Jon Boorstin proposes three purposes for film production – voyeuristic, vicarious, and visceral (Boorstin). Scrutinized in light of Boorstin’s proposal, hagiographical films are most likely to have three purposes imbedded in three generic types: investigation, verification, and veneration. In most cases, hagiographical films make biblical references, either textually or visually, in order to maximize each type’s purpose
