X3 from Christian viewpoints :)

i'm glad i came across this site: HollywoodJesus.com :) but of course, what else will i be browsing about but...X-Men 3! :D let's hear what they have to say...


xxx But a war could be coming, and movies like The Da Vinci Code and X-Men suggest that lines are already being drawn.
(from the article "Wow! It delivers!")


xxx Like the X-Men, Christians have been transformed (or perhaps you could say mutated by Jesus Christ), and though they stand apart from the world, they still fight to save the world that would persecute and hate them.

You might even call Christians the Ex-Men, for Jesus has made them into something new. Jesus brings freedom, redemption and eternal life, making all who accept Him into a new creation, a new person free from the past and free from sin. Soon, however, the choice to accept that mutation might be gone. Regardless of your beliefs, know this: if the battle comes, and a last stand has to be made, it may already be too late to choose sides. It's worth thinking about now. What would you rather be? Man or Ex-Man?
(from the article "Wow! It delivers!")

xxx “Don’t let it control you.” – Professor Xavier

This fanboy take on the classic Dark Phoenix storyline represents that internal battle we face as we wrestle with that part of ourselves we believe to be unchecked, our sense of freedom, individuality, and self-sufficiency taken to extreme. Like Jean Grey, it is our other self, the product of fallen creation, living contrary to what we were created to be. The path of The Phoenix, with its subtle Jean Grey possessed by Phoenix imagery, leaves only entropy and death in its wake.

“Be what you are, what nature intended.” – Magneto

We’re all born with this inner beast, this out of control aspect to ourselves. The struggle is one that Wolverine especially identifies with. We all have a choice to make, to choose to be what you are. The choice of how to live, of what to be about, is represented in deciding between the way of Professor Xavier (the path of control/help, ultimately leading to peace and reconciliation) and that of and Magneto (unbridled freedom ultimately leading to chaos and death).
(from the article "I didn't exactly go into this movie with high hopes")

xxx Professor Xavier preaches a gospel message of peace and reconciliation. He believes that the best way to spread this message is by providing a safe place for people to work out their questions all the while teaching them ways to discipline themselves so that they can control themselves. Such safe havens involve first being a community, allowing people to have a sense of belonging before believing. People need to find a place to call home, a place to belong, and people to call family. As Storm put it, “we work as a team.”
(from the article "I didn't exactly go into this movie with high hopes")


xxx Phoenix: You would die for them.
Wolverine: Not for them. For you.

Freedom to live as you were meant to live comes at a cost. “If you want freedom, you have to fight for it,” Magneto says. To be formed into the people we were meant to be requires discipline. A choice, community, formation, the path of discipleship is a long and difficult one. As Robert Webber put it “discipleship is a long obedience in the same direction,” but it is a journey worth taking in order to fulfill the vision of a world united.
(from the article "I didn't exactly go into this movie with high hopes")


xxx I didn’t feel as though any true savior shone through in this film. It was very much the muddled, miry world of hypocrisy and confusion that we wrestle with every day. As a wise man once said in the book of Judges, “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” If you read the book of Judges, you’ll see that most often that leads to pain, suffering, violence, and death. Some people had good intentions, others bad, but things rarely ended well. The same can be said for this film, and pretty much the course of our daily lives.
(from the article “The greatest sacrifice will be made”)

xxx There is a hopelessness that pervades X-Men: The Last Stand and the only thing that brings any peace is a final, desperate act of true love and sacrifice.
(from the article “The greatest sacrifice will be made”)


xxx Jean’s struggle is also particularly resonant in the film as she struggles with dual identities. I think we often feel this way, as our conscience pricks us and yet we act wickedly. Long ago the apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans that “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” This Jekyll and Hyde concept, this war within, is not unique to Jean’s character or Paul. We know this war burns inside us, and — honestly — that we are not capable of containing it ourselves; we need help, and not the kind that just reads minds, fires eyebeams or sprouts knuckle-claws. We need help from above.

X-Men: The Last Stand will solve your desire for a great weekend flick. To cure the raging “phoenix” inside you? That requires something more.
(from the article “The greatest sacrifice will be made”)


xxx Ralph Winter one of the producers for the X-Men series along with other films like The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, Planet of the Apes, the upcoming highly anticipated Ted Dekker story, Three and numerous others has as a part of his intent, the telling of spiritual themes, specifically related to Christianity in his movies. While The Last Stand is not as powerful in this way as X-Men II, it still has as a part of it’s underlying themes, the concept of forgiveness, redemption, sacrifice and ultimate love. Recently on CBN with Scott Ross Winter spoke in detail about his faith.

Winter who once thought he would become a pastor was once actually a youth ministry found his niche in his first successful film, Star Trek II The Wrath of Kahn. That success has continued on with a few missteps along the way but overall, making great strides from one film to the next. Winter, and his work has definitely become a factor worth noticing among many Christians, and non-Christians alike in the world of making film.

Winter has been open about part of the Christian themes he wants to see displayed in the X-Men series. “I’m part of the development process of those stories, and I think you will find some of those values in there in terms of tolerance and how we treat each other and who the hero is and what he values, what he fights for.”

Winter also understands the importance of telling a good story, but even more importantly so, telling a good story from a Christian perspective. When asked about this he replied, “Well, how come we, as Christians, don’t tell stories that we’re so fascinated by? “It’s got to have a happy ending; it can’t be dark. It’s got to be happy. And I’m not sure what the subtext is. It’s got to be obvious.” I don’t think we know our audience. Well, Jesus’ stories resonates with everyone whether you’re a Christian or not. We have to learn about telling original and interesting stories.”

(from the article “This wonderful cast brings the comic to life”)


“I think we have to come up with an example or model or a paradigm of the kinds of movies that we, as Christians, will be proud of that will begin to infect the rest of the culture."
(from the article “This wonderful cast brings the comic to life”)