July 27, 2004

Is there anything laypeople can do to get themselves kicked out of the United Methodist Church?” My question stumped the speaker, expert on Methodist church law though he was. He had just delivered a detailed list of offenses that could get Methodist ministers cast into outer darkness. Wanting to democratize the misery a bit, I wondered if the church disciplined anyone other than ministers.

He thought hard, then replied, “I think there’s something in the Book of Discipline about not being able to belong to a hate group.”

Though it has all the marks of an independent film—a film-school screenplay and production difficulties—Saved! is blessed with an intelligent script and a first-rate ensemble of actors whose characters—though slightly overdrawn—engage Christian faith in believable ways. The film follows Mary Cummings (Jena Malone) through her senior year at American Eagle Christian School, where she is perched atop the social ladder alongside the zealously evangelistic Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore).

The best tales of the supernatural, from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, use fantasy to dramatize emotions that are too dark and overpowering to be treated conventionally. Sam Raimi’s marvelous Spider-Man 2 takes audiences into some pretty deep waters too. It’s about Peter Parker’s guilt over not being able to prevent the killing of his uncle (in the first Spider-Man picture). It’s also about the way his secret identity as Spider-Man and his love for M. J. Watson pull him in opposite directions.