HOLLYWOOD — A casual drive through Hollywood reveals a city in transition. New theaters and shopping malls have sprung up and ritzy glamour has begun to reclaim what was for years a seedy tourist trap most native Los Angeles residents avoided.

Hollywood's facelift could apply to its primary export as well. Several high-profile religious-oriented movies are premiering in the coming year, including Mel Gibson's The Passion, and The Gospel of John, and though the creation of those films might have been motivated by piety, general Hollywood fare might be getting better, too, though for a different reason.

Though the movie industry is often decried as the enemy of Judeo-Christian values, whatever its ideology, Hollywood pays attention to money, and profit motive might be helping the movie industry clean up its act, some industry analysts say.

“Family product sells, and R-rated products do not,” John Fithian, head of the National Association of Theatre Owners, told USA Today shortly before this year's Academy Awards ceremony in March. “For theater operators, particularly those that operate in the middle of America, this is a very important part of our success.”

Ted Baehr agrees. He produces Movieguide, ”the Christian Film & Television Commission's report card to the entertainment industry,” which seeks to promote a higher level of values-oriented content in films.

“Good guys finish first,” Baehr said in a statement released the day before the Academy Awards ceremony. “Moviegoers seem to prefer movies reflecting the moral, spiritual values and standards of the Bible and Christianity. They do much better at the box office than those that don't.”

While the Motion Picture Association of America rates hundreds of movies annually, designating them G, PG, PG-13, R or NC-17, Movieguide reviews only the top 300 films of each year. It has found that there has been a significant shift away from R-rated films and toward religious themes since 1985, explained Tom Snyder, editor of Movieguide, from his office in Thousand Oaks, Calif., north of Hollywood.

“In 1985 approximately 81% of the movies were R-rated,” he said. Following a downward trend, that number was about 42% in 2002.

Snyder attributes at least some of the shift to profit motive — the lifeblood of the movie industry. “Family movies are bigger [successes],” he said.

Consumer Choice

Gerri Pare, director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Office of Film and Broadcasting, said consumer choice for more family fare is driving the move away from R-rated films. She said she agreed that the motive was monetary, not ethical.

“I think they are realizing that there is a family audience out there,” she said. “There are fewer R-rated movies because there is a financial motive.”

As proof that movies without an R rating perform better at the box office, Pare cited the fact that among the top 10 movies of 2002 and the top 20 of all time, not one was rated R.

In fact, the top-grossing R-rated film of 2002 was 8 Mile, which came in at No. 21 at the box office, according to USA Today.

But Pare sees some problems with the trend.

“There is an acceptance of R-rated movies as being more PG-13 — perhaps the raters have become a little desensitized to some of the sexual situations or the violence,” she said.

However, Movieguide points out that there has also been an increase in “positive Christian content” in movies. According to a statement provided by the Movieguide staff: “When we started in 1985, there was only one movie with positive Christian content; last year there were 135, or 45% of the major movies released.”

In addition, Movieguide estimates that 40% of last year's movies were aimed at families, compared with only six films in 1985.

While admitting the fare Hollywood serves up is still not perfect, movie critic and producer Stan Williams wrote on the Catholic Exchange Web site in July 2002: “What we have seen in recent years is an ever-increasing number of films that clearly communicate positive moral messages in creative and entertaining ways — and they have been hugely popular.”

Catholics in Hollywood

And even the industry's attitude toward Catholics working in Hollywood might be mellowing a bit.

Barbara Nicolosi runs Act One, a training and mentorship program for Christian writers. She also works extensively with Family Theater, a Catholic film production company run by the Holy Cross Fathers.

Speaking to the Register shortly before the March Academy Awards ceremony, Nicolosi said that though some in Hollywood still “believe that inside every pro-lifer is a murderer looking to get out,” things are getting better.

Father William Raymond, the director of Family Theater who works with many in the movie industry, agreed. It is starting to become “cool to be Catholic,” he said.

Still, it is often not an easy road for faith-based films. Gibson's Passion, which is to be released next Ash Wednesday, has been falsely accused of anti-Semitism, and it wasn't certain whether the actor/director would find a distributor for the film. Twentieth Century Fox turned him down in August. Gibson finally clinched a deal with Newmarket Films.

A The Church has long encouraged Catholics to support decent films. The 40th anniversary of Inter Mirifica, the Second Vatican Council's decree on the media of social communications, is coming up in December.

The decree states: “The production and showing of films that have value as decent entertainment, humane culture or art, especially when they are designed for young people, ought to be encouraged and assured by every effective means. This can be done particularly by supporting and joining in projects and enterprises for the production and distribution of decent films, by encouraging worthwhile films through critical approval and awards, by patronizing or jointly sponsoring theaters operated by Catholic and responsible managers.”

One thing everyone seems to agree on: Whether the majority of future movies are more “family friendly” will depend on the choices of consumers at the box office. If people choose moral films, Hollywood will produce them.

Andrew Walther writes from Los Angeles.