Focus on the Family’s CitizenLink recently had an interesting interview with screenwriter Barbara Nicolosi, founder of Act One, a training/mentoring program for young Christians in the entertainment industry.
Nicolosi had some strong words regarding Christians and the arts: “The idea of beautiful as something that we should aspire to every time we sit down to create – that’s gone. I go to the 10 o’clock Mass in my parish watching 1,500 people groaning because it’s such bad music. It’s not that they’re not doing music anymore, it’s just they’re doing it badly.
“A lot of church drama, skits, what passes for literature intended for the Christian audience, is banal at best. That’s because the church has started to see the arts over the last couple generations as means to an end. ‘We’re going to use this song to get people to be pro-life or use this skit to make people repent. We’re going to use this book to make people not commit suicide.’ Even though they’re good agendas, they’ve attached an agenda on these works of art.”
CitizenLink concludes the interview by asking, “How do Christians take back the beautiful?” Nicolosi’s revealing answer includes some sound advice: It’s very hard work, making something beautiful. You can’t cut corners. Check it out.
