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Apple Pie Propaganda

Saved is an all-American kitschfest feel-good ream job for Christians. It pulls a neat sleight-of-hand, pretending to be critical of Christianity, when really what it does is criticize intolerance. Yet at the same time it vehemently reinforces what appears to be a clean-cut all-American, very waspy-whitish, vision that is anything but promising.

I agree that it does subvert expectations for born-agains, at least the extremists, but it uses a clever ruse to do so, the idea that we must be sexually tolerant. Sexual intolerance is what we usually think of as the bane of Christianity, when anyone will tell you who has met true Christian intolerance face-to-face at the hands of those same Christians, the sexuality was not always the problem.

Religions use sex as a control, but all religios system have a built-in failsafe, and when pusch comes to shove, tolerance of its members' humanity is essential to keep the flock in order (the new Pope notwishtanding!).

Saved is a standard kitschy-teen flick that pretends to be something it isn't, which is almost more unsettling than a genuinely insightful effort might have been, taking a look at genuine intolerance, and the effects on other people such intolerance can have.

Want to see the logical outcome of a tolerant waspy-Christian society? Check out Starship Troopers and listen to the commentary. The population in both films is the same, and in Troopers everyone is sexually tolerant. They are united in the openess towards each other, and it's charming as long as you're one of them. But if you're a bug...or whoever happens to be the bug of the day...well, that's another story, isn't it?

Saved has some funny moments, some fun scenes, some strong scenes. It pushes the emotional buttons in that feel-good-packaged kind of way. But in the end I felt like I'd gone to sunday school and watched a very clever pitch to join my local church. No thanks, that's not why I like art.

Thomas Bauer

{13 votes}

April 22, 2005

Mandy Moore has been saved!

I had not heard anything about this film when I rented it. I cannot believe how hard I laughed! This film tells the tale of a young girl who sacrificies her virginity in an attempt to make her homosexual boyfriend become heterosexual. She ends up pregnant and all hell breaks loose at ther Christian School. I really enjoyed Macaulay Culkin as the wheelchaired brother of her nemesis. He tries to help find a solution to her problem. Jena Malone was fantastic as the wayward girl. I remember her from Stepmom with Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts. I was very impressed with Mandy Moore. I did not expect such a great performance from someone who typically does teenage films. Brian Dannelly both directed and wrote the screenplay. He did a great job! It was different from mainstream Hollywood and probably upset a lot of religious folk. I would highly recommend this film, expect for those who are religious and might take offence.

Caroline Rahal

{19 votes}

March 1, 2005

Hallelujah!

Saved is an excellent film. It was an enjoyable mix of dark humour and lessons on humanity. Mandy Moore plays the annoyingly picture-perfect, bible-thumping Christian teen who has the compassion of a door-nail. I could just imagine how some religious groups have reacted to this film. Yes, it was a satire, so take it as a satire. It's not meant to be taken seriously. The moral of this movie was the acceptance of all lifestyles and life choices. It is meant to show us how some will "preach and push the word of the Lord" but at the same time have no idea about how to live such a life. We could all learn from it, so regardless of age, I highly reccommend it. Superb acting and script-writing.

Claudia Melchiorre

{16 votes}

October 25, 2004

Pre-emptive critique of...SAVED!

You might have seen the poster and some of you may even have gotten a glimpse at the trailer but I doubt that too many of you truly know SAVED!

In true ABC Afterschool Special tradition a girl gets knocked up at a Southern Baptist high school and instantly finds herself ostracized and having to grow up real fast.

Sounds like fun don't it?

Actually, it might be. You see, this is very dark coming-of-age story which surprisingly has managed to slip in under the ultra-conservative radar is a direct attack on that vision of America that good ol' W. and his redneck buddies seem to value so very much. According to Michael Stipe, (yes, THAT bald, skeletal and oh, so contrary lead singer of R.E.M.) who produced this dark little baby: "It's like those monster vampire high school kind of movies, only here the monsters are Jesus-freak teenagers."

Uh huh. Ok, so clearly someone has issues here and a very deep axe to grind but that's hardly surprising from the premiere 90's whining voice of 'everything that's wrong in the world today'. This dude's had a bug up his ass since before the higher powers of alt-rock tapped him to become The Single Voice That Endlessly Bitches About Social Causes & Other Such Rubbish.

In all seriousness, it's entirely possible that this movie implodes in the execution but at least the premise is solid enough to give it a chance. Besides, it's a Mandy Moore picture so the chances of it being watchable go significantly up.

Pedro Eggers

{16 votes}

April 20, 2004

Saved

This was a surprisingly good movie that you wouldn't think would be, especially with Mandy Moore as one of the main characters, but I have to give her props. She usually plays the goody two shoes roles, but this time it served a purpose. The cast of actors did a great job in their roles I really don't think this movie was making fun of religion per se, but you're just left with the impression of how short life and what a waste it is to worrying about other people's business or what other people think. Another really good under the belt of Michael Stipe's production company.

Josee Lacroix

June 8, 2005

Saved!

For everyone who has sat through a horrible teen flick wishing it would end, Saved may be the film to restore a genre usually dominated by Scream and American Pie re-makes that don't quite cut it. Mixing the witty politics of the Christian church through issues such as homosexuality, sexuality and pregnancy and the stigma that accompanies them in a devout school, Saved brings humanity to a genre otherwise dominated by crude sexual comedy and the embarrassment that goes along with the territory! Plus the film has a pretty kick-ass, but quirky cast, ranging from Macaulay Culkin to Mandy Moore to the kid from Almost Famous, all brought out of their stereotypical role. It may not be Oscar-worthy, but Saved is enough to make you laugh, sometimes at the expense of others!

Jessica Rose

{2 votes}

April 13, 2005

Alleluia!!!

The movie "Saved" is truly an eye-opening movie that I had ever seen. This movie doesn't talk about religious extremism. In this film the teen pop star Mandy Moore plays as Hilary who is the leader of a group of popular kids at a Catholic high school. Miss Moore teen pop star, she is more an actress to me. Hilary is the great fanatic of the group shunning things that strict catholics do: gays, premarital sex, bad language, and abortion. Her best friend, Jena Malone's Mary, becomes pregnant for a hilarious reason...the rest is for you to discover the secret behind the story... Mary is shunned by her friends and forced to find solace from the outcasts of the school.

In conclusion, great supporting performances from Jena Malone, Mandy Moore and Macaulay Culkin. I recommend this movie to all you viewers.

Jean Mitchell Dungo

{4 votes}

December 3, 2004

Uggh!

Saved! is now out on video. I liked the introduction to the movie, narrated by Mary, especially the part where she was saved from drowning by a worker who looked like Jesus. The dialogue was really over the top, especially in the case of Mandy Moore's evil, mean girl type character. Over all, this film was ok but I wouldn't recommend it because there aren't many plot twists, and the hypocritical, ultra religious conversations get tiresome. Saved! doesn't say anything we haven't seen or heard before.

Sue Michal

{2 votes}

November 13, 2004

Making Fun Of Christianity

In this ripoff of Ridgemount High, the movie producers and the director got religious schooling all wrong. For starters the word Christian should not appear in the name of the institution. Just as only communist countries have the word "Democratic" in their title, the USA does not need to flaunt that it is the greatest democracy. That high school must be boys or girls only to prevent flirting and sexual temptation. Fancy t-shirts with slogans would be out. Instead you would have dresses for the girls and jacket and ties for the boys to show dignity and respect. Swearing and activities as smoking and drugs would get zero tolerance at a real Christian school. Overreaching faith affirmation meetings would be replaced by chapel services to highlight special occasions in that community.

I should know. I attended a private all boys Catholic High School for four years and the antics of this supposed Christian school left me puzzled. Religion should be reflected in attitudes and behavior not meaningless symbols. The teachers instilled their values in us by their concrete examples! Even sports activities taught us the value of fair play!

Trying to cure a homosexual by engaging in sex as is done in this movie must be the height of stupidity considering venereal diseases, AIDS and pregnancy. Aversion therapy or deprogramming would be more logical treatment methods. Some homosexual men have married women, fathered many children and then all of a sudden split up because of sexual incompatibility. It is a complicated issue!

A teenager with a baby will likely skip college and not end up in a good career path. But most of all the baby will suffer from neglect. The baby's birth at the end of movie neglected to address these serious concerns.

It is little wonder that this movie created such controversy!

Stephen Talko

{9 votes}

July 12, 2004

Saved! through Tolerance

Saved! has all of the conventions of a typical teen movie-- the prom, teen angst, the rebel outsider-- but it also carries a very important message of tolerance and acceptance. I usually roll my eyes at most teen comedies, since they are largely predictable and not all that interesting. This one, while still being a bit predictable, was definitely entertaining. Most of the jokes were pretty funny, and I found myself laughing out loud quite a few times.

After viewing this film, it is kind of hard to believe that so many Christian groups have a problem with it, when it has very positive messages. I wouldn't say that this film is against Christianity, just against intolerance. Saved! exposes just how hypocritical so many bible thumpers can be, in that they do not welcome those who are different into their arms. In order to be accepted, one must conform to the proscribed ideals. This is the problem that I have with many organized religions. Believe what you want to believe, just don't be hateful to those who do not share the same views. Most of us dislike having a rather close-minded view of the world pushed on them, and that is why many people stay away from organized religion. There is plenty of room for diversity, and I find it hard to believe that, if there is actually a supreme power, that he/she/it would not want difference in the world. From a biological standpoint, diversity is very, very important.

Anyways, I would definitely recommend seeing Saved!. It is a good use of an hour and a half, and hopefully the message of acceptance and tolerance will be passed along. Although with the outcry from the Christian community, it does seem that this message will unfortunately be lost on them. Well, at the very least, those of us who have already been converted to this message have a very entertaining, funny movie to watch with a very positive message.

Heather Jackson

{3 votes}

June 24, 2004

Jesus loves you!

I waited a long time to see this film and was not disappointed in the least. It was very clever and although it was a bit predictable towards the end it never lost its edge. And, yes, there was the whole inevitable debate of 'Why would God make us so different if he wanted us all to be the same (direct quote). We are who we are, get used to it' etc. etc.

Through an extreme comparison this film could be likened to a cross between Election meets But I'm A Cheerleader in the best possible sense.

Macaulay Culkin turned in a solid performance but the real standout star was Susan Saradon's daughter, Eva Amuuri, who played the school's lone Jewish student and overall rebel. She was given great material to work with and used it to the best of her ability.

Mandy Moore proved her versatility as a rising actress as she fully embraced her role as the school's most perfect Christian-without-a-single-fault pupil, Hilary Faye. Together with Amurri, she delivered the majority of the film's most memorable lines such as, 'Mary, turn away from Satan. Jesus, he loves you'. Moore also did a fabulous job belting out the film's beautiful theme song 'God Only Knows' with R.E.M's Michael Stipe.

Although some of the topics, situations and language may be seen as overtly offensive and mocking to certain religious groups who venture out to watch this film, this movie should not be shied away from as it does contain many important, if already heard of, messages.

Antoinette Davis

{7 votes}

June 22, 2004

Saved?...Yes but....

This movie goes to show you that teen-agers will always be teen-agers, no matter what they belive in. They will always have rock stars to adulate and a prom ball to attend. It does not matter if they like the Beasty Boys or a christian group, it does not matter if they get together to watch an episode of Friends or organize a prayer meeting. They are teen-agers, and by definition they are going through the best and worst time of their lives.

The teen agers of the movie were attaching even though you could see where the story was going...no surprises there.

This being said I liked the way the movie shows how, even in a religion where acceptence is the main message, people get pushed aside because they do not fit in with the rest. I like one of the last lines "Why did God made us different if he wanted all of us to be the same?". That pretty much summerizes the main lines of the ideology of Saved. If Jesus is love, then why so many people get hurt because of him?

Alice Camerlingo

{4 votes}

June 18, 2004

Saved

I enjoyed this movie even though Mandy Moore was in it who I like, I did not think that this movie was going to be good. But I was surprised. In a way it is a typical teen movie but I like the religion take on it. It shows us that does not matter what or where you come from things are basically the same.

Louise Lacroix

November 22, 2005

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