The McPassion of the Filmmaker

Rik Swartzwelder is a nervous wreck—and he’s the first to admit it. “Scared to death,” he says.

The young filmmaker didn’t like the way The Passion of The Christ was pitched from pulpits a couple of years ago, and he feels like the church has gotten way too cozy with the idea of marketing Hollywood movies. So he responded the best way he knows how: He made a movie about it.

Swartzwelder, a Christian, wrote and co-produced The McPassion, a four-minute satire about the way Mel Gibson’s film—and others since—became fodder for the marketing machine, which, to Swartzwelder, included churches and pastors making their own sales pitches. Swartzwelder’s friend Benjamin Hershleder directed and co-produced The McPassion, described on the back of the DVD cover as, “The greatest story ever told and a fast-food giant unite to deliver the tie-in of tie-ins. While supplies last.”

The result is a biting send-up that has Swartzwelder nervous about how it will be received. He’s had a few private screenings, and says the reactions have been mixed. He says some filmmakers, college profs, and even a few of his Christian friends are already mad at him, calling his film blasphemous and sacrilegious.

Brian Godawa apparently digs it. Godawa, author (Hollywood Worldviews) and screenwriter (To End All Wars), says, “The McPassion is a New Testament equivalent of an Old Testament prophecy challenging the idolatry of the church in embracing the world in its commercialization. For those who would be offended, The McPassion is tame compared to Ezekiel’s sarcastic ‘short film’ of Israel whoring away like a prostitute in heat in Ezekiel 23. Exegete that!”

You can decide for yourself: The McPassion is available via streaming video at the official website, starting today—Ash Wednesday. And it will run for 40 days—throughout Lent. Yes, the timing is intentionally ironic, says Swartzwelder, who recently chatted with us about the project.

Rik Swartzwelder

How did the idea for this film come about?

Rik Swartzwelder: The original idea came when The Passion of The Christ was being released in 2004. I was visiting my brother in Charlotte, North Carolina, and we visited several churches. And every church we went to, we were basically told from up front that it was our duty, or our responsibility as a church member, to buy a ticket to this movie. Now, I don’t have anything negative to say about the film at all …

Just about the way it was pitched in churches.

Swartzwelder: Correct. I thought [the marketing in churches] was an anomaly, but now everyone’s trying to do it. Everywhere I turn, people are trying to promote their films within church and specifically within worship. And that gets tricky, I think.

Like you, I heard it mentioned from a couple of pulpits. But I never heard the word “duty” or “responsibility.” I heard, “This is a good movie and we encourage you to go see it.”

Swartzwelder: But were you hearing that before the person had even seen it? To me, that’s part of the issue. It’s one thing if a pastor sees a film and wants to share that with his congregation. It’s another thing when you start marketing a film sight-unseen just because you’ve been pitched it. How can you endorse something up front when you, yourself, have not even seen it?

But a lot of pastors did see The Passion in advance. I saw an advance screening with thousands of Chicago-area pastors. Many pastors were given the same opportunity more recently with End of the Spear. You can’t fault Hollywood for marketing their films to pastors and churches, can you?

Swartzwelder: I don’t fault Hollywood at all. I have the utmost respect for their ability to market and sell. This is not about Hollywood. It’s not Hollywood’s responsibility what happens in churches. That’s the church’s responsibility.

Your press release says test audiences are reacting strongly.

Swartzwelder: True. There was a screening at Calvin College in Grand Rapids. Some people loved it, and others seriously thought it was sacrilegious or blasphemous. It’s satire, but their concern was that it’s unclear whether we’re making fun of these religious practices and sacred things—or the marketing of them.

I get satire, and I usually get the message behind it. But I didn’t see this as clearly pointing at the church. I saw it pointing to the ridiculous over-marketing of religious things; it looked like a Saturday Night Live spoof. Do you think your message comes through clearly in the film?

Swartzwelder: Well, I wouldn’t say it’s pointing a finger at the church. I think the issue of over-marketing is something we should be talking about in the church. If someone is offended or angered by the film, I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. Instead of saying it’s a piece to poke fun at the church, I hope it would engage or shock or stir someone to the point of looking at what we allow to happen in church, and let that lead to a discussion.

I’m assuming you’re not saying churches should not talk about movies.

