Michael
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Screen for YOUR familyParent's Guide to Michael
Michael is a 1996 fantasy comedy-drama starring John Travolta as an unconventional Archangel Michael who is discovered living with an elderly woman in Iowa. A group of tabloid reporters, including Frank Quinlan and Dorothy Winters, are dispatched to investigate this extraordinary claim. Expecting a celestial being, they instead find a beer-drinking, chain-smoking, womanizing angel with a fondness for sugar and disco dancing. The film follows their road trip to Chicago, during which Michael performs small miracles and subtly orchestrates romantic connections among the humans, ultimately influencing their lives before his time on Earth concludes. This movie is a whimsical tale that explores themes of love, faith, and redemption through an irreverent lens, targeting an adult audience with its mature themes and lighthearted, yet unorthodox, spiritual portrayal.
Things to Consider
Romance and Sexual Content
The movie features significant implied sexual activity, suggestive dancing, and mentions of a main character being a 'womanizer.' The angel Michael himself engages in implied fornication.
Michael, the archangel, 'flirts with women and has sex with one of them' and takes a female patron into his room for 'implied sex' after sensual dancing at a pie restaurant. Additionally, there is 'implied fornication' between reporters Frank Quinlan and Dorothy Winters, and an off-screen 'hanky-panky' scene involving Michael and Judge Newberg.
Substance Use
Substance use, specifically alcohol consumption and smoking, is frequently depicted and is central to the unconventional portrayal of the main character, Michael.
Anti-Christian Themes
The movie presents an unconventional and highly secularized portrayal of an archangel, which departs significantly from traditional Christian theology. While containing some positive mentions of God and fighting Satan, the film's depiction of Michael as a hedonistic, fornicating, and worldly figure is seen by Christian reviewers as undermining biblical concepts of angels and faith.
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Additional Context
Best For Ages
Aged 15+ due to mature themes including implied sexual content, alcohol and tobacco use, irreverent portrayal of a biblical figure, mild violence, and some profanity. The film's nuanced and unorthodox spiritual themes may be confusing or objectionable for younger viewers, particularly within a Christian framework.
Good to Know
The film's tone is largely comedic and whimsical, which may soften the impact of some of the more mature themes for some viewers. However, the juxtaposition of a sacred figure with very human vices can be a significant point of concern for Christian parents seeking biblically aligned media.
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