Why I'm Anti -"Fireproof"

"Facing the Giants" and "Fireproof" are two movies which have recently been released into theaters and on DVD after being made by Sherwood Baptist Church in Georgia using low budgets and volunteer actors. I am a Christian, and I appreciate their attempts to get the Christian message out there, but there are many reasons the idea of these films makes me roll my eyes and sigh.
First of all, both movies offer Christ as an easy answer. As if accepting Christ and following Him will automatically save your football team from defeat and your marriage from divorce. Does anyone really buy that? Christians have the same divorce statistics as non-Christians. My relationship with God hasn't prevented me from facing problems and failures in life. I doubt there's really anyone out there whose sudden conversion really resulted in a spontaneous solution to all their relationship problems.
Secondly, the campy and cliche quality of these movies makes them laughable where they try to be serious. I am a strong proponent of spirituality in the movies, but I believe that the most effective examples of this are movies that embrace artistic excellence, genuine writing, and originality. Aesthetically brilliant films like "Fight Club" and "The Thin Red Line" have deep spiritual resonance despite their secular settings and true-to-life violence. In his book The Hollywood Project, Christian film buff Alex Field states "For too long, Christians have been judging film through a narrow moral lens that forsakes the value of aesthetic excellence while dismissing the reality of the world we live in and the true spiritual searching in which our culture is engaged." The nature of life is a search for truth, and art should be a reflection of this search, not an easy-answer movie with all the gritty realities filtered out for a G rating.
Also, I disagree with the separatist ideology of "Christian" media- we have our own world of music, movies, books, magazines, everything - overtly labeled as "Christian" and thus separated from the mainstream, even though oftentimes these products are merely sub-par imitations of what is mainstream. Jesus said to be "in the world but not of it", so why can't Christians produce art which reflects their values and still release it in the mainstream? Doesn't that give us a higher chance of actually reaching someone who would steer clear of products overtly labeled as Christian? Separation into camps of "Christian" and "secular" only divides people and allows Christians to avoid confronting the realities of the world. Some things in secular culture are awful and wrong, but this doesn't make them any less real. This brings me to my next point. The two Sherwood movies are mostly just preaching to the choir. I highly doubt anyone went to see "Fireproof" without knowing that it was a Christan movie. If what they wanted to do was make a preachy movie for an already-reached audience, then that's great. But as an outreach tool, it's ineffective.
Even if a non-Christian saw "Fireproof" and was moved, is that enough to really begin life as a Christian? Developing faith is a complicated journey, one that involves intense personal reflection, reading the Bible, and prayer, over an extended period of time. Seeing a movie may help, but saying it's going to convert people is an overestimation of it's power. "Is there anyone who ever remembers changing their mind from the paint on a sign? Is there anyone who really recalls ever breaking rank at all for something someone yelled real loud one time ?" one of my favorite songs questions. It takes more than a sporadic jolt of Christian message to make a lasting change in someone's life. Instead, I agree wholeheartedly with the philosophy of Christian filmmaker Buzz McLaughlin, who has chosen not to make overtly Christian movies. "Our films are aimed at a different target. We want to reach the person who would have trouble relating to an overt faith-based approach. We want to create films that deal in an artful and truthful way with struggles and moral dilemmas, and hopefully we will leave the audience considering answers that point gently toward forgiveness, healing, and life-affirmation. We’re trying to reach an audience that is willing to ponder difficult questions, but doesn’t want to be led by the hand—an audience that will, if we’re successful, accept the invitation and begin the search themselves." This philosphy of filmmaking allows for much more truthful, artistic, and relatable films, which will ultimately be more effective in prompting searchers toward the truth.
Lastly, a question which I don't have the answer to: What could Sherwood Baptist have spent the $550,000 it cost to make "Fireproof" on which would have had a greater and more lasting impact on our world? And what did they do with the $33 million that the film grossed? If anyone knows the answers to this question, I'd really love to know.
In conclusion, I'm not hostile to the motivation to make these movies; in fact I think it is quite noble. However, the films are mistaken in their portrayal of Christianity as an easy answer, their poor filmic quality, and their overt, proselytzing approach.

More on "Fireproof": http://stillsearching.wordpress.com/2008/09/29/fireproof/