Fireproof

FIREPROOF

For the past five years, I have heard SOOOOO many people, especially those in the evangelical Christian circles raving about this movie and how it "saved their marriage."  Now, I'm not going to cynically rip this thing apart, because there was a lot of good stuff in it.  However, I'm not going to say it was the best movie ever about divorce, relationships, and such.  Let's lay some groundwork first, just so I don't look like a jerk.

This was excellent as far as most Christian produced movies go.  I understand the reasons why this tends to happen. 
The Christian Entertainment Industry is a fairly small pool, smaller than BBC's talent pool in the 1970s.  Therefore, I just accept that the acting will not be Oscar award-winning.  Most of the time, they have to take what they can get (mostly has beens or not yets). 
I also realize that they have an agenda to be preachy.  I don't feel like that's necessary, but then, I'm not making the movies.

So, let me start by saying what I liked about the movie, so that way I don't tick people off and look like a "juice bag", as my kids say.

First, the overall message is great.  As a sailor, I have watched MANY marriages break down and honestly, SHATTER, because of finances, miscommunication, and lack of quality time.  In fact, those are often the top three reasons people get divorced or resort to cheating.  Much of the movie hit me in the feels, as I had at one time been in the same place.

Also, seeing Mike Seaver (he will always be that to me) reacting the same way I once did was great.  Nothing makes your stupid actions look even more idiotic than having Kirk Cameron portray them with his sub-par, past-his-prime acting skills.  I half expected Alan Thicke to come in with a cup of coffee and give him a heart-to-heart.

"Mike, there comes a time in every man's life where he's gotta stop being such a d-bag..."

Most of the interaction between the main characters seemed fairly believable from the experience I have had in my own marriage and from seeing others around me go through similar circumstances.  I think certain things went overboard, though, which I'll discuss later.

Finally, I truly appreciated that the movie expressed the message that you cannot change anyone else, only yourself.  I spent so much time and effort trying to be Bob the Builder in my marriage.  Sometimes, you can't just "fix" things without changing yourself.  I'm glad that message came across.

Okay, now for the bad, then we'll get to the ugly.

As is my common gripe with an overwhelming majority of Christian films, it was WAAAAAAAAYYYYY too preachy.  It wasn't just the preachiness, though.  It was how ham-fisted and cookie-cutter the preaching was.  I understand that Jesus needs to be central for a film like this, but SERIOUSLY?  Everything goes to shit and can't move forward until you accept Jesus?  Yes, a God-centered perspective will strengthen your marriage, but making it seem like you can't do ANYTHING outside of a Christ-centered relationship is just too much.    Also, it makes it seem like "real Christians" don't have these kind of problems.  The best friend character who had a previous wife?  Pre-conversion.  Of course THAT relationship failed!  Only Christians can have working marriages!  I felt like I was being beat over the head with the salvation message.  Not necessary.  People don't need this shoved down their throats.  It's a turn-off. 

Next, I got the feeling that the director doesn't interact with many people outside of the Christian bubble.  All the non-Christians were so stereotypical and rigid in their "alternative beliefs."  I have met very few people who are so definite in their beliefs or lack there of.  I think Cameron's character, Caleb, was the most realistic.  He didn't know for sure and didn't want to really make it a big thing in his life.  That's what I see most of the time.  The "us vs them" attitude needs to go.  If you want more people to come to Christ and make him a vital part of their marriage, don't portray them as idiots who are "too dumb to realize God loves them."

I liked the salt and pepper shaker illustration, but I hate that it's being adopted by so many couples for their wedding cakes or vow renewals.  I like the imagery, but I hate when good examples become fads.  If you want to make your wedding special, be original or traditional.  Trust me, when you view your wedding video in ten years, it will be cringeworthy.

Moving on, I hate, hate, HATE the way that Catherine was portrayed in this film.  Yes, initially Caleb looked like a chauvinistic jerk and a bit unreasonable, but once the D-word came out of Catherine's mouth, she was transformed into an ice-hearted heinous bitch.  This movie made the whole impending divorce look like her fault and she was portrayed as completely unwavering in her mindset.  Let's be realistic.  If someone had treated you like garbage for 5+ years, would YOU rush back into their arms after only 40 days of a change? Would you need YOUR extremely stereotypically portrayed African American "girlfriend" to put the idea that it was a scam into your head?  I know anytime I see a drastic change in someone's behavior, especially if someone is always mean and suddenly nice, as suspicious.  I've been burned FAR too many times to just bite that hook.  To demonize her character is so awful.  Her reactions are completely predictable.  In fact, too predictable.  They set her up for the fall from the first scene she's in.  They may have just had a neon sign saying "bad guy" pointing at her the whole time.

Speaking of predictable, this whole movie was predictable.  Maybe I've just seen far too many rom-coms or chick flicks or whatever rhyming subgenre you want to use, but I could have told you the whole run of this film in the first ten minutes.  Even the big plot twist at the end was pretty predictable, though they did make me doubt it for a bit (for that, I say well played).

Okay, enough negativity.  Well, there's a couple more things.  But these are more ugly than bad (I forewarned you).

The not-so-subtle stereotypes.  Really, if that one black nurse said "MMMMHMMMM" one more time in that film, I'd have pulled an Elvis and shot the TV.  You might as well have had Al Jolson in blackface portraying Terrell (REALLY?  CAN YOU PICK A MORE STEREOTYPICAL "black" NAME?!).

This offended me less than those nurses and Terrell combined.

Also, it seemed like EVERY female was portrayed in a negative light.  From Catherine's cold behavior throughout the film, to the gossipy nurses, to Caleb's mother initially being seen as the reason for the near divorce between his parents.

Future destroyer of worlds

Last of all, the fat people were all screw-ups.  I'm so sick of overweight people being cast as the dimwitted, clumsy as all get out comic reliefs.  Really, looking at the waistlines of most fundamental evangelicals in the churches I'VE seen, you'd think they'd be seen as the heroes!

I'm a person...

...not your entertainment.

It's so obvious that this movie was written by old white men with no real context of life outside their own demographic.  Sadly, I have to admit that this is one of the best Christian produced movies I've seen.  It brings me to tears.  I feel like Christians in the entertainment industry will never get the respect they deserve unless those who produce evangelical or even just Christian-made movies step up their game and try harder at being relevant in today's society.  In fact, you don't even have to try.  Just make it REAL and not a stereotypical fantasy world.

One last question: Did anyone else think it was a little over-the-top that Caleb smashed his computer to show that he was giving up his pornography addiction?  Really all that said was that he COULDN'T control himself, so he was making it impossible to do it.  Terrible way to do it.  Why not show that he could actually control himself and NOT click on the sex banners?  Oh wait, then he couldn't SHOW his unfeeling wife that he actually did anything.  Never mind.  Bring on the hate.