The nationwide face off between wholesome relationship boundaries and the mainstream idea there’s nothing wrong with pre-marital sex, even sadistic sex, went live Valentine’s Day weekend with the release of films “Old Fashioned” and “50 Shades of Grey.”
Writer/director/star Rick Swartzwelder’s romantic drama “Old Fashioned” couldn’t have contrasted more with the glamorization of perverted sex shown in “50 Shades of Grey.”
In “Old Fashioned” there was no nudity, no sex, no violence, no swearing, and if you’ve ever seen films such as “Fireproof” or “Courageous,” you know such clean filmmaking is possible, but definitely not the norm.
“50 Shades of Grey” glorifies sadomasochism — essentially sexual pleasure derived from domestic violence — and was described by viewers as pornographic and “100 shades of terrible.”
“Old Fashioned” on the other hand is the story of former frat boy Clay Walsh (Swartzwelder) and a free-spirited gal Amber Hewson who attempt an “old-fashioned” courtship in contemporary America.
The film has some unique ties to Adventism, as Swartzwelder went to Columbia Union College (now Washington Adventist University) and a couple people who took part in making the film claim Adventism. Even without knowing the Adventist connections, the relationship values portrayed in the film make even many Adventist relationships now days seem lacking. How many single Adventist guys commit to not even being alone with a single girl before marriage, much less commit to no kissing or petting before marriage?
There are a lot of things to like about the film, from the biblical truths it relates to the quaint scenery and vintage decor.
The dialogue is bound to rub some people the wrong way, as the film’s ideals conflict with most modern notions of love and dating. Some called it “preachy.” But although the dialogue seemed somewhat awkward at first, the overall outcome was touching. And occasional humor helped to break up the philosophizing bits into digestible morsels.
In an interview with flixchatter.net, Swartzwelder attributed the inspiration for the old-fashioned courtship story to his single young adult friends looking to fall in love and honor God in their dating lives.
“None of these people were perfect,” Swartzwelder said, “but they truly were looking for something beyond the hook-up culture and wanted to date in ways that didn’t add to the romantic damage and brokenness overwhelming many singles.”
Swartzwelder described his film as “a love story about broken people struggling to figure out a different way to look at romance in a very hedonistic, confusing era.”
In a Q&A press release from oldfashionedmovie.com, Swartzwelder said, “Like my film character, Clay, I was promiscuous in college before I became a Christian. So emotionally, Clay’s story felt right.
“The thing is, like so many others brought up in pop culture, I bought into its ideas of love and romance. Later, I had to unlearn the lies fed to me by a world that hardly has my best interest at heart.”
As with anything wholesome, some will call “Old Fashioned” dull, slow or even self-righteous, but it’s good to know there are still filmmakers with scruples. It’s so rare to run across a film that espouses Christ-centered ideals that it either grabs your attention because you agree, or because you want to argue about how wrong you think it is. Either way, it’s worth a gander.