I'm So Glad We Got Rid of Our TV

We're deep in the throes of spring break, enjoying our time in Michigan basking in the warm glow of parental and grandparental (a word?) affection. Not only do Stephen's folks dote on all three kids in a way that might make your stomach turn (only if you sternly disapprove of spoiling kids), but Stephen's grandparents, who live in a mother-in-law apartment connected to his folks' house, tend to cater to the whims of both us and our children. Great-grandma loves to hold Jack and Baylor hostage by showing them a particular Peter Rabbit video over and over, and just now I heard her say that she was planning on baking a pie for Stephen.

Now you know how stunned I was when I married Steve. As brilliant and as driven and as mature as he was (and is), he was very spoiled in many ways. He still expects me to check his pockets for him before I wash laundry. I just wasn't raised to take care of menfolk.

Anyway, it's great. We love it. Yeah, it's chilly here, but we're staying indoors for the most part, so I can almost ignore that our spring break is less than springy. We attended an Orthodox church in the area on Sunday, which we enjoyed thoroughly. It was a convert-driven church with a more contemporary liturgy--and you know, I type that and I want to laugh. Contemporary! I'm sure if you stuck the average evangelical Protestant in the middle of any Orthodox church, even this one, they'd think it was overly formal and hard to follow. And they wouldn't be too far off base. I guess when I say "contemporary," I mean "completely in English."

I digress. It was great and worshipful and full of friendly, caring parishioners. We're going to call it our church-away-from-home. After church we had lunch with Stephen's other grandparents at their home, and then we all came back home and just lazed the day away. When the kids went to bed we four adults hunkered down to watch The Man from Snowy River, a movie that I grew up with but hadn't seen in several years. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend watching it. This copy I picked up used a couple days ago at a used bookstore in town, and I'm so glad to call it a part of our humble movie collection now. It's such a wholesome, beautiful film, especially if you can look past the few 1980s filmmaking cheesy moments. (Think slow motion.) The worst word in the entire film is "bastard," directed at Kirk Douglas' character, and let me tell you, he deserved it.

Sometimes I'm okay with justified swearing. Just so you know.

After watching that fantastic film we wished we had Return to Snowy River so we could find out what happened next. Instead, Steve's folks went to bed and he and I stayed up flipping through cable. We settled on watching My Super Ex-Girlfriend, a film as stupid as it looks despite the likes of Eddie Izzard (we're big fans) and Luke Wilson (also big fans.) Since it was on TV, we had to contend with lots of commercials, during which we flipped the channels, eventually settling on Nacho Libre for our commercial viewing.

We love that one. Possibly Jack Black's best film.

Where am I going with all this movie and television discussion? I admit, it's not something I usually discuss. Well, first off, the Super Ex-Girlfriend movie was very formulaic and predictable. Stephen had the whole plot figured out before we'd reached the half-way point, leaving us to concentrate on the hyped-up sexual references and the unrealistic expectations of women displayed in between the stupid jokes and terrible special effects. We kept watching because, well, we wanted to figure out if he was right, plus we wanted to see Eddie and Luke bumble around like the dorks they are.

And once we turned off the television, we both agreed that getting rid of it was the best decision we have ever made.

We were amazed at the amount of sex in absolutely everything on TV. The movie was saturated in it, the commercials used it shamelessly--there was no end in sight. And it wasn't sex used artistically or for any real purpose; it was simply sex or sex's sake. It was twisted, out