People Magazine, April 5 Issue COVER HEADLINE "Does Hollywood Have FAITH?" Page 94 [NOTE: This is primarily the AOL version. We've added the last two paragraphs from the magazine which is much longer and mentions the Media Leader Prayer Calendar again at the end using it to "bookend" the story. —WEBSERVANT ]

Hollywood & Divine

The Passion shows the power of religious messages, while churchgoing stars open upen up about their own beliefs.

By Allison Adato

Lord of hosts, send legions of angels
to the major media centers of the world,
such as Hollywood and New York,
to assist in spreading Your message
and accomplishing Your will.

GRANTED, IT DOESN'T HAVE THE LYRICISM OF THE 23rd PSALM, but thanks to the ministry of Mastermedia International Inc., which mails out free "21 Redemptive Prayers for Hollywood" flyers to 50,000 evangelical Christian subscribers, people can pray those words and perhaps move showbiz types to use their considerable influence only for good. The group also offers a Media Leader Prayer Calendar — available online too — so believers can focus their prayers simultaneously on alphabetically designated targets. On April 7, it's Independence Day director Roland Emmerich. The next day, Eminem. On the 9th, it's the entire cast and crew of Entertainment Tonight.

The calendar reveals what many conservative Christians feel about Hollywood—that it ignores their values. Despite high ratings for Joan of Arcadia on TV, numerous shout-outs to God on awards shows and stars such as Madonna and Mel Gibson speaking up about their religious beliefs, many Americans still feel alienated by the Hollywood studios' menu of coarse language, rampant sex, gay characters and certain Super bowl halftime shows. "Hollywood, at heart, is anti-Christian—the only time
you see churches are during funerals and weddings," declares Robert Knight, director of the D.C.-based Culture and Family Institute, who
opposes programs like Will & Grace for "promoting a libertine lifestyle."

Don't expect the highly rated show suddenly to be replaced by a prime-time edition of The 700 Club. Still, it's not as if Hollywood execs
haven't noticed the power of religious-themed projects, thanks to the monumental success of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, which
has earned an astounding $300 million at the box office so far, defying all expectations. Nearly 45 percent of Americans have either seen the
film or say they intend to, according to a March Gallup poll—evidence that the film's appeal extends far beyond evangelical Christians.
Producer Frank Desiderio, who is also a Roman Catholic priest, saw the Passion principle in effect when ABC finally aired his long-shelved
Judas TV movie last month. Though it fared poorly in the ratings, he says his calls are returned just a little quicker now. He didn't like The
Passion for its violence but admits that the film "has raised the profile of [my] company. We've always said there are good stories out there.
But it has been hard to make them."

Perhaps, but God has long had a high profile in Hollywood. The first version of The Ten Commandments was released in 1923, and stars
from Gregory Peck to Jessica Simpson have spoken openly about their faith. Even before the success of The Passion, a crop of new
projects with religious themes was in the works. Director Ron Howard is bringing the controversial novel The Da Vinci Code (which suggests
that Mary Magdelene bore Jesus' child) to the big screen. Gladiator director Ridley Scott's epic Kingdom of Heaven, about the Crusades, is
scheduled for next year. Disney plans a live-action adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the Christian parable for kids by C.
S. Lewis. Unlike The Passion, though, few big-studio projects deal directly with questions of belief and faith. For years Christian-themed
entertainment has been treated as a niche market, and conservative Christians are easy comic foils. (See Ned Flanders, the "hi-diddily-ho"
holier-than-thou neighbor on The Simpsons, for one.) "We've been screaming for years that Christian folks are a large market looking for a
good movie to take their families to see," says Hank Erwin, an Alabama state senator and Christian broadcaster. "They like movies like
anybody else but don't like to be insulted."

Those in showbiz, not surprisingly, largely disagree with the notion that they're spiritually bankrupt. "Hollywood isn't a godless place, but the
people who run the major entertainment companies are a pretty homogenous group and don't understand where the rest of the country is,"
says producer Gavin Polone (Panic Room and Curb Your Enthusiasm), whose miniseries based on the Book of Revelation will air on NBC in
the fall. Roma Downey, who starred in the 1994-2003 CBS show Touched by an Angel, recalls that before her series hit the airwaves "the
idea of God and entertainment was decidedly unhip, even within the hallways of my own network. Somehow, it's like God equals
'unfashionable.' And Hollywood is all about how it looks." Since The Passion hit theaters, however, God is looking pretty good to the studios.
"The primary religion practiced in Hollywood is money," says one exec. "We do not hesitate to worship false idols. If religion sells, we're going
to do it." Gibson himself has hinted that he will next tell the story of Judah Maccabee, a Jewish warrior ca. 168 BC whose victory is
commemorated during Hanukkah. Even Survivor creator Mark Burnett is onboard with Daughter of God, his first feature film, adapted from a
novel about a female messiah. "Yes, more spiritual movies will be made," says Barnet Bain, producer of The Celestine Prophecy, based on
the New Age bestseller. "But unless these films are authentic, they will be unsuccessful. Can there be anything emptier than the word of God
in the voice of the unbeliever?"

