"The Shack" has drawn controversy because of its unusual depiction of the Holy Trinity. In the book-turned-movie written by William Paul Young, God is personified by an African American woman named Papa, Jesus as a Middle Estern man, while the Holy Spirit is depicted as a mysterious Asian woman named Sarayu.
Octavia Spencer, who stars in the film as Papa, knows a lot of evangelicals have been criticising the film and calling it heretical. But personally, she sees nothing wrong with it and even finds it inspiring how people of different races were put together to represent faith.
"I love the way the Holy Trinity is presented in 'The Shack.' It represents a very diverse group of people, which is what the world is," she told The Christian Post. "So it's quite refreshing that the Holy Spirit is this beautiful Asian woman, who feels like a breath of fresh air in real life. And Jesus is an amazing Israeli actor. And then you have myself, as God, and what I like about that presentation is it sort of dispenses with the conventional images of God and what we have in our minds as God."
Spencer said she grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, so it was impossible to grow up without a church background. "Where I'm from, you learned about God before you learned to read and write. Our faith is what grounds us," she shared.
The actress carried her faith even when she made it big in Hollywood where she confessed her faith is now being tested daily. When she took on "The Shack," she learned to understand true forgiveness and how a lack of it can negatively impact one's life. Because of the movie, Spencer can honestly say that she is now closer to God.
As for Sam Worthington, who stars in the movie as Mack, a grieving father, he told Metro that people can learn a lot about forgiveness from the Bible, and "The Shack" can give viewers a deeper understanding of it.
"The Bible is like a guideline for how to live a better life. The idea of 'The Shack' is learning to forgive others and that the healing process is going to take time. It doesn't happen automatically," he shared. "It's very hard to forgive people who have done you wrong, but here's some steps you can take."
"The Shack" opens in movie theatres in the U.S. on March 3, 2017.
