Since The Passion in particular, Hollywood has been warming up to the idea that Christians might have cash to spend at the theater. Personally, as much as I dig Jesus and talking lions, most of the products that result probably won’t interest me. There’s a difference between using media resources to educate and provoke thinking around issues of faith, and using media to create a feel-good experience for a market that already exists and (presumably) knows what it wants. My feel-good experiences on the screen generally involve explosions, martial arts, mysterious polar bears, and/or bizarre humor, so I’ll look elsewhere to unwind.

However, I enjoy seeing churches and religious educators themselves looking to Hollywood and television in trying to incite discussion. Dan, for example, recently sent a link to me for a series of Mac commercial parodies from Community Christian Church. As in the Apple commercials with one guy playing the Mac and the other playing the PC, the fake ads set up a duality between the Christian and the Christ Follower. I have to admit that this one resonated with me personally, seeing as how the political role played by the people most vocal about their religious affiliations has made “Christian” into a bad word. Another interesting variation on this theme comes from The Church You Know, a series of videos parodying the old “the more you know” PSAs on NBC. In case the videos aren’t hammy enough for you, they kindly provide some serious commentary beneath each video.

In a totally unrelated direction, there’s also the bestselling audio version of the New Testament with Samuel L. Jackson playing the voice of God. I don’t know how much thinking this will provoke among consumers, but I must admit: when Samuel L. Jackson talks, I listen.