For at least 20 years, Christian leaders have made the same argument: Culture is shaped by movies; movies are secular and immoral; therefore, making Christian movies will move culture toward Christ. As a syllogism, it’s not bad. The problem has not been with reason, but with execution. Facing the Giants, God’s Not Dead I–IV, and both Left Behind movies were typical “Christian movies.” In other word, generally terrible. (Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ was the exception.) One reviewer of the Kendrick Brothers films summarizes the problem: “As motion picture art and as outreach to pre-believers, they fail. Despite their obvious sincerity and good intentions, the Kendricks have not set out to make great movies. They have set out to write great sermons and package them as movies Christians are willing to sit through.”
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever may be a sign of changing times.
I was hesitant about going to see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. I read Barbara Robinson’s novel about the Herdmans and their small town as a child and did not want a beloved childhood story to be transformed into a Chick tract presented with a veneer of plot. Instead, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the film. Director Dallas Jenkins accomplishes something Christians have sought for decades: an authentically Christian movie and an enjoyable family movie.
**Spoiler alert: The paragraphs below reveal plot details.**
Barbara Robinson’s children’s novel The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, published in 1972, tells the story of a small town’s annual Christmas pageant. The tale focuses on the Bradley family—married parents, two children (a boy and a girl), all highly involved in their church—and the Herdmans, whose absentee father and always-working mother leave their six children to their own devices. The novel opens with the line:“The Herdmans were the worst children in the history of the world.” These children run wild and terrify the adults of the town with their rude behavior and propensity for setting buildings on fire.
When mother Grace Bradley takes over directing the pageant, she shocks the town by letting the Herdman children—Imogene, Ralph, Claude, Leroy, Ollie, and Gladys—volunteer for the lead roles in the pageant. The hijinks and conflict of the drama ensue from this premise. The movie version accurately captures the spirit of the book, including direct passages used in the script. Beatrice Schneider brings to life a vivid Imogene—she rules her riotous siblings with an iron fist, has no patience for anyone’s views on her cigars, and longs to be both beautiful and sweet (while knowing that her disposition is the opposite).
This film operates on at least two levels: children will enjoy the believable interactions among the child actors (who appear to be roughly the age they are portraying). At the same time, adults will be attuned to the small-town drama caused by the meddling mothers of the church, the compassion of Bob Bradley (Pete Holmes) for the Herdmans, and the depiction of an American era centered on church engagement. With no sexual crudity, and a mixture of true Christmas message and small-town politics, this is an enjoyable Christmas movie for the whole family.
It’s also a movie with positive male figures who lead well in the family and in the community. Reverend Hopkins (played by Kirk B.R. Holler) supports Beth Bradley when church matrons demand her removal from the pageant, illustrating courage in his context (risking their ire is no small thing). Bob Bradley is an engaged father, attuned to opportunities to help his daughter connect faith and life. Some of the funniest moments arise when Beth (played by Mollie Belle Wright) prays for God to solve her problems with the Herdmans. Bob interrupts one such prayer and tells Beth he wants to show her something in the morning. The next day, he takes the whole family to visit the Herdmans as he delivers their Christmas ham. Rather than deliver a lecture about compassion, he brings his family to see the circumstances of their “enemies.” Bob Bradley is a secondary character but conveys an involved male figure whose faith motivates positive leadership. We need more such portrayals of fathers in film and TV.
The Christian elements of the plot are more church-related than specifically theological. Rather than using sermons as didactic moments between action scenes, Pageant’s plot highlights the truth that Jesus came for everyone. What would happen if the uneducated poor who knew nothing about the Bible, decorum in church, or Christian jargon appeared in the pews on a given Sunday? How would such visitors hear the pastor’s sermon, view the paintings in the lobby, or be greeted by congregants? This is the vital question at the heart of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
The Herdmans are in a Christmas pageant but have never heard the Christmas story. In her first rehearsal, Grace Bradley (played by Judy Greer) alters her plan: Instead of having the children take their places, she reads to them the Christmas story. Imogene and her siblings keep interrupting with such reasonable questions as “Why didn’t Joe get a reservation?” When they learn that frankincense and myrrh are oils, the Herdman kids ask, “Who wants oils for gifts?” This theme reaches resolution in the actual pageant, when three of the Herdman boys, playing three wisemen, bring their Christmas ham in place of gold, frankincense, and myrrh; they figured Jesus would rather eat their favorite food.
Through the Herdmans, director Dallas Jenkins reminds his audience of two truths of the Christian gospel. First, the underlying history is radical in its nature. For Christians, it’s possible to hear the Christmas story so often that the strangeness of Christ’s birth fails to resonate. In one scene, Imogene stares at a painting depicting Mary. She can never be so sweet, kind, or delicate as Jesus’ mother. Grace Bradley uses that moment to explain Mary’s “toughness.” Imogene resonates with the description of an unwed mother traveling, having to give birth away from home, determined to protect her baby. Through Imogene, the audience perceives the strangeness and wonder of the Incarnation.
Secondly, the Herdmans illustrate the truth of Emmanuel, God with us. Jesus did not spend much time with the educated elites of his day. Instead, he was condemned for being with the very people least likely to enter the columned doors of a downtown church: “tax collectors and sinners.” As the Gospel of Luke recounts, a Pharisee invited Jesus to dinner for theological debate. As they ate, a prostitute entered, bathed Jesus’ feet with her tears, and wiped his feet with her hair. When the Pharisee objected to the presence of the sinner, Jesus praised the woman, saying that she will always be remembered and that her sins were forgiven because she “loved much.” Jesus “did not come for the healthy, but for the sick.” God’s love extends to “the least of these.” The Herdmans are “the least of these.” They are hard to be around—uneducated, uncultured, brash, filled with bad habits and poor choices. Jesus came for them.
As a child, I loved the drama and humor of the story. I found Imogene hilarious. As an adult watching the movie, my heart went out to Grace Bradley. She’s not out running a nonprofit and changing the world; she’s a mom directing a Christmas pageant. And yet this moment arrives. How will she steward the opportunity presented by the Herdmans coming to church (for all the wrong reasons—they really want cake)? How will she ensure that the Herdmans hear the gospel message while protecting them from church biddies? She represents ordinary Christians, faithful in their contexts, whose feet are “prepared with the gospel of peace.” She is a living image of grace, making life better for those around her.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a new level of Christian movie. Dallas Jenkins shows rather than tells, and he gets to the heart of the Christian faith. He combines solid acting, good scriptwriting, and narrative control that still conveys an engaging story. This movie belongs in the rotation of Christmas classics. And it’s one the whole family can see and enjoy.
