Christians in Cinema

One great thing about summer rerun season is finding a new show to watch. You can use the summer to catch up on past episodes and learn more about the characters. For example, I really enjoy “NCIS,” so prior to the advent of a DVR in my life, I had to make a choice between NCIS and anything else that was on television Tuesday nights at 8 PM (Pacific time).

Then I got a DVR. Oh, the joys of multi-channel recording and watching! And recording on multiple networks without a TV Guide.

I discovered “Bones” quite by accident. I don’t even remember why I watched the first episode I did, but it caught my attention. You have two radically different approaches to crime-solving: the intuitive, inductive reasoning of a seasoned FBI field agent vs. the scientific, purely evidentiary fact-finding of the Jeffersonian Institution (a fictional top-of-the-line scientific laboratory).

The FBI is represented by Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz), a former Army Ranger who is a devout Catholic. The Jeffersonian has a team of scientists, each with their own quirky abilities to find clues from skeletal remains. Their team is lead by Temperance “Bones” Brennan (Emily Deschanel), an avowed atheist who simply sees no scientific evidence that God exists.

What has fascinated me is the numerous discussions about faith and God that that are a running thread through the show. They stand out as dramatically different than others seen on television because Booth is far from being a pious believer. He’s a very real, flawed man who still grapples with making good moral choices. But at the core of his being is an unwavering faith in God and his activity among humans.

When Booth and Bones have conversations about faith and God, the tone is never deprecating or condescending on either side. She allows him his faith, he allows her her disbelief. In an episode I viewed recently, Bones was buried underground and Booth found her at the same time she initiated a desperate escape plan. After a dramatic rescue, the next scene shows the two of them in church; he is kneeling and praying, she is watching curiously.

It’s probably the most realistic and sympathetic portrayal of a believer I’ve seen in a long time. Someone on that show is daring to explore topics of faith and skepticism in a friendly way, and I applaud them for it!