Surprised About Hollywood?

An Anxious Moment, Briton Riviere

Why is anyone surprised at the current goings on in Hollywood? What is seen on the screen simply flows from the heart through the pen and the voice of those with which it has to do. Why is it such a surprise then, especially to the regenerate and transformed mind, that immorality and perversion go on behind closed doors as well as on the screen? Are we that naive? Do we lack any discernment? Have our minds not been transformed but, rather, conformed to what Hollywood reels out movie after movie?

I watched a brief video on a blog today that speaks somewhat to this issue; if you'd like to watch it, click here. But I think the much more serious issue is the inability to discern what is affecting our hearts and minds and that of our children. An easy question to ask myself is, "Would I allow this to take place in my living room?" Do you enjoy watching what breaks the heart of God, the sins that cost Jesus on the cross? We are to love the things God loves and hate the things He hates. Simple enough. I'm not talking about throwing the baby out with the bathwater and never watching a movie that may edify and encourage, but there's a warfare going on between God and Satan, and it's too often hardly noticed. Who is winning Hollywood? Who is winning your heart and the heart of your family?

Authors, whether through the pen, the keyboard, the lips, or the audio and visual arts have a story to tell with a philosophy to expound. Suggestion: Watch a movie (or TV show) at home that you'd normally choose and take notes. Two columns: godly themes / ungodly themes. I don't mean the overall theme of the movie. If there's a family dressed in their birthday suits taking food to their neighbors who have just had a loss of some sort, the theme of helping your neighbor is a good one, but obviously, the sub-theme of delivering the meal naked is wrong. You may not catch all the sub-themes of the movie; they're often very subtle. Watch with your spouse or a friend, both take notes, then compare and discuss. You may be surprised to learn what is actually coming into your mind and the mind of your children, both consciously and subconsciously. Food for thought either way. And the mind is where it matters. When you wonder where your children got some idea that you find foreign to your family, it may be no surprise at all. 

Some say that we need to be integrated into the culture, otherwise we'll be "irrelevant and alienated from others." They propose that watching Hollywood movies helps us have talking points with our neighbors, just be cautious of "the danger of excess." I don't see that philosophy expounded in Scripture. What we do read is that we are to test all things and to abstain from every form of evil and to hold fast to what is good. There's much more that we can discuss with our neighbors, and what seems to be unrecognized is that changes in thinking patterns slowly morph, and the change points are hardly noticed. It's like a lobster; if it's put into water that's being heated to boiling, he doesn't even notice that he's soon to be somebody's meal.

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

Is it you, dear one?  And what about those precious children who sit by your side, innocently munching on their popcorn?

Painting ~ An Anxious Moment, Briton Riviere 1878

WikiArt, public domain