Absolute garbage. People in my church told me to watch this movie and how it would help my marriage.
All my wife and I have done since we watched the movie is argue. I understand the point of the movie that we are to love our spouse as Christ loved us: fully and unconditionally. But the rest of the message is ridiculous.
What about Kirk Cameron’s character? No boat for him? Just forget about what he wants in life and spend your life savings on medical supplies for his mother in law who will live maybe 6 months?
No give and take at all. No, “Well, honey, maybe you should buy a $10,000 used boat and save the rest” No, “Let’s buy Mom a one-off wheelchair”. Nothing like that. Just give in 100% and everything will be fine.
Look at porn on your computer? You have no choice other than destroying it with a baseball bat. I guess that modern Christian couples don’t need email or document editing, huh? Hey, Kirk, here’s a suggestion: Just don’t look at porn if that is a problem in your marriage. Don’t destroy a $700 computer. As a Christian, I am embarassed about how the church wants to paint the internet.
And the best message of all: Money talks and bullshit walks. Your husband’s words mean nothing, but when he gives your parents money instead of the rich doctor, it’s time to go back to him.
Frankly, with Kirk Cameron in it, considering his post-Growing-Pains body of work, I’d have told the church Elders (or whoever told you to watch it) “Thanks, but no thanks…I think we’ll do couples counseling instead.”
I haven’t seen it, but the clips of “the best scenes from Fireproof” is pretty funny. I’m a church going Christian, but the only way I would watch Fireproof was to make fun of it and throw popcorn at the screen.
I didn’t care for the LB books & liked the first two movies even less. Haven’t bothered with the third.
I loved “Fireproof”. It was corny & schmaltzy but heartfelt & sincere in a way I did not get from the LB films (for sincere heartfelt low-budget Rapture films, go to the 1970s A Thief in the Night series.)
jtg, since you brought it up, if things have gotten worse since seeing the movie, it’s not the movie’s fault. Don’t listen to people who think that a movie will fix things. Talk to the people in your church whose job it is to help you & your wife.
And I think you’re taking from the movie what you want to take.
I am a church-going Christian as well, and even before this thread I thought that this looked like one of the most ridiculous movies ever. Now I’m convinced.
I have to agree with the OP. What a piece of crap. I noticed she never so much as apologized for being a stone cold bitch to him or asked for forgiveness for “lusting” after the opportunist doctor. Her shallowness knows no bounds it would appear. Of course, he was the bad guy and it was obviously his fault for driving her into the arms of another man, right? I almost stopped watching the movie, the moment she told him she didn’t love him when he made dinner for her. I almost stopped watching again when it became apparent that the real message of this movie is you can’t possibly know love if you’re not a Christian. Whatever. Way to manipulate into religious conversion. “You can’t be happy until you come to Jesus.” :rolleyes:
Oh yeah, marriage takes work, it does not require religion. And about conquering addictions that distract from a marriage, what about addiction to religion? How about not being able to function outside of that religion? Which is pretty much what seems to be the case Kirk Cameron. Damn it! I grew up with him on TV and I dug him a lot back then. It really ticks me off that he’s become a one-trick pony and that I have no desire to care about the bullshit he’s peddling. Quit acting already, Kirk, it’s embarrassing.
~Agnostic and happily married (for the most part) for 11 years and counting. Bite me, Kirk Cameron.
I’m not a christian, not in a committed relationship and haven’t seen the movie, but for what it’s worth…
If you went to someone - in a church or outside - for help with your marriage, and their response was to suggest you watch a movie, that person is not actually being helpful.
Clearly you’re not enough of a christian to realize that marriage is a blessing from God, so to really understand marriage you have to first love God and Jesus.
thwartme said:
If the movie is a starting point, a way to present ideas and concepts, it can be okay, but it certainly shouldn’t be the extent of the “help”. It should be the start of a discussion, not the source of all answers.