2022 Media Review: Movies

It’s January again, so that means it’s time for the annual WholeHeartEd media review, where we will take a look at the top movies, music, shows and podcasts of the previous year, pick apart the messages they are portraying about relationships and evaluate whether those messages are healthy or unhealthy. Last year was a huge year for sequels and reboots with nearly every one of the top ten grossing films falling into one of those categories. We’re going to look at what the top 10 movies of last year were and let you know our thoughts about the messages they portrayed!

Counting down the top ten grossing movies of 2022, we have:

10. Moon Man

9. Water Gate Bridge

8. Thor: Love and Thunder

7. The Batman

6. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

5. Minions: The Rise of Gru

4. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

3. Jurassic World: Dominion

2. Avatar: The Way of Water

1. Top Gun: Maverick

Right from the get-go, we can see a strong reliance on nostalgia and the proven formula of superheroes versus villains as a returning trend – 4 of the top ten directly fall into this category and 5 of the others deal heavily with the theme of good against evil. Why do these types of narratives grip us so strongly? It’s not just a phenomenon of the last 15-20 years of Superheroes dominating the box office, but all throughout human history, stories of heroes and villains, good vs evil, have been at the center of many of the most captivating stories passed down through the ages. Even more so, the depictions of evil driven by greed – as shown in Jurassic World, Avatar, and the Batman – fear, and even grief – as shown in Thor, Black Panther and Doctor Strange – can be seen throughout our historical narratives as well. What is it about these stories that resonate with us throughout history and what is the message we should be learning?

The concept of good vs evil is, at its core, a question of morality. It’s right and wrong, truth against lies. As human beings, we understand our world and our place in it through a framework of moralistic choices we make ourselves and what we observe in the choices of others. On the playground, kids play cops and robbers, good guys and bad guys. It’s not only how we tell our stories, but it’s also how we interpret our own. In hindsight we might be able to recognize our faults and see where we went wrong, but in the moment, we are always the good guy in the argument, we’re always right. This pattern is played out on our screens when we see a clear right, a clear wrong, a moral objective and an immoral obstacle and it is played out in our lives, as our relationships become the primary stage where these battles are taking place. Hopefully, you can already see where this approach might start to break down.

Unlike our favorite superheroes and action stars, we’re not always right in the end. When Maverick took the prototype jet out for an unsanctioned test flight at the beginning of the movie, he was breaking the orders of his superior officers but he ended up being right and saved a lot of peoples jobs at his own expense. In The Batman, my personal favorite film of last year, Bruce Wayne breaks the law as he deals out vigilante justice in a city whose justice system has largely failed and, in the end, he becomes more than just a vigilante; he becomes a hero. But, what about us? How did you handle that last argument. With the holiday season just wrapping up, I’m sure there have been plenty of opportunities for conflict, how’d you do? As much as we wish to justify all of our choices and how we behaved, we know that we are not actually the heroes in the story most of the time. Even by our own subjective standards of morality we fall miserably short. In fact, if we think about it, we have far more in common with the villains; we push to get our way and get angry when we don’t, we lie to avoid consequences – big or small, we often hurt those we say that we love, we always think we’re right until we’re forced to see that we are wrong and then, when we are feeling particularly antagonistic, we double down in our wrongness because we’re too prideful to admit that we were wrong. So, even by our own myths and stories, we indict ourselves. If that’s the case, why are we continually drawn back to these same types of stories if we know deep down that we can never measure up?

We can’t help but be drawn to these archetypal stories because all these movies, all these legends, all the myths that have been passed down throughout history are all drawing our attention to the one myth that is actually true. It’s the story that all of creation was founded upon and the one song that all of creation can’t help but sing. This universe, this world, this life, this story that we find ourselves caught up in is not about us. We can’t rescue our relationships and we can’t save ourselves, because we are not the heroes. We’re not innocent bystanders, either. We have tried to take over the narrative and do things our own way but, deep down, we know that we are just a small part of something far greater than ourselves. Colossians 1:15 – 22 says,

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,”

He, Jesus, is the true hero of the story. All of our superhero movies and epic war dramas are really just shadows and imitations of the true good vs evil tale that is unfolding in and around us every single day. In this story, though, we, the villains, can be reconciled and made right by the substitutiary atonement of our savior, Jesus. When we put our faith in Him, we are brought out of darkness and into the light and we get to be a part of this great mission to save others, as well.