Grey Matters

Recently, I've been considering different forms of media--specifically films--and how we allow them to impact us. What sparked this contemplation? The question of whether or not a rated R movie should be shown to an 8th grade history class for educational purposes.

This blog is not about that particular question, but still that whole situation got me thinking...life really isn't black and white. Much of it is what we choose to call "grey." Opening up the subject of movie ratings--especially in the Christian community--is like opening up Pandora's box. So many questions arise. What's the movie's rating? Why was it rated that way? Violence, language, sex, gore? Why should we watch a movie if, by the world's standards, it's considered so intense or "bad"?

As an aside, why should we think as Christians that the world's standard of "bad" is any better than it's standard of "good"? Even a broken clock is right twice a day. At the same time, the loveliest, corniest, cutesiest, G-rated-est Disney movies present one of the worst pieces of advice possible: Follow your heart! Seriously?! I mean, I love Disney movies. But how often is the heart wrong? How often do we regret acting on our seemingly good impulses? My main point here is that a letter rating shouldn't be our determining factor of whether a movie is "good" or "bad." (PS - The Passion of the Christ was rated R.) And isn't it interesting that Christians categorize certain things as worse than others? Because murder is worse than holding a grudge, and sex outside of a heterosexual marriage is WAY worse than gossip.


As an aside to that aside...At the risk of sounding like a complete hypocrite, I will freely admit have many times fallen into the trap of making a "top ten" list of sins, and I often have to go back and take the logs out of my own eyes. It's something that we all struggle with, unfortunately.


(Also, I realize that after that comment about G-rated Disney movies, maybe some of you are wondering if we should even watch movies at all. I'm getting to that.)

So once we move past the rating and the reason for it, we hit another question. By watching this movie or recommending it to others, am I agreeing and supporting everything in that movie? By no means! I run across this same problem with literature. An author could be a complete hedonist, but still write something meaningful and instructional to the reader. I also face this problem in my own writing. Do I write a character who's actions I find reprehensible, just for the sake of moving the story along and making it more meaningful? If I let my hero/heroine do or say something that I don't personally agree with morally, am I endorsing that behavior? No! But, when I write, I want my characters to be as lifelike as possible. And let's face it...people are MESSY. They are COMPLEX. Life is COMPLEX.

It's "grey."

Or maybe it's not. Maybe it's full of color, instead of being black, white, or grey.

So what movies should we watch? What books should we read? What's "safe"? What's "OK"? I don't know. I honestly do not know. I do know that's it's something you have to decide for yourself as a responsible, intelligent human being. What are you going to let in that will affect you in a positive way? What are you going to attempt to keep out that you know will affect you in a negative way? Once you get something in your head that you don't want there, it's hard to get it out--not impossible, but still really hard.

Also, be kind. Be sensitive to the personal decisions of others in these areas. I'm not saying, "DON'T OFFEND ANYONE!" I'm saying respect their choices, and respect them as people who stick by their standards. Also, respect people who may have standards that are "looser" than yours. Different forms of media affect people differently. But, please, speak up in love if you see that their personal choices are affecting them in a negative way.


- Jess