As it happens, there are plenty of believers in Hollywood. You can find Denzel Washington and Angela Bassett at a Pentecostal church in South L.A.; Martin Sheen at the Roman Catholic Our Lady of Malibu; Steven Spielberg was seen at Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills, hugging Gwyneth Paltrow following his daughter's bat mitzvah. (His mom's kosher restaurant, the Milky Way, is located in the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood.) There are also many more who don't go to church, but that is true elsewhere. More than 80 percent of Americans might call themselves Christian but, according to a recent survey, only 43 percent regularly attend church. MTV star Jessica Simpson can relate. "I travel 300 days of the year," she says, "but I definitely have my time with God, and that is my church.

"The entertainment industry — like most other workplaces — also believes in the separation of church and office. Hollywood has an unwritten rule, says Kirk Cameron: "It's 'we don't care what you believe, just keep it to yourself.' " Cameron, 33, once an atheist who played mischievous
son Mike on Growing Pains, is now born again and starring in the Left Behind movies (which have earned an estimated $100 million), based
on the megaselling Book of Revelation thrillers. Paula Cale, who costarred on Providence, says that although she is politically and socially
liberal, her Mormonism makes her a black sheep in Hollywood. "People read that I am Mormon and think that I hate gay people. I am terrified
to be judged in this city because of it."

Balancing faith and fame can also mean some tough choices. Cameron claims he has had to turn down no fewer than 100 jobs due to conflicts with his religious beliefs. Nonetheless, he says, "I think it's critical that a person is true to themselves and not change beliefs like a chameleon depending on who they are talking to." When the Jewish New Year fell on what was to be his first day on The West Wing, actor Joshua Malina says, "I was terrified [to ask for the day off], but I couldn't possibly work on Rosh Hashanah." Malina, a conservative Jew, put the question to his new bosses and, he reports, "they were very nice about it." According to her father, Robert Thurman, a Buddhist scholar, Uma Thurman has said no to several films that, he says, "condone horror." (She gives a pass to
pal Quentin Tarantino, whose use of screen violence, says her dad, is "like a dance.") The Passion's staunch Catholic star Jim Caviezel has
twice asked that his onscreen love scenes (in Angel Eyes and High Crimes) be made more modest. Born-again Stephen Baldwin says he
will do bedroom scenes only if he's playing a married man or if there is a redemptive story line and adds, "You will not see me in a sequel to
The Usual Suspects anytime soon."

Before Everybody Loves Raymond made her a star, Patricia Heaton (raised Catholic, now a practicing Presbyterian) was sent a film script
that she felt was exploitative. Though broke, she never auditioned. Fortunately, Heaton, who says grace before meals and takes her four
sons to church weekly, found a home on Raymond — one of the few shows to depict churchgoing as a matter of course. "Most people have
some kind of faith," she says. "It makes the show more real." Keeping the faith in Hollywood, though, poses special challenges. "This
business tests you constantly: the materialism, the pride, the ambition," says Heaton. "[The apostle] Paul says, 'I have died to myself and it's
no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.' We're supposed to 'die to ourselves'—and I'm paying a publicist $3,000 a month to make sure
everybody knows who I am?"

* * *

Heaton says she understands the disconnect many feel when they go to the movies. "People look at the stuff that comes out of Hollywood and
think, 'Who are the people making this garbage? They couldn't possibly
have any connection to God.'" Yet even her show doesn't meet the
demands of some frustrated viewers. Darrell Bock, a Dallas Theological
Seminary professor, likes Everybody Loves Raymond but calls the show's
depiction of the absurdly narrow-minded Protestant in-laws "typical of
the stereotyping that goes on." Says MacBrunson, the senior pastor at
the First Baptist Church of Dallas: "It's okay to be tolerant of
everything but an evangelical Christian. In Hollywood, when it comes to
the church, they go for the bizarre and psychotic. In Runaway Jury,
there was Baptist preacher's wife who was having an affair and had an
abortion. I don't know anyone that's happened to." He has hope that in
the post-Passion era, Hollywood will respect the audience that has
blessed Gibson with epic riches. Brunson says he doesn't need more
biblical sagas, just something he can watch with the family. In fact,
he's looking forward to the May romantic comedy Raising Helen, in which
Kate Hudson plays a woman dating a pastor. "I'm curious to see that,"
he says. "Preachers can fall in love and act human. One time, I'd love
to see them capture that and get it right."

Memo to Dr. Brunson—the day to collectively pray for Kate Hudson is May 30.

EMAIL TO A FRIEND      PRINT THIS PAGE