Okay, you could say that I "buckled"...like a belt.After hearing all of the rave reviews and accolades that everyone, especially some of my Christian family and friends, were giving to the new movie, "The Blind Side", I had to go. Some were touting this as the next "Facing the Giants" or "Fireproof" Christian movie of the season. Considering all of the encouragement I was getting to see it, I figured I couldn't go wrong. Our family piled into the car and we headed to the local movie theater.
We arrived in plenty of time to drop the $34 for admission and get good seats. I was ready to see this "extraordinary" movie that was based on a true story.
The movie began and shortly into the movie I knew it was going to be all about a Christian message when I saw an inscription above the school entrance that said, “With men, this is possible. With God, all things are possible." YES!
Unfortunately, it didn't last...
I cringed and felt spiritually vomited on by terms and conversation such as, "And she’s disappointed that a couple of college recruiters took Michael to "t-tty bars." When the family drops Michael off at college, she warns him that if he gets a girl pregnant, she’ll, "Come back to cut his penis off. " In addition, the crude term "tap" (in reference to sex) is thrown around a couple of times.
I was thinking to myself, "Did I actually pay to sit down and be bombarded by this?"
I tried to shake it off, but the "hits" just kept on coming.
My family and I sat and listened to "a‑‑" a half-dozen times and "b‑‑ch". "T‑t" was said a couple of times. God’s name was misused a handful of times as well.
While the story-line was great, I couldn't help but be disappointed and perplexed. Disappointed because this movie was touted as a "Christian" film to me (by Christians) and perplexed because I couldn't figure out why someone would recommend that I support this film with my time, money and willingly expose my family to the content.
My family left the theater very disappointed.
Wait...
Like "Blind Side" some of the above story never happened. Many people did urge me to go see the movie and told me it was a great movie...despite the content. However, I never took my family to the theater to see the movie. We never paid $34 to see the movie. Most importantly, we didn't willingly get bombarded by the offensive content for 2 hours.
You see, before I get "Blind Sided" by any movie, I have learned to wait for the movie to hit the theaters and then go check out the Christian movie reviews found at http://www.pluggedin.com. This site doesn't say that you should or should not go see the movie, but it does reveal the content contained in the movie in an unbiased manner. If you are a Christian that is concerned about what you spiritually "consume", it can sure save you some money!
Furthermore, I've learned to take "advice" on what to see, even from Christians, with a grain of salt. I've had to learn this lesson the hard way in the past by paying for a movie only to have to get up and walk out in the middle of it because they have used my Savior's name as a cuss word (blasphemy).
Think I'm being too "stringent"? Are you even tempted to call me "legalistic"? Before you wear yourself out by jumping to any conclusions, ask yourself a couple of questions:
1) Would you buy a ticket for your Pastor and take him to see this movie, knowing the content? If not...why not?
2) Would you have "Movie Night" at your church and show this movie? (Again, knowing the content.) **-If you say, "Well, um, I would never show that at our church because of the language and blasphemy, but I don't have a problem seeing it at the theater because it was a "good" movie." My response, "Why not? "
3) Would you buy a ticket for the Holy Spirit and take Him to see this movie? If you went and saw the movie...you already did.
Are we compromising Biblical precedents and "searing our conscience" for the sake of being entertained? Think about it...
http://www.HollywoodAndGod.com
