Hollywood movies have moved entertainment away from focusing on faith because "they're so good at telling stories," writer-director Tom Simes told LifeZette.
"The secular progressive message has been so pervasive in our culture because (those creators) understand narrative. They're so good at telling stories," Simes said.
He told LifeZette that he wants to counteract that trend with his movie, "Because of Gracia."
The movie, which arrives in theaters Sept. 15, is about a high school girl who faces struggles fitting in because of her religious convictions, and includes a curriculum, so that youth pastors and others can discuss the film and its message.
Simes began producing the movie as a play in 2001, because as a teacher in the public school system, he saw Christian students feeling like they did not belong.
"I had been a teacher for 27 years. I saw secularism and progressivism just seeping into the public school system, and as a Christian teacher, I saw that the Christian kids were all of a sudden kind of going into the shadows. They were walking along the sides of the hallways, heads down. They felt like they were all of a sudden like outsiders in public schools," Simes said.
Actress Moriah Peters, who stars in "Because of Garcia," told LifeSiteNews in June that her Christian beliefs led to her exit from the TV show "American Idol" in 2010.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.