Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)
While it is tempting (and not always without merit) to criticize Christian films on their predictable, sometimes risible storylines, this misses the main appeal of the genre to the target audience. Similar to how grindhouse horror films appeal to nice audiences not for their plot but for their gore, Christian films appeal not based on narrative but based on affect. This essay will build on Linda William's framework of genre affect to conceptualize how Christian films create their own unique affects that appeal to their target audiences. Only with this understanding can scholars truly begin to combat the genre’s extremist rhetoric found in its more conservative entries.