Rethinking Movies


Movies and other media have always been a hot topic in our house. We're pretty "strict" in the eyes of the world, regarding what we do and do not allow, or teach our children to watch, listen to, read, or take part in. This is rooted in our walk with Jesus and the values we learn from the Bible. We have taken some flak for it in the past, but most people are respectful of our limits, just as we are of theirs.

A week or two ago, I was reading a book and it started talking about media. It touched on the fact that a lot of us allow media in our house that presents things to us in a manner that, for some reason, seems less offensive. For example, the author pointed out that a lot of times we'll allow a movie in our own living room that says things which we would NEVER allow a house guest to say. Or rather, we just wouldn't have a house guest over who would bring those things into our home.


This struck a chord with me. Especially because many times, I feel like I'm way too strict, but I realized that I could cinch up a bit on my standards for movies. I'm not perfect, and I'm going to make mistakes, but when I read that statement, I actually felt like I'd been too lax in some of my media choices. It's like the author brought me to a higher standard for selecting movies to watch. So, tonight we were watching a PG-rated, animated movie which we picked out to enjoy with the kids, when all of a sudden it started discussing something really inappropriate for kids--even something we didn't feel comfortable with as adults. The quote from the book echoed in my head, so we paused the movie and checked out a website called Pluggedin.com to see where the rest of the movie was headed. After reading the review we decided not to continue with the rest of the movie. Usually, I may have just fast-forwarded through those parts, but I realized, I didn't want to make that exception, and I wasn't going to let that junk in my house.


If someone was in my house and started talking like that, I would be appalled! I think it's funny how I thought we were so strict, just to find out that there was more wiggle room in our media choices than I thought. This attests to the fact that we are always growing in our walk as Christians. I am thankful that my eyes were opened to the fact that I was letting things into my home that I disapproved of just because it was on the television screen. That's crazy! So many of us fall for that too. I don't know what it is, but it happens all the time and we are hurting our families with the smut we let inside our four walls. Take a stand with me, and let's be more mindful in our media choices--even if we already are, there is still room to rethink it...I think!