Poisons and paradise

On Bookland I wrote about Emma, and the post started taking on a life of its own:

As one last compelling reason, I find that movies like these enrich and enliven my humanity, deepening this life experience. On the other hand, the violent action thrillers (need I name names?) tend to numb and desensitize the soul — hardly the sort of intoxication one wants to be imbibing on a regular basis, if at all. Yes, they are eminently watchable — plot hooks and special effects take care of that — but are they worth their time? Scarcely.

I’d like to continue that thought, and this seemed the more appropriate forum. It seems to me that our modern tolerance for media (in the Church) has grown to include much that is poison, benign or malignant but poison nonetheless. We’re to seek after that which is virtuous, lovely, of good report, and praiseworthy, are we not?

Whatever you read, listen to, or look at has an effect on you. Therefore, choose only entertainment and media that uplift you. Good entertainment will help you to have good thoughts and make righteous choices. It will allow you to enjoy yourself without losing the Spirit of the Lord….

Do not attend, view, or participate in entertainment that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. Do not participate in entertainment that in any way presents immorality or violent behavior as acceptable.

– For the Strength of Youth

Many — if not most — of the people I know seem to have no qualms about watching whatever the latest PG-13 movie is. Not all PG-13 movies nowadays are bad, of course, but having looked through ScreenIt.com’s listings for many of them, the very large majority are not something that Latter-day Saints (or anyone!) should be watching. What gives? These movies are filled with profanity, innuendos, and suggestive (if not explicit) and violent behavior. Don’t tell me they’re not — ScreenIt isn’t lying. Hollywood peddles filth and many of us willingly take it in, getting our worldliness fix without the guilt that comes with an R rating.

Somehow I don’t think that’s what Christ has in mind for us. “Touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing,” says Moroni (Moroni 10:30). Yes, it’s hard. Yes, everyone’s doing it. Yes, it can seem inconsequential. “Those words don’t really affect me,” some say. Others explain that “Yeah, I know it’s an innuendo, but I just ignore it.” Satan’s cheering on the sidelines with glee, folks.

I really do know how hard it is to say no, particular in social situations. I’ve generally made it a rule not to go to friends’ houses to watch movies because inevitably it’s something that doesn’t meet the Lord’s standard. Does the number of movies I watch drop to a minuscule number? I suppose, but 1) entertainment is not the purpose of my life, 2) there are still plenty of wholesome movies out there, and 3) if Christ was willing to sacrifice everything — everything — for me, is it really so much for Him to ask that I give up those movies? (And while I’m mainly talking about movies here, this applies to all forms of media — books, music, Internet, etc.)

Regardless of how unpopular my movie stance makes me, I must stand true to what I believe. Even if I lost every friend I had in the world because of it, I would not — could not — give in. The battle between good and evil is real and every single step forward or collapse backward, no matter how tiny, matter far more than we can imagine. I trust that whatever rewards the Lord has in store for the faithful in heaven will be well worth whatever I may have lost by not watching those movies.

Amen!!! I accidently stumbled into your blog today, but I’m glad I did. You think you sort of know a person, and then you learn all sorts of new things about them. I hope that doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable–but it was posted on the internet, so I’m taking it for granted that it doesn’t. Anyway, I agree with your thoughts here. Since I’ve been home, I feel much less impressed by media in general and try to find other things to do with my time, but it seems like that’s what everyone does. It’s a lack of creativity and I’m probably just as guilty. It’s a real battle.

Thanks for your comment! Don’t worry, it’d be pretty hard to make me feel uncomfortable. :) And yes, considering that I have posted this stuff on the Internet, it’s certain that I don’t feel weird about having people read it. (In fact, to be perfectly honest, it’s like a mini Christmas whenever someone reads my blog. :))

It is indeed a battle, and the social repercussions are difficult to deal with. It’s hard to resist when everyone else is doing it and when entertainment is such an inextricable part of our modern culture, but I do know that it’s worth it. Sublimity and true beauty await on the other side of the struggle, once you’ve won.

Thinking back over what I’ve written, I see that one might possibly read my words as an attack on movies as an art form. Probably not, but in the off chance that someone does, let me say this: film has an amazing power to suspend the viewer’s disbelief and cast the spell of a good story, a power that weaves together the magic of words, visual art, and music into a magnificent tapestry. There is nothing wrong with film itself. (I do realize that watching movies is passive, whereas reading books is active. But each has its own place in life, in proper proportions.) It’s only when the media is used for less-than-admirable ends that it becomes tainted and corrupt.

Phew! I didn’t expect to write all that. :)