Watch What You Watch.

Chapter 7: Elephant 4 – Entertainment

“What was the last movie you saw? What was the last sermon you heard? Most of us will remember more about the movie than we will about the sermon.” – Brent Crowe

Crowe’s point with this chapter is that we should be discerning about our entertainment choices, because entertainment (movies, TV shows, online videos, etc.) plays a huge role in our daily lives, and we are wired to remember what we see. This can be a helpful or hurtful; on one hand, positive entertainment choices have the power to impact our lives and thought processes for good. According to Brian Godawa, a Christian screenwriter, “Great movies are like incarnate sermons . . . . Probably because they put flesh onto the skeleton of abstract ideas about how life ought or ought not be lived” (131). On the other hand, however, poor entertainment choices can have negative effects that reach further than we might ever expect. Crowe’s “hope is that we would neither get lost in [entertainment] nor retreat from it, but allow our freedom to instruct and guide our engagement” (134).

This is an issue that few people take seriously enough, according to Crowe: “Thinking Christianly about what movies we’ll see or what shows we’ll watch seems to be a theological road that very few travel” (131). Responses to entertainment tend to be polarized: either it is something evil to be avoided in general, or something that can only be good if it deals with explicitly Christian themes. Crowe clarifies his stance between extremes, “I’m not an alarmist who believes a giant boycott of entertainment is the answer. But I’m also not a passive cultural glutton who thinks it’s okay to check your brain at the theater door” (132). Crowe asserts a different approach, which takes into account the importance of storytelling in culture to share truths, (as evidenced by Christ’s parables, the myths of authors C. S. Lewis and Tolkien, etc.). Crowe writes that “The incarnation of Jesus is the only true myth because it was the only time that story came to life,” but “the story of the Bible – God coming to earth and sacrificing himself for humanity – became the standard for story,” which has in turn given all our other human stories meaning.

·      How to Believe: Entertainment

o   Are my entertainment choices within the explicit moral will of God?

The Bible makes it clear that we must guard our eyes and our minds from sin, as written in Psalm 101:3, for example: “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes” (134). But the issue of entertainment involves many gray areas. Crowe explains the difficulty of knowing how to approach certain entertainment choices, comparing two kinds of movies: “While both the slasher movie [about a crazed serial killer] and the war movie [portraying soldiers willing to sacrifice their lives] might have equal amounts of violence, a very different message or worldview is being communicated. So how do we know the difference?” (135). Here’s where the questions previously discussed come into play, yet again.

o   Are my entertainment choices being made under the control of the flesh or the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:13-26)?

“Every day we must decide,” Crowe writes, “ which life we will feed – the new life in Christ or the old self enslaved to sin. The life we feed most is the one that wins” (135). Reality shows are one area that is especially questionable, because many of them tend to feed on the “carnal curiosity” we have “to peek in on other people’s misfortune” (135). We should take care to make sure we are submitting our entertainment choices to the Spirit’s authority.

o   Will this entertainment choice have a positive spiritual impact on me (1^st Corinthians 6:12; 10:23-24)?

This first consideration can’t be reduced to something like, “Can a Christian see an R-rated movie?” Crowe argues that there is a “significant problem with the manner in which the question is framed. Our freedom in Christ doesn’t motivate us toward the boundaries as defined by the Motion Picture Association of America. Don’t allow the boundaries set by culture to determine the boundaries of your freedom. Culture is always changing, and the boundaries God has already set are steadfast” (139-140). Rather, Crowe suggests things like websites that provide overviews of films that provide analysis without endorsing any particular worldview (www.screenit.com is a recommended one), allowing you to make your own informed decisions. Beyond this, Crowe says he asks three simple questions to determine if a movie will have a positive or negative spiritual impact: 1.) Will it build me up? 2.) Will it profit me? 3.) Will it help me personally?

o   Do my entertainment choices addict or enslave (1^st Corinthians 6:12)?

Crowe warns that entertainment choices can addict in two main ways a.) if we become obsessive about the amount of time we spend on them, and b.) if we “allow the values portrayed in a movie or show to determine our own values,” i.e., standards of feminine beauty (141). Crowe says we should “allow the Bible to always define reality” (142).

o   Will the entertainment choice have a positive spiritual impact on fellow believers and the community (Romans 14:19; 1 Corinthians 10:23-24; Galatians 6:1-10)?

Film is a powerful medium, and when a film presents admirable values or messages (take Schindler’s List, for example), it can have a strong positive influence on those who watch it and are inspired to put those values into action in their own lives.

o   Does this entertainment choice go against conscience (Romans 14:14)?

This one is self-explanatory; the main point is that some movies are a matter of conscience, and some may watch them with no qualms, whereas others will feel badly about doing so. It is important to be in line with personal conscience; even if a movie is harmless by other’s standards, it might be wrong for you.

o   Can the entertainment choice be imitated by others who understand their freedom (1^st Corinthians 10:33-11:1)?

We must also keep other members of our community in mind, especially those who look up to us as leaders. The maturity of the audience shouldn’t provide a free license “to take in excessive cursing, sexual content, and graphic violence,” because we are accountable for other people.

This chapter is something that I’ve thought about a great deal. I think because I am an artistically-minded person, I have to be especially careful about the images I allow into my mind, so I “watch what I watch.” I rarely watch TV in the first place, but I’ve made a habit of quickly changing the channel if it appears to be something with negative content. I often research movies before seeing them in theatres, and if I end up in an unexpected situation where I can’t avoid the content being shown, I will often look away. I’ve had people make fun of me for this at times, but I’ve never regretted the decision to spare myself negative images or thoughts brought on by entertainment choices. I make these decisions based on the conviction of my own conscience, and don’t necessarily expect others to have the same convictions – I just decide for myself what is right for me.

The main connection between this chapter and what we’ve been discussing in Biblical Heritage lately is that we should not be mindless consumers, but we should make informed choices about our purchases in consideration of the impact our consumption has on ourselves and others (including the people who are involved with the production, those who may be impacted or influenced by the action, etc.). This principle applies not only to the items we purchase, but the entertainment choices we make. The movie industry relies on advertising and marketing techniques just like the producers of any other product, and we should be discerning and wise about the things we support with our money. Does the entertainment choice exploit members of the community? Does it promote certain values at the expense of the wellbeing of others? Will it (or its side-effects) harm people, the environment, society, etc.? We should spend our money wisely.