Film as Religion Myths, Morals, and Rituals [Paperback]

ChoiceOutstanding Academic Title 2003

Film as Religionargues that popular films perform a religious function in our culture. Like more formal religious institutions, films can provide us with ways to view the world and values to confront it. Lyden contends that approaches which interpret films only ideologically or theologically miss the mark in understanding their appeal to viewers. He develops an alternative method which shows how films can be understood as representing a “religious” worldview in their own right.

Lyden surveys the state of the study of religion and film, offering an overview of previous methods before presenting his own. Rather than seeking to uncover hidden meanings in film detectable only to scholars, Lyden emphasizes how film functions for its audiencesᾹthe beliefs and values it conveys, and its ritual power to provide emotional catharsis. He includes a number of brief cases studies in which he applies this method to the study of film genres—including westerns and action movies, children's films, and romantic comedies—and individual films from The Godfather to E.T., showing how films can function religiously.

“John Lyden has entered into the arena of Religion and Film books with an extremely adept contender. His review of the literature on existing approaches to religion and film should be required reading by film enthusiasts and theologians alike. What his conclusions offer in terms of a new approach are solid, convincing and most promising for the future of the field.”
-Tony S. L. Michael,co-chair, Religion, Film and Visual Culture, AAR

“Lyden’s book is well-written, insightful, and especially engaging for anyone who loves movies. ”
-Religious Studies Review

“. . . offers several new perspectives on this increasingly popular and gradually more critical area. It also is wellsuited for the religious studies classroom. Ll