July 15, 2004
Although many fans predicted Mel Gibson's blockbuster, The Passion of the Christ, would have an intense and long-lasting spiritual impact, a Christian researcher's survey has revealed that the movie-going public has a short memory and an easily re-directed attention span.
Gibson's controversial picture astonished the filmmaking industry by becoming the eighth highest-grossing domestic film of all time. However, the results of a recent national survey conducted by The Barna Research Group (BRG) suggest that what some thought would be a life-transforming and culture-changing influence may have been, after all, just a really popular movie.
Through a research tool that polled more than 1,600 adults across the U.S., BRG researchers examined not only how many people saw The Passion of the Christ, but also what impact the film had on their lives. The survey discovered that one out of every three adults in America (31 percent) say they have seen the film, and despite how some media critics trashed it, most viewers gave the movie rave reviews, from "good" (23 percent) to "excellent" (67 percent). But when viewers were asked if The Passion affected their religious beliefs, only one out of six (16 percent) said it had.
When that small segment of the viewing audience was asked to describe how the movie had affected their religious beliefs, some said it had affected their perception of the importance of how they treat other people (3 percent); others said the film caused them to be more concerned about the effect of their life choices and personal behavior (3 percent); and still others said watching the film, which portrayed the last hours of Christ's life leading up to the crucifixion, gave them a deeper understanding of, or appreciation for, what Christ had done for them through His death and resurrection (3 percent).
Asked whether seeing The Passion of the Christ had affected their religious practices, less than a fifth of the movie's viewers (18 percent) indicated that it had changed some aspect of their religious behavior. Among the most commonly cited behavioral differences were praying more often (9 percent), attending church services more frequently (8 percent), and becoming more involved in church-related activities (3 percent). Only one out of every ten people who saw The Passion indicated that the experience had resulted in their changing both their religious beliefs and practices in some way.
One of the most disappointing things the research revealed was the apparent lack of a direct evangelistic impact by the film. Less than one-tenth of one percent of the people who saw The Passion said they responded to it by making a profession of faith or accepting Christ as their Savior. And equally startling is how little impact the film had on people's determination to get more involved in evangelism. Less than one-half of one percent claimed seeing the movie had motivated them to become more active in sharing their faith in Christ with others.
