sooo.... how's everyone's evening?

lalaith50

I'm just chilling... baking chocolate chip cookies and about to start a movie with DH. :-)

lalaith50

Which, btw, we were having an interesting discussion when we went to redbox and picked out a movie. (well, actually, before, when we were looking at the reviews online.)

Our question is, at what point is it sinful to watch a certain movie? And why? 

DH seemed to think the immorality of watching a certain movie would be based on if/how much $ you gave to support the movie. I think that the immorality of watching a certain movie would be to what point the sinfulness portrayed in the movie would affect YOU. But... it could be argued, that if a movie depicting a lot of depravity doesn't  affect you...then could there be something wrong with the level that immorality doesn't affect you? (since it's relatively high.)

Thoughts? At what point would you consider it sinful to watch a movie?

Riss91

hahaha - thanks for changing the subject :-)

I think there are multiple parts to the issue. Does the movie promote sinful behavior? If so, then I wouldn't want to support that promotion. But, I do think that some movies that portray deprave behavior can be helpful to all of us to see, because it shows the consequences. For instance, The Passion of the Christ shows depravity, but I wouldn't feel that it promotes it.

But, if you are someone that sees an episode of Jersey Shore and thinks "wow! that looks AWESOME! I want to be Snookie", then you might want to stay away from it.

TeaForMe

A: Now I want chocolate chip cookies, despite having a piece of birthday cake, a brownie and a cookie already today

B: What movie are you watching?

C: My brain isn't coming up with a good answer to the "sinful movie" question. But I know I feel uncomfortable watching certain movies and have become more conservative in my movie viewing in recent years - we rarely watch movies anymore just because I usually fall asleep during them anyway

What I'm up to? Recovering from a bitrhday party and a housewarming party, rocking the little guy to sleep, and looking forward to my post-bedtime glass of wine

lalaith50

B: Crazy, Stupid, Love. I got a lot of good laughs out of it, but definitely NOT a moral movie. (Basically the whole thing is this one guy teaching this other guy how to objectify and bang chicks. sigh.) So, yeah, not sure if it's actually *wrong* to watch such a movie. I mean, it's obviously not going to make me want to go out and sleep around or whatever, but by watching it, does that dull your senses to the depravity of that whole situation and our culture in general (which normally condones such behavior...)

agapecarrie

Movies/tv/music effects us much more than we know. Images get implanted in the brain---especially during violent or sexually explicit scenes that raise our adrenaline and other hormones. These have lasting effects. Pornography is the worst drug becasue there is no detoxing from it. 

This isn't to say that there can't be benefits to watching certain movies and the good outweighs the bad... at the TOB institute, we watched "I am Legend". Man, had no idea how Marian and TOB that movie was.

You can also become desensitized to things, as well as normalizing behavior as it is perceived. --- When 9/11 happened, to me, it was like watching a movie. I realized then I wanted my innocence back and didn't want to be desensitized to such things, so I stopped watching all gore/horror/violent movies. 

Tv shows that show immoral behavior as "normal" that is just what people do desensitizes us to the harms of it and then we can become complacent.

monkeysip

Hey Ladies,

Just got home from seeing an old friend.  Fun girly times.

FI and I talk about the immoral movie thing a lot too.  I don't think the $ thing matters at all.

I think it's difficult to define any strict line of what's appropriate or not, and it is subjective to a point (some people are more tempted or affected than others).  But for us, we generally agree that it depends upon what the overall message of the movie is and whether the bad stuff outweighs the good, so to speak.  That's not an easy thing to determine, but I think most movies want you to walk away with some kind of moral or message.  

Crazy, Stupid Love, I think, wasn't actually promoting the promiscuous behavior it portrays.  I mean, I felt like both male characters discovered that they needed to change their behavior, and that promiscuity and objectification of women was not fulfilling at all.  I thought the movie had an overall good message, although I did find it very difficult to watch sometimes because of some of the content.

On the other hand, I think The Notebook is more morally apprehensible.  While the storyline following the couple in their old age shows unconditional love, the storyline between the couple when they are young promotes this completely emotional and sexual understanding of love.  Apparently, as long as you're in love, it's completely okay to cheat on your fiance and sleep with someone else.  

Of course it's subjective.  Others may not interpret the overall message of these movies (or others) as I do.  But that's just how I see it.

bibliophile2010

DH and I have been struggling with this, too. I don't feel like I'm good at drawing the line, but I find myself more and more uninterested in "normal" TV and movies, because I hate the way they portray immoral sexual behavior as not just ok, but as good. I have always disliked gratuitous violence, so avoid that sort of movie anyway.

That said, I agree with others in saying that the key is gratuitous...if those things really are essential to the story (and the story itself is worthy), I don't have as much of a problem with them, especially if truth wins out in the end.

lalaith50

(monkeysip-- I'm so glad you pointed that out about the Notebook! I HATE it when I hear people, even Christians, talking about how "wonderful" of a movie that is. yuck.)

professorscience

I dislike the Notebook because I dislike all mushy love stories, but that's not the point of this thread.  I'm just glad I'm not the only woman on the planet who wasn't smitten with it.

I've had a hard time forming my opinion on this topic...  I'm going to give it my best shot, though.

Two of my favorite shows on television right now are How I Met Your Mother and Modern Family.  Both portray characters living pretty sinful lives (and I will say that probably my biggest issue with HIMYM is not that Ted and the other characters are very openly engaging in promiscuous sex and other risky behaviors, but that the whole story is Ted telling his kids about his exploits), but I still find the stories very compelling.  Modern Family, especially, takes what I think is a very real (albeit, exaggerated) look at issues facing families today.  I certainly wouldn't sit my kids down to it, but it also wouldn't be the end of the world if they caught me watching.

Now, movies and TV shows that are violent for the sake of being violent, or take aim at a particular religious group and try to bring it down (regardless of the religion) are just not for me.  I like to take films and shows for what they are, or what they're trying to be, and judge them based on that.

PS: I hope everyone is having a great Sunday.  It's gorgeous here in Dallas!