Kristian Delos Santos March 24, 2020

Faculty of Engineering, 1-4

“Fireproof”

Fireproof is an evangelical film about marriage directed by Alex Kendrick in 2008. Many people think
that marriage is supposed to be easy when in fact it is not. Just because you made it through your
relationship doesn’t mean that life is going to be a breeze. The film portrays what can actually happen in
the life of a married couple, namely, struggles, fights, and lots of challenges. But the married life is not
all that bad, the film also portrays some of the ups of married life.

The movie revolves around the life of Caleb and Catherine Holt and the struggles they encountered in
their marriage. Caleb works as a firefighter whereas Catherin works at a nurse. Their issue begins when
Catherine expresses that she needs help around the house because she is the one who takes care of the
bills and helps her parents with the medical equipment that her mother needs. Caleb doesn’t
acknowledge the other party’s experiences and struggles and seems to disregard whatever Catherine is
feeling and considers them invalid. He only seems to look after himself and his selfish desires as he
rambles about how he has longed for a boat and has an addiction to pornography. These occurrences
and frequent fights have led them to think of a divorce. Upon further analysis of the movie, I think that
both the Holt couple are not connecting enough with God. They haven’t really incorporated the Lord
that much in too their marriage and I think that can be a root reason of their problems. These struggles
can actually happen in a marriage. In a marriage you need to think about what is best for the family and
not for yourself only. We must remember that no marriage is perfect and so are people. Caleb chose to
be more dedicated to his selfish desires and his career rather than actually understanding his wife and
respecting her. In order to have respect one must give it. I think another reason of their problems is
their lack of clear and civil communication. When both of them are always yelling and always on each
other’s throat both of them will be on the aggressive and will fail to understand each other.

Some time along the movie, Caleb talks to his parents about his marriage issues. His father,
disheartened by this, dared his son to take the “Love Dare” for forty days, in which he reluctantly agrees.
During the first part of the dare, he was only following it to finish it but Catherine is rejecting the efforts
of Caleb. Caleb’s father convinces him to go back to Christ. Upon doing so, he focused more on
becoming a good man whether his love is reciprocated or not. Catherine in the other hand, has a
budding romance with one of the doctors in the hospital, though this did not develop because he is
married and the one who paid the medical equipment was Caleb. Caleb had a drastic change going
through the end of the film. He returned to God and became much more understanding to his wife. His
wife did forgive him in the end and they both renewed their vows.

At the beginning of the film, Caleb stated, “You never leave your partner especially in a fire”. This
encapsulate the theme of the movie. In a marriage, you are a team so you both make decisions and you
need to go through life with each other. Sacrifices will be inevitable so both of you will need to have the
commitment to each other. Both of you need to have the maturity, trust, fidelity and patience for a
long-lasting relationship. The film also stressed the importance of God in our lives, especially in
marriage. Together with God we will overcome any challenge. He will never forsake nor abandon us.
Without God, life will be like wandering in a mist of darkness never knowing which way to go.