Dolly Parton receives Grace Prize at Movieguide awards, says she seeks God's 'guidance' everyday
Movieguide’s Movies That Inspire honored Dolly Parton on Easter Sunday on The REELZ Channel with its Grace Prize. The legendary country singer declared that God's grace has always been a part of her life.
The popular award show run by the organization that provides movie reviews for Christians was held virtually this year due to the COIVD-19 pandemic, showcasing films released in 2020 that highlighted redeeming faith and family content.
Movieguide’s Movies That Inspire celebrated five award winners during its broadcast, including Parton.
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The American singer and actress won the Grace Prize for Most Inspiring Performance for her role in "Dolly Parton’s Christmas On The Square."
“That’s been a big part of my whole life,” Parton shared of grace while accepting the honor.
“I talk a lot about faith and family because my grandpa was a preacher, my mother was very, very spiritual, so I grew up very spiritual and I’m a spiritual person, myself,” she continued. "I really have a lot of faith, and I thank God every day [for] everything good that happens to me, and I pray for guidance.”
She concluded her speech by saying that every accolade she receives in life gives her reason to thank God.
“When I do get recognized for things like this, it just makes me think, ‘Well, praise the Lord!’” Parton concluded.
“Safety,” a football movie streaming on Disney+, was named the Best Movie for Families of 2020.
“Greyhound,” featuring Tom Hanks, was chosen as the Best Movie for Mature Audiences of 2020.
The Christian thriller “Infidel” won the Faith and Freedom Award.
Lastly, the Epiphany Prize for Most Inspiring Movie was given to “I Still Believe.”
“I appreciate Movieguide and everything that you do to help educate both Hollywood and the general public on movies that uplift and inspire and model a Christian worldview and the transformational power of Christianity,” “I Still Believe” Director Andy Erwin said upon accepting the award.
“I just think that there’s such power in the truth,” Erwin continued. “You just can’t argue with the transformation in someone’s life that Christianity brings, that the Gospel brings. I love it when someone watches the movies and says, ‘If that can happen to that person, maybe it can happen to me.’ In this case, if the person on the screen can achieve their dreams, maybe the person watching can, too. That’s why we love inspirational, true stories.”
Every year, Movieguide founder Ted Baehr offers a detailed economic analysis of the inspiring family-safe content popular at the box office.
Movieguide’s Movies That Inspire co-host Evelyn Baehr Carroll said this year’s analysis shows that “movies with less cursing, with less nudity, with less violence, do better at the box office because ... you can sell tickets for a family of four to a positive movie.”
“That’s much more money than selling a ticket to one person to an R-rated movie,” she argued.
“It’s clear these cleaner movies do better,” she continued. “What we’ve seen since starting Movieguide 40 years ago is that there’s far more content out now than ever, and 80% of movie content actually has redeeming content. These are movies for families or even movies for mature audiences that have biblical worldviews.”
Movieguide's annual “Report to the Entertainment Industry” has consistently shown the effect of offensive language on ticket sales.
“It’s all very statistical, and we’ve been able to present that to the entertainment industry and help them make more movies with less offensive content,” Carroll added.
Carroll has worked with her dad over the past decade and has seen firsthand how Movieguide has influenced Hollywood, which in turn has resulted in “wholesome movies with great themes in them.”
The awards show broadcast on REELZ also celebrated the movies “I Am Patrick,” “The Croods,” “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas In His Own Words” and “Waiting For Anya,” among others.
The full list of movies and television shows selected for the best content of 2020 by Movieguide can be found here.
