Christian Bale, who plays Moses in the film, “Exodus: Gods and Kings,” sparked controversy over his comments. Bale said Moses “was a very troubled, tumultuous man and mercurial. But the biggest surprise was the nature of God. He was equally very mercurial,” the Hollywood Reporter wrote.
“I think the man was likely schizophrenic and was one of the most barbaric individuals that I ever read about in my life,” Bale said about the prophet.
Many Christians are debating over social media handles if they should waste their time in seeing a film based on Moses.
Director Ridley’s Scott received criticism for the film rumored to not stick to the biblical portrayal such as the parting of the Red Sea, which in the film will be caused by an earthquake not by God’s hand. He also dealt with accusation of the film being allegedly racist by casting whites as Egyptians. With all the heat leading to the opening, faith consumers could be turned off, especially after Bale’s analysis. The film needs to well with the faith audience, according to the Christian News Service/NICAEA Poll that surveyed Americans in summer.
Accuracy is the deciding factor. The poll found that 68 percent of people would not attend the film if it was not biblically accurate. About 74 percent survey said they would support the film, but accuracy is a deciding factor. Senior Vice President of news operations of the Cross Platform Media Group said they want Hollywood to succeed in creating more Christian themed films.
“That's why we contracted this very exhaustive and thorough poll of moviegoers,” Russ Jones said in a press release. “It is our hope that the producers of Exodus haven't courted disaster.”
Believers supported the independent Christian movie “God’s Not Dead,” which grossed two million, “Son of God,” “Heaven is For Real,” “The Song” and “Left Behind.” 2014 has been coined by the media as the “Year of the faith film.” In more recent years, there has continued to be a rise in Christian-based movies and TV shows such as "Jesus Revolution" and "The Chosen," giving hope to many Christian viewers that faith can still be a part of film.
There has been no further comments from Bale.
