Redeeming Love - A Marriage of Sacred & Secular

Cinematic Doctrine

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REBROADCAST MOVIE DISCUSSION:

Before Dune, Daniel saw a trailer for Redeeming Love. After the trailer played, he leaned over to his friend and said, "I think that's supposed to be a sexy Christian movie.". So, here we are talking about that "sexy Christian movie". Boy, there sure is a lot to talk about here. (originally released March 22nd, 2022)
Topics:

• Redeeming Love contains some rather extreme and transgressive content despite having a serious lack of context.
• Daniel details some background for Redeeming Love, author/screenwriter Francine Rivers, and director D.J. Caruso.
• Redeeming Love is loosely based on the Minor Prophet book Hosea from the Bible.
• Each character feels devoid of personality which may work in both a shorter and more artistic film than Redeeming Love ends up being.
• Where Redeeming Love works is where it leans heavily into its "inspiration", but even then, that's not success from talent, that's success from... copying Scripture.
• Discussing the comparatively excessive conveniently censored nudity in Redeeming Love.
• Additionally, discussing all the other crazy content that borders on "Christian misery porn."
• As we continue our discussion, the 2+hour runtime of the film continues to be a recurring issue.
• At least the sets and outfits are fun!
• Questioning why the film didn't display the complicated dynamics of sexuality (gentle self-sacrifice vs aggressive selfishness) in a way that can be both edifying to its performers and beneficial to the narrative structure.
• One glaring issue throughout the film is each character's severe lack of agency.
• Observations from other reviews and responses to Redeeming Love.
• Is this a Christian exploitation film in the traditional sense of an exploitation film?

Recommendations:

• The Boice Commentary Series: The Minor Prophets, Volume 1 // The Preacher's Commentary Vol 22 & Vol 23
• Derry Girls (Show)
• Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Novel by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Book)

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