Bridge to Terabithia (2007)

Deceptive anti-christian polemic
I thought this would be a innocent tale of childhood escapism. To my surprise this movie addressed some of the more challenging issues young teens face: bullying, acceptance, family conflict, parental [mis]understanding, loss, to name a few. As such it was a breath of fresh air from most teen fare. However, I was shocked by a pivotal scene which revealed what I consider to be the main thrust of film and I was not amused.

The critical scene occurs in a car ride home from church where an unchurched Leslie (AnnaSophia Robb), the guest of Jesse (Josh Hutcherson), is told by Jesse's sister May Belle (Bailee Madison) that people are damned by God if they don't believe in Jesus. Leslie objects to this intolerant and unreasonable tenet of Biblical Christianity. And considering its source--the indoctrinated brats of some unflatteringly characterized christians--who would not side with the lovely Leslie.

To a largely biblically ignorant viewing public this scene will leave an indelible but mistaken impression. In the Gospel of John, chapter 3, Jesus makes it very clear with one of the hard truths of the faith: "Unless a man be born again/from above, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." Not even the good man Nicodemus is so entitled. God is accused of damning unrepentent men to hell, but no mention is made to His costly provision, namely the sacrificial death of God Himself in the person of Jesus to save man from eternal 'damnation.' A Christian-friendly film would have made these essential differences clear. One antagonistic purposefully obscures and reinvents God by arguing that God would not damn a 'good' man (or young girl)--making Jesus' death of no account and rendering Biblical Christianity intolerant at best, narrow and hateful at worst.

The Bridge to Terabithia is a fantasy gateway indeed. A sad and depressing film, offering no hope to a fallen world, not in this life and surely not in the one to come. It exchanges the truth of God for a lie and markets it as family fare. Parents who are thus blindsided by this film should sit down with their pre-teens and teens and discuss the film's subtext and worldview.

Great Film
I love this movie before this movie came out last year Josh and AnnaSophia Robb and the author came to my work so I got to get there authorpgh and I was so excited about getting to meet them they also got to answer questions that the kids had question for them. I love this movie because I get memories when I got to meet them and how nice they are in person.

Deserves the Oscar for Best Feel Good Movie
Don't hold your breathe for that nomination, because the category doesn't exist and how sad for the awards ceremony that there is probably an award for best assistant on set. I was really surprised by this film considering the misleading marketing of this film. By the way it begins though, I was saying, "Man, what did I get myself into?" I stuck through it, thinking that I had rented some High School Musical, but then was drawn by the energy of the children acting superbly. This movie all of the sudden pulls the trigger on you and I was left flacid, weak, and sobbing. I never in my wildest dreams would have guessed it. I mean, By the cover of this thing I was hoping for some uppity Chronicles of Narnia or something. I had no idea I was in for some well acted movie that operates on multiple levels, yet never loses sight of its simplistic yet pure messege. This movie was more like Some Robert Redford Film back in the days when he tackled depressed adolescents coping with torturous loss. This movie is an infusion, a gratifying injection of tenacious feel goodness. Thank God that I stumbled upon this, and NO thanks to marketing.