As Christians, it is difficult to step outside our religious upbringing and see the beauty and weirdness of Yeshua (Jesus). That is why I absolutely love "Kung Fu Hustle" and "Signs." While one of the main characters in "Signs" is a priest who loses, and then regains, his faith; the sic-fi nature of the film allows the religious scales to fall from one's eyes and to see Jesus for the first time or, at least, through fresh eyes. "Kung Fu Hustle" doesn't haven't any Christian characters--it is a sub-titled Kung Fu movie by Stephen Cho. Yet, it is vastly more "Christian" than most overtly Christian movies. I don't know whether Shymalan is a Christian, but he clearly understands Christianity. Stephen Cho is not a Christian, but Chinese culture embraces the below-described Christian themes.
SPOILER ALERT--I WILL DISCUSS THE PLOT OF THESE MOVIES IN SOME DETAIL
By the way, both of the movies have hilarious moments, as well as violent and frightening moments. Some of the scenes may be scary for young children and even some adults--my wife for instance.
Each of these movies illustrates three of the anti-religion, counter-cultural tenets of Christianity: 1)Grace, not law, is the only true change agent (God is love); 2)Everything works together for good (God is sovereign); and 3)Weakness triumphs over strength (God became weak (incarnate), then allowed Himself to be hung on a cross). Each of these themes finds its home in non-religious Christianity. Shymalan attended Catholic schools, where he obviously learned these principals. As to Cho, his understanding of these themes is derived from his culture. Since the Chinese culture is the world's oldest, it stands to reason that they might be able to view the "way that the world works." The world "works," and "still exists," because of these tenets of Christianity and Taoism. If you get the DVD version of "Kung Fu Hustle," listen to the interview of Cho after the movie. If you replace "qi" with "holy spirit" in his description of how the world works, you have Christianity.
Grace, not Law
In Signs, Mel's priest character treats everyone with grace, not law. His brother is welcomed into the family fold after failing in the big leagues since, while he could hit the ball a mile, he also was a strike-out king--"It just never felt right not to swing." Mel also embraces the weirdness of his children--they are fascinated with aliens, and his daughter constantly leaves half-full glasses of water around the house. Not big issues, but I would be telling my kids that aliens aren't real and would be making sure the glasses were picked up.
In Kung Fu Hustle, the principal character is locked in a life and death struggle with the "world's greatest killer." When he finally appears to have bested him, the "world's greatest killer" feigns surrender only to try and kill with a multi-bladed device like a stiletto. The protagonist takes the weapon and turns it into a flower. The killer falls to his knees and calls him "master."
Sovereignty
In Signs, Shymalan uses the death of Mel's wife to save the entire family from the aliens. This is a recurrent theme in Shymalan's movies. In "Wide Awake," the death of the boy's grandfather leads him to God. In "Lady in the Water," the apartment manager's entire family had been killed. So, he left his doctor's practice, became an apartment manager and was there to save "the lady in the water."
In Kung Fu Hustle, the protagonist literally goes from very near "death" to "life" and thereby goes from being a petty criminal (who wants to be a gangster) to a kung fu master. The resurrection scene is remarkable. He becomes a force for good and saves "Pig Sty Alley" (where he lives) from the true gangsters.
Strength in weakness
In Signs, this is one of the most beautiful themes. The wife's death, the daughter's half-full glasses of water, the brother's being a "strike-out king," and the son's asthma (all negative things by worldly standards) are used to save the family.
In Kung Fu Hustle, the residents of Pig Sty Alley turn out to be Kung Fu masters, and use their gifts in protecting the residents of Pig Sty Alley from the gangsters. However, each of these Kung Fu masters (except one--the resurrected one) is eventually defeated by the gangsters. Only one (born of low repute), killed, then resurrected is finally able to deal with the "world's greatest killer," and he does it, in the end, with grace.
I can't help but think that, if more churches embraced the weirdness of Jesus rather than harping on the morality angle, then many, many more people would be drawn to Jesus.
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