Wow, I haven't written for a long time! I have been a slacker lately. I would say that I have been really busy, and I have, but that isn't a good reason. I found time to do other stuff, like watch tv, so clearly I had some time during the recent month. I just didn't post anything, I am not sure why?
Kylee and I had a discussion about Rated R movies today. About whether or not it is alright to watch them. I am torn right now. I am probably leaning on the side of watching
some of them but I am not willing to jump ship right now and take the plunge. I tend to think that whenever I am about to make a decision that can dictate my path in life I try to sleep on it before doing it. So although I am leaning towards watching them, I want to give myself some time to change my mind if I decide it isn't the right path.
I, unlike Kylee, don't think that they took the "no Rated-R" part out of the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet by accident. I have heard about how much the leadership POURS over each word whenever they publish something, so I have a hard time thinking it was accidental. So, if it wasn't accidental, why did they leave it out? I think the COMPLETE reason they took it out is so people don't rely on rating systems to govern what they watch. I think before they thought it to be a good standard, like the Word of Wisdom, that all can obey and the average person would be better off by following it. But I think they are thinking now that it would be better if they instituted a different general standard: you use the Spirit to govern what you think is appropriate. I think if they still thought ALL Rated-R movies were wrong they would absolutely not take that part out of the FTSOY pamphlet. They would have just added the Spirit part in there (which was already in there). It seems like they might acknowledge that there can be good in Rated-R movies.
I have heard the argument that clearly any Rated-R movie has something wrong in it. I don't agree with that. There are some things that are not suitable for minors. Now clearly I am not talking about things that are innately wrong, but about things that are too mature for youngsters. For instance, a ten year old probably should not be introduced to any discussions about masturbation. On the other hand, this would be a suitable discussion for an adult as long as it was not passing it off as appropriate or right or treating it in a sensational way. There are some things that young people are not mature enough to deal with. A young child should not see Schindler's List, just on account of the subject matter itself, but an adult can process the atrocities of war and not be too immature to deal with it. Again, I am not saying adults can handle subjecting themselves to evil and children can't, I am saying that there are things that younger people can not deal with because they cannot process it right yet. A child should not hear about someone getting gang-raped, but an adult can hear about that and deal with the the situation.
I think it is the overall message of a movie that is important. For instance,
Titanic's message is that overwhelming love overcomes everything and anything is okay to give up in order to possess this all-encompassing love. That is a bad message, and the nudity that is in the movie has nothing to do with love, and it also shows the ridiculousness of the relationship. Their love was so immature that they couldn't even show restraint in their physical relationship. Also, is any sexual relationship worth
even the chance of having a kid out of wedlock, and especially in a completely unstable relationship? I don't believe so. This movie, and others like it, have a completely irredeemable message.
But there are movies that offer a great message.
A Time to Kill is one of these movies to me. It has nothing of a sexual nature that is inappropriate, it has a scene of a tragic rape and shooting, and that is the only objectionable material. It does have a description of a rape that is necessary for the movie, and this scene gives context for the theme of the movie. It had a great message. The benefit that you derive from this movie in leading you to become a better person outweighs the negative to me. And if we give movies credit for being able to lead us astray, lets also give the opposite kind of credit--they can lead us to greatness too, they can inspire and uplift. This movie does this. A movie can have bad in it but still have more good to make it worthwhile.
Another example, my parents both swore/swear. I subject myself to vulgar language at times when I am around them. Should I not participate in this relationship because of the vulgar language? I don't think so! I get far more good out of this relationship than bad. It can be the same for movies. The movies can have a message that inspires you to be better (again, acknowledge the reverse of media's power to sway people in the wrong direction) and much good can overcome a little bad.
So, like I said, I will sleep on it, probably for many nights. But I am just mulling it over. I think there are
some movies that are Rated-R that offer more good than bad and can influence me to be a
better person. But I am not sure, and I acknowledge that Satan moves us in degrees and can give us ten truths to make us swallow one lie. So I will put some spiritual effort into finding out what it right for me.
