Thomas Kinkade: Pop Culture Icon? Not So Much

In a bid to expand his artistic influence, Thomas Kinkade has recently forayed into the medium of cinema with his upcoming release Home for Christmas .  Kinkade is well known for his dramatic use of light in creating idyllic paintings.  His techniques produce a dramatic effect in oil on canvas, and he is hoping to carry that effect into film.  To do so he gave his staff a list of Sixteen Guidelines for Creating "The Thomas Kinkade Look." 

 

Unfortunately, his Sixteen Guidelines added up to a direct-to-DVD release.  The movie appears to be targeted only at Kinkade's fans and not the wider culture according to a statement from Lion's Gate, the film's production company.  Good thing too, because those writing for and representing American pop culture seem to be less than whelmed.  Kinkade's fans are the only ones likely to be enjoying this particular cinematic masterpiece.

 

The complaints against AP art apply equally well in the larger Evangelical realm.  But so do the solutions.  If we want more respected artists, we need more APs (Evangelicals, Christians) dedicated to putting in the hard work necessary to create quality art.  We need more APs (Evangelicals, Christians) who see creating art as a form of worship to God.  And we need more APs who desire to create something new and beautiful instead of trying to imitate and "clean up" something "worldly."  Until this is the case, we will continue to see movies on the level of Home for Christmas representing the peak of Christian film  making.

 

josh r