The Influence of God and Family at This Year's Academy Awards

Aimee Herd : Mar 1, 2011
Alan Robbie – Christian Post

"Family is foundational for who we are as people and what we become, and the Academy Award nominees this year, in their own way, really reflect that." -Paul Asay of "Plugged In"

In a Christian Post article on the Academy Awards (broadcast on Sunday night), CP contributor Alan Robbie talks about some of the differences between the 2009 and the 2010 nominees, in that last year's crop of movies seemed to hone in more on family; some even depicting a spiritual theme.

Among those mentioned for a more family-focused trend was Toy Story 3, which had been nominated for best picture, and tagged by Christianity Today as the "Most Redeeming Film of 2010."

Paul Asay; Associate Editor for Focus on the Family's Plugged In—which rates movies, games and other pop-culture media using family values as a standard—also noted that some of 2010's films nominated for an Oscar had more of a "family theme."

But, Asay pointed out that it wasn't necessarily a Leave It to Beaver kind of portrayal.

"…this year's nominees also give us a look at what happens when something in a family goes wrong, or a family goes through a really difficult transition. Many of these films deal with people trying to patch up their relationships with their families, or fix circumstances brought on by their families," said Asay in the CP article. (Photo: Colin Firth in "The King's Speech")

The movie that actually won Best Picture at the 2011 Academy Awards was The King's Speech (Christianity Today's "Second Most Redeeming Film of 2010"). Colin Firth's inspiring portrayal of "Bertie, the Duke of York" (King George VI) as he struggled to overcome a speech impediment in The King's Speech won him Best Actor, and the film's director Tom Hooper won Best Director.