One of my earliest memories, even before starting kindergarten, was seeing Return of the Jedi in theaters in 1983.
Not much fighting took place between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker; the drama built between them made the moment Vader turned from the Dark Side and saved his son even more memorable. Those days in the theater may seem gone, but the Christian values that sustained them are still here, and in many cases thriving, against a hostile world.
People were going nuts when Vader, seeing the Emperor trying to kill his own son, picked up the evil one and threw him down the shaft to his death. Folks cheered, clapped, and some were even tearful.
The masterful storytelling and score helped people feel that way, but it was also a different time. Movie theaters were communal places, second only to churches and malls — and in some cases surpassing them.
Still, there was a strong element of Christian and American values that morphed over into theater crowds even as Hollywood had been sliding away from those beliefs for quite some time.
In Back to the Future (1985), when George McFly punched out Biff a collective cheer went up seeing McFly not only stand up for himself but for Lorraine whom he loved. In doing so, George got his girl.
My mother told me in seeing Rocky II in 1979, the entire theater stood up when both Rocky and Apollo Creed fell down and the referee started counting.
People were yelling at Rocky, “Get up! Get up!” When Rocky got up and beat the count, becoming champion, people began hugging each other even if they didn’t know the person next to them.
The America of those days also cheered when Apollo Creed helped in Rocky III and Rocky IV against the supposedly technically advanced Soviet Union.
Things started changing in America at an even faster rate after those times in spiritual, political and technological ways.
The technology sped things up so fast that, while bringing people together in ways that had never been seen before, they were often lonelier, and it led to a decline of the theater and its often-associated American mall as a communal place.
Politically things were so charged as to even further divide us, even splitting families, in the name of ratings, over serious, thoughtful debate.
The growing secularization of our society has not benefited the theater experience. In previous generations, religious conservatives had concerns about films, but they now worry that their children are exposed to even worse content through the internet, often in the safety of their own homes.
One of the last movies where I remember hearing mild applause was Lincoln in 2012. Then after a long drought, Top Gun Maverick in 2022.
The great Reagan film of 2024 was cheered but, in our area of the country, my family was alone in the theater on our first viewing. The second time it was us and three sweet Catholic nuns sitting behind us.
They remembered Reagan, as did we. Our numbers were small but we were not alone.
One of the reasons Top Gun Maverick was so powerful was not only because it was a great sequel, perhaps even better than the original, but because it was apolitical (save showcasing a love of America) and it brought us together once again in the theatres after the forced isolation of COVID.
While streaming services were already on their way at the onset of COVID, the pandemic sped it up and the isolation was too much for people; they longed for togetherness. They needed it. We all did.
And for once we had it again, just like for the original Top Gun in 1986.
Technology cannot be denied and those who embrace it quickest, and in the healthiest manner, often wind up on the winning team. However, there are people in the poorest parts of the world who have nothing but Jesus and suffering and yet are among the most joyful and communal people in the world.
While we cannot long for what can never be; what is eternal are the Christian values we had back then where we believed deep in our soul that good guys ultimately always win and that we will never, and should not, walk alone.
The rise of the Christian film industry, while in many ways tied to the streaming movement, is an indication that things are far from lost.
Further, and even more important than the Christian film industry, we remember that while there is a certain strength in numbers, we do not need a theater full of cheering people to know what is right.
Jesus assures us that we will never walk alone with Him.
The cowboys of the Old West that our parents and grandparents often loved in the movies, who seemingly walked by themselves, were never truly alone. Cowboys were sustained by their values and the goodness of what they had done for those they did not even know.
Our values are deep within our national character and are a large part of the reason that people still risk life and limb to come here or invoke America as a force for good, in struggles against enemies in their own nations, around the world. That was reflected in film, but lives most of all in the hearts of God’s greatest artistic creation — God’s people when they reflect the love of Jesus.
God has met generations of Americans through almost 250 years and, the will meet us anywhere whether it be church, the theater or larger communities and our homes.
For thousands of years He has met His children, and he will until the end. That is something to cheer for.
*Views expressed in this article are those of the author and not any government agency.
Larry Provost has written for Townhall, Fox News, The Baltic Times and InFocus (Jewish Policy Center) and has appeared on several television outlets, including "FOX News @Night with Shannon Bream." He holds degrees from several colleges, and is a veteran of the World Trade Center search and rescue, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He and his wife are adoptive parents. Read more Larry Provost reports — Here.