Swartzwelder: Oh, heavens no.

OK. If playing a trailer and saying it’s your duty to see this film is over the line, then where is the line?

Swartzwelder: I’m not sure I know where that line is. For the first time, there’s interesting films made by Christian filmmakers, and we’re really opening up doors there. But I think there’s a danger of getting so excited about that, that we forget to remember that films, at the end of the day, are products. They shape culture and they’re stories, but they’re also products that people sell. I’m just hoping to spark discussion about where that line might be. I’m hoping that leaders and pastors can talk about these issues, and we can together find out where that line is.

But man, I’m not saying we shouldn’t talk about film in church, or even show movie clips in sermons. This isn’t about whether or not films should be used in worship.

How do you feel about churches “using” film as a means of evangelism? That happened in a big way with The Passion, with some ministry organizations saying, “Here’s how your church can use this film to bring others to Christ.” And it was done again with Narnia in a big way.

Swartzwelder: A huge way. And they’re releasing Narnia on DVD in time for Easter, so we’re co-opting sacred days for strategic release …

Said the guy who’s releasing his film on Ash Wednesday.

Swartzwelder: Yeah, but I’m not making any money, brother. Not a dime. But you’re absolutely right. But I just don’t where it ends.

Anyway, how do you feel about churches using film as an “evangelism tool”?

Swartzwelder: What do you mean by that?

Billy Graham’s organization has been making films for 50 years specifically as evangelism tools; they want people to come to Christ as a result of seeing these films. And even though Mel Gibson may not have made The Passion with that intent, the church still “used” it for that purpose. What do you think about “using” films for the purpose of evangelism?

Swartzwelder: Well, my approach to filmmaking is different. I’m certainly not an expert on the use of film as evangelism. I believe in film primarily as a means of storytelling, and insomuch that sharing a parable can sow seed into somebody, I believe in that. But the approach of showing a film and having an altar call is not my approach. I don’t slight it, but I don’t know if I’m the best qualified to comment on that. It’s sort of a separate discussion, I guess.

Well, sort of. But one reason churches got excited about pitching The Passion from the pulpit was that it could be used as a witnessing tool. You could do the same thing with your own short film, The Least of These.

Swartzwelder: That begs a good question, because The Least of These has been shown in churches. But it was never shown in a church without somebody having seen it first. I just … I don’t know, man.

That’s okay. You’re at least asking the questions.

Swartzwelder: Again, I don’t slight churches; I’m not pointing fingers at anybody. I do believe people’s hearts were in the right place when they pitched The Passion in churches. We were like dying of thirst in a desert, and finally we had this fire hose. I understand why we get excited and want to promote. But what is the primary purpose of the pulpit? How do we share the gospel in a way that guards the sanctity of the pulpit? I guess I don’t fully understand the idea of promoting products from the pulpit. And I think we forget that movies are products made by for-profit entities.

So are Bibles.

Swartzwelder: That’s a good point.

And so are any Christian books for that matter, and lots of churches have bookstores now.

Swartzwelder: Well, yeah. But I do think that whatever the purpose of the pulpit is primarily, I’m convinced it’s not to be a conduit for anybody’s marketing machine. And you can take that wherever you’d like to take it. But I’m sure there are lots of folks that would like to comment on the selling of books or videos or anything at church. My particular axe to grind, obviously, is film.

But you have to hear my heart: I’m scared to death. I had some friends tell me not to make this movie. I stand behind it and I hope it leads to discussion, but I’m not trying to point fingers or really throw stones at anybody. I’m trying to figure it out, and as a filmmaker that’s what you do. You create. But I’m scared to death. You can quote me on that.

You’ve said you hope this film at least gets the discussion going. With that said, who do you want to see it?

Swartzwelder: We’re sending about 500 screeners, divided up between key church leaders, the film festival circuit, and Hollywood. So it’s three-prong. Plus we’ll stream it online for 40 days, and when that’s over, we will have DVDs available.

To buy at the website?

Swartzwelder: No, we’re not going to sell them.

Why not?

Swartzwelder: You know, even my hypocrisy knows some bounds! I’m not opposed to selling film; obviously, The Least of These is for sale; I’ll sell it out of the back of my car. But this particular film is unique.

For more information on The McPassion, go to the official website.