Actor Rainn Wilson hit Hollywood for its bias against Christians after he watched the penultimate episode of the first season of HBO’s postapocalyptic zombie thriller “The Last of Us” over the weekend.
Wilson, who is best known for playing the character Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom “The Office,” doesn’t claim to be a Christian. Instead, he is a follower of the universalist Baha’i faith.
But the 57-year-old actor declared he had seen an example of the entertainment industry thumbing its nose at Christians after viewing a scene in which a character from “The Last of Us” read Scripture.
The first season of the series, in which a man travels with a teenage girl who is immune to a fungus that warps people into zombies, wrapped on Sunday night. The show is based on the 2013 PlayStation video game of the same name.
Wilson signaled in a tweet Saturday that he had just caught up to Episode 8, which followed the lead characters Joel and Ellie as they encountered a homicidal maniac minister named David and his followers in a fictional Colorado town.
David was initially introduced as a kind man and a shepherd who, by all appearances, looked out for his flock. Unbeknownst to them, however, he was feeding his followers human flesh and he controlled them by weaponizing their faith. David did so using the Bible, which he knew by heart.
Wilson tweeted he knew once he saw the character recite Scripture that David would become a “villain.”
“I do think there is an anti-Christian bias in Hollywood. As soon as the David character in ‘The Last of Us,’ started reading from the Bible I knew that he was going to be a horrific villain,” Wilson wrote.
He asked, “Could there be a Bible-reading preacher on a show who is actually loving and kind?”
I do think there is an anti-Christian bias in Hollywood. As soon as the David character in “The Last of Us”
started reading from the Bible I knew that he was going to be a horrific villain. Could there be a Bible-reading preacher on a show who is actually loving and kind?— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) March 11, 2023
Wilson was correct. David was one of the more sinister characters in the show’s initial nine-episode run. He was not loving, kind or a Christian, which was revealed later.
Many people who came across the actor’s tweet tried to answer his question. Some pointed to numerous films and TV shows that masterfully portray Christians in a positive light.
I do think there is an anti-Christian bias in Hollywood. As soon as the David character in “The Last of Us”
started reading from the Bible I knew that he was going to be a horrific villain. Could there be a Bible-reading preacher on a show who is actually loving and kind?— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) March 11, 2023
Book of Eli.
A man of true faith is miraculously strong because of his faith, which becomes contagious and saves many from oppression.
This is the only movie I can think of where the protagonist is strong because he’s Christian and where it isn’t part of a major flaw. pic.twitter.com/nx9kfUSFWW
— Kurt | GorillaPool.com (@kurtwuckertjr) March 12, 2023
“The Last of Us” is a fictional television show based on a bleak alternate reality that overly represents gay characters. But it would be unwise to write off the potential influence of this show or others like it on the culture.
Variety reported the episode Wilson was referring to, which is titled “When We Are in Need,” debuted to an audience of 8.1 million people.
As Andrew Breitbart used to note, “Politics is downstream from culture.”
Humanity has always used storytelling for the purposes of entertainment and for the sharing of values. A desire to be entertained and to entertain is woven into us.
One character arc on HBO is not likely to turn large numbers of people against Christians, at least not by itself.
But subtle messages in film, TV, literature and music find their way into people’s hearts and minds. What people take away from today’s storytelling can find its way into policy tomorrow.
TV writers consistently use their power to attempt to poison the minds of vulnerable people against faith. The bias against Christians that Wilson referenced is very real.
He deserves credit for drawing attention to it, especially considering he presumably has no dog in the fight.
No one is without sin. But as an industry, Hollywood has been telling audiences for some time that Christians are the villains.
