly anti-Christian film, he says, and under no circumstances should they allow their children to see it.