Did You Screen It?

Because our family lives in Africa, it often seems like we are viewing much of the world’s happenings as if we were standing on the outside, peering in through a window from afar. Sometimes it’s kind of sad, because we feel so removed from everyone, and then other times we are thankful not to be bombarded with every fad that walks by.

From the look of facebook, it seems this weekend’s hottest topic for entertainment is the latest Harry Potter movie.  Apparently people stood in long lines to grab up tickets for the opening night. I couldn’t care less about Harry Potter.  I’ve not read any of the books and I certainly haven’t gone to see any of the movies.  However, when something causes such a stir, it does make me curious about what all the fuss is about, so I decided to look up reviews for the movie – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.

From what I’ve read there are several scenes that are sexual in nature, including one in which a teenage boy and girl are kissing, with an insinuation that they are naked, with bear shoulders and backs showing.  I’ve read that there is “mild” profanity, as well as usage of deity, which I assume is using God’s name in vain.  From what I understand, the occult is a dominate theme throughout the movie.  These reviews were all I needed in order to determine that this movie is one that our family will NOT watch.

The movie industry doesn’t exactly have a pristine record for clean movies, so it seems that Christians would want to exercise a great deal of caution as they plan what to view for entertainment.  There are  resources online that give some pretty detailed reviews, so that we can learn ahead of time about the content of a movie.  In other words, we have the ability to SCREEN what we choose to see! We have the resources to make wise choices about what we put into our minds.

Okay, so you trusted the recommendation of a friend, and since they surely wouldn’t lead you astray, you didn’t do the research.  Now you are there, watching the movie.  Where is your line?  In other words, what do you consider to be too much as far as profanity, sexuality, etc.?  What bothers you? How much is too much? At what point are you willing to walk out of a movie? 

The movie Avatar made quite a stir, and as plans are being made for a sequel, there is a renewed interest. Some people (including some Christians) thought the movie was great.  Others were upset about the movie due to some pretty bold political statements that were anti-American.  As disturbing as those political messages may have been, Christians ought to have been more repulsed by the saturation of filth.  I prefer not to put it on my blog, but I suggest that you look at http://www.screenit.com/movies/2009/avatar.html and see for yourself.  Scroll down to the various sections labeled Imitative Behavior, Profanity, Sex/Nudity.   There should have been a mass exodus of Christians to walk out of this movie.  Did you watch this?  If you did go, did you stay or did you walk out?  Were you more disturbed by the political message than you were the profanity? 

Christians must remain vigilant.  There are so many occasions in which we are exposed to ungodliness; situations which are beyond our control.  A trip to your local Walmart or shopping mall will give you an eyeful and an earful of things you wished you’d never seen or heard.  It’s bad enough when we have no choice, but then…some Christians decide to be entertained by it.  Over time, ever so slowly, the senses are dulled.  Things that might have been repulsive at one time just don’t seem so bad now.  Sin just doesn’t seem so…so sinful.  This is all part of Satan’s plan.