From previews and reviews, it was clear that Saved! was going to be one of two things: a satire on the ways Christian teenagers miss true Christianity in the midst of all the Jesus culture, or a straight out bash on Christianity. I felt like there was a good dosage of both – enough of both to make you wonder who the audience is supposed to be. The teenage Christian audience it satirizes will likely be offended, and those not interested in the teenage Christian scene will probably not be interested in this either.

Though it does have some positive satirical moments, the film feels like it’s really got its target set on Christians. The primary sight is focused on the traditional Christian approach towards homosexuality. Mary (Jena Malone) – a not so subtle jab at the virgin – decides to have sex with her boyfriend to try to cure him because he is gay. It doesn’t work, he is irreparably gay (although he doesn’t have a bit of a problem sleeping with her). After a great deal of chaos, we learn that those who interpret the bible to say that being gay is wrong are sanctimonious prigs who don’t allow for any interpretation beyond their own. Riiiiiiight.

The second arrow comes as Mary gets pregnant, and has to go through the shame of being an unwedded pregnant girl at a Christian high school. Because she doesn’t gain sympathy from ANY of the devout kids, she ends up befriending the rebels (Eva Amurri and Macaulay Culkin), because they are the only ones who are nice to her.

The third arrow comes in the leader of the devout kids, Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore), who is one of film’s all time most evil characters. I’m sorry Dracula. Hilary Faye is wholly self-righteous and wholly self-absorbed. She leads a high school Christian pop group and is loved – and feared – by everyone. In order to help Mary, she tries to exorcize her, and then, in the film’s quintessential moment, she throws a bible at Mary while screaming, “I am filled with Christ’s love!”

It’s an interesting problem. On the one hand, Hilary Faye is a great character because I’m sure she’s an exaggerated example of lots of kids out there. Seeing Hilary Faye in action sends a clear – and much needed – message that acing like a Christian and doing the social, outward stuff that is part of Christian culture is actually far from being like Christ. I really like this aspect of the film, but it’s the one thing that keeps me from throwing this whole thing into outer darkness.

The other part of the problem is that there isn’t a single Christ-like Christian on the screen. The devout kids are the evil ones and the rebels are the good ones. It’s totally unnecessary to draw such a picture. The one exception is Patrick (Patrick Fugit) who spends the movie chasing after Mary. But he is a very neutral character. Despite the satire, the devout kids are constantly ridiculed by the film – they speak with the utmost ignorance and blind contempt towards homosexuality, their prayers are superficial and self-absorbed, and judgmental gossip is paramount.

Despite the negative spin the film has towards Christian doctrines on homosexuality, perhaps the single most wrong-headed statement comes in the end, when Mary proclaims to a group of boorish Christians, “It’s all too much to live up to.” This is where the liberal and secular community gets it the most wrong, the notion that Christianity has unnecessary expectations on our behavior. Even if the behavioral demands of Christianity were 100 times greater than the secularists believe it to be, they would still be wrong. This is because their objection is not with the possibility of achieving the behavior – it’s not “too much” because it’s too hard – it’s “too much” because God (if he exists) certainly doesn’t have that much say over our lives. This is where the underlying principle of the film is all wrong. He does.

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