Julia Roberts in a scene from EAT PRAY LOVE.

I always try to stay aware of what new movies are coming out. It’s a great way to see new trends, new approaches, and shifts within the film business. I’m also a huge fan of movie trailers.

A great trailer site is trailers.apple.com. On it I recently came across one for THE OXFORD MURDERS (Elijah Wood, John Hurt). It begins with a wise old professor asking the big question: “Can we know the truth?” I smiled as our latest documentary (THE 12 BIGGEST LIES) deals with just such a question.

I then watched another trailer. This one for EAT PRAY LOVE, starring Julia Roberts. Now who can’t like Julia Roberts? She’s warm, bubbly, attractive and has starred in such popular films as PRETTY WOMAN, ERIN BROCKOVICH, NOTTING HILL and many others.

This film is about Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) who seems to have everything ? a husband, a house, a successful career ? yet like so many others, she finds herself lost, confused, and searching for what she really wants in life. Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self?discovery. She eats well in Italy, she learns to pray in India and then finds true love in Bali. The trailer lays this all out and says things like: “When something is missing in your life. Risk everything… and let yourself go.” And then: “Discover the incredible true story of one woman’s journey to the center of her life.”

And the trailer concludes with declaring: “Your hope. Your faith. Your truth. Your courage.” It’s all set to up-beat, catchy, inspirational music and feels so warm, fuzzy and enlightening. The message couldn’t be anymore blatant: this film has the answers for anyone who isn’t feeling entirely satisfied in life. Julia’s character says: “I wanted to find my balance.” A wise spiritual man says: “if you could clear out all that space in your mind, you know what the universe would do? Rush in.”

Wow… you know how earlier I smiled at the question of “Can we know the truth?” I’m no longer smiling.

The fact is that there IS such a thing as truth and that it’s universal and exclusive and it is NOT affected by anyone’s perceptions, feelings or desires. Julia’s movie may say that you have to find “your truth” and “your faith” but regardless of how someone may “feel” about what they’ve found, if it’s not real and true then all you’re doing is deceiving yourself.

Taking the EAT PRAY LOVE trailer’s advice someone could “risk everything and let themselves go” by drinking lots of alcohol and doing drugs. Many people do this and it makes them feel good. You could even argue that it “opens their mind and lets the universe rush in”. But very few would argue that that’s a good thing to do. Why? Because the truth is that getting drunk and high is destructive and dangerous behavior. In the same way if someone is “risking everything” and basing their life on a faith without foundation (or on fleeting things like eating and love) then they too could be damaging their lives.

The most dangerous part of a movie like this (and no, I haven’t seen it but the trailer and description are pretty clear on its message) is that it all looks and feels so wonderful. But just because Julia Roberts is warm, vivacious and attractive doesn’t make the theme of the film any more true or any less dangerous for those who buy into it.

- Blog by André van Heerden, Christian movie company Cloud Ten Pictures‘ Executive Producer/Director