How are Christian themes used in the film?
Christian themes are used in several ways. First, they are cultural reference points, used to place the story in a cultural setting–the value system and morals percolating through the story are consistent with a very British community, and the Church of England as a distilled representation of that society. Second, they are used as parallel standards against which to compare the girls’ visions of the Fourth World. This ‘compare and contrast’ type of analysis gives the viewer greater insight into the minds of the girls, and a quantitative measure of how much their sensibilities differed from those of their peers and how much their values differed from the values of their community. Third, they are used ironically, in several places. Jackson uses the Church as a comic foil, while still managing to communicate some serious ideas and useful information.
