I watched The Holiday Movies that Made Us last night on Netflix. It's a short documentary on how they made the movie Elf. One of my favorite Christmas movies of all time.

Jon Favreau was the director of that film. It was his first major film. At the time he was an unknown director, and this was his first shot.

He was attracted to the film because the underlying story was about a son searching for his father. Jon's mother died around Christmas time when he was young and all he had was his father. His father would watch Christmas movies with him in an attempt to heal. So when he was sent this script about a Christmas movie centered around a father and son, that was all that Favreau needed to hear. He signed on to make Elf and the rest is history.

Elf has since become a Christmas classic and I would argue it is because of that central theme of fatherhood. In fact, most of the movies we now consider classics all have one thing in common. At their core they reflect a Christian worldview.

Whether it is movies where good men fight evil, or men stand up for justice, or even movies about fathers and sons. They resonate and last for generations because strong men fighting for something matters to image bearers of God.

Hollywood cannot escape this point. They cannot make classics that resonate with generations of people over many different cultures without picking a plot point that resonates with image bearers. Feminist plot points always makes terrible films. Never classics. Homosexuality? The token gay character is usually forgotten as soon as the credits role.

We know deep within us that there's something off about these stories.

But most of the time Hollywood doesn't care. Pushing plots that try to trick us into caring about things that go against the Imago Dei ingrained within us.

But every now and then, perhaps without even realizing it, they truly nail a story and when they do they make films that are profitable for generations.

Jon Favreau is now one of the most successful directors of all time. He went on to make other films about fathers and sons, including The Jungle Book remake, and The Lion King remake.

Oh, and of course he's the creator of The Mandalorian. In which he recaptures the original search for family that made the original Star Wars series so great. Except this time, The Mandalorian is charged with protecting his adopted (foundling) son.

Jon Favreau is incredibly talented, but I think there's another reason for his success. His stories speak right to the center of what it means to be created in the image of God.

The rarity of those stories within our culture give us a story telling advantage. It's as if we have been given the secret recipe that Hollywood has been trying to crack for decades. The secret to success as an artist is simple...

Make a story that resonates with the created reality of 100% of all people who have ever existed, and will ever exist.

It's simple and no one is doing it.

But LOOR will.