One of my favorite RUF weekly events at Kennesaw State is Wednesday Lunch. Every Wednesday from 11:30am to about 1:30pm, we get together to eat lunch together and talk and play. We used to eat outside on a large grassy field in the center of campus, but since the cold weather has become too cold, we now crowd around a table in the student center. It brings back memories of eating lunch in my high school cafeteria.
This past Wednesday, the group's conversation topic somehow got to celebrities. We talked about good movies, good actors, and attractive actors. In the midst of our conversation, a girl mentioned that she no longer respects/admires Jake Gyllenhaal for his role in the controversial movie about homosexuality, "Brokeback Mountain." She is not the first person I've heard make this comment.
Quite frankly, there are few movies that live up to our standard of morality. We watch people muder each other. We laugh when crude, racist, or malicious jokes are made. We hear God's name used in vain. We don't think twice when we see blasphemy and idolatry. And nearly every movie, regardless of genre, seems to condone fornication. This is what we call entertainment today.
I just find it hard to understand why an actor portraying a homosexual man is less deserving of respect than an actor portraying a cold-blooded murderer. Why is a movie about homosexuality hailed by Christians as taboo and disgusting, while those same Christians tolerate movies about hatred, murder, stealing, or adultery. Sin is sin is sin.
We are all hypocrites in judging one man's sin as worse than another's. I don't know where I fall on the spectrum, but I am ceratinly no exception. Should we remove the movies from our shelves? Should we avoid buying CD's with explicit content? Should we turn off the TV for shows that aren't family oriented? What do you think?
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2 comments:
"Should we remove the movies from our shelves? Should we avoid buying CD's with explicit content? Should we turn off the TV for shows that aren't family oriented?"
Perhaps. The things we are constantly exposed to will become acceptable to us over time unless conscious effort is used to prevent such (even then, it is not easy. it would be wiser to minimize exposure to begin with if possible). This actor may have endorsed homosexuality by taking that role. Many other actor/music artists endorse far more harmful things (read, recreational use of narcotics, which has destroyed more lives than homosexuality probably ever will)....
in retrospect, destroying lives... judging that criteria by worldly standards. a man may lose his everything but become a saint in the process....
its common to demonize homosexuality. its also easy and its popular in some areas (bible belt south probably a bit more hateful than most other regions). it even seems like its a political battleground, a front on some type of war.
it would probably make more sense to take the side of the campus 'prophet' that condemns everyone to hell for every sin. are there more serious sins... no, but yes, but no. its overkill though. we all fall short. you (impersonal you, not YOU) think your better than the gay guy? who are you trying to convince? worry about the splinter in their eye but oblivious to the plank in your own.
2cents, a bit long, maybe 200cents ;p
I don't think we should remove movies or music with explcit content. First of all, we've all learned about censorship and the dangers that it can pose when taken too far - and determining what constitutes "too far" is difficult. Second, the language and content of many (though not all) of these media are used for a reason. Real life is not clean, pretty, and neat. There is crime, hatred, and death, and those things do not materialize through music and TV but instead are reflected in those media. If someone writes a song about their experiences with drugs and sex in a poverty- and crime-ridden neighborhood, they are not going to use flowery language to powerfully and accurately depict what they have seen and done. It is true that children don't need to see and hear those things, but that is why parents should be supervising what their kids are doing. I don't think there is anything wrong with having those things around to remind us that there are other worlds out there that we don't know as our own. It's all about education!
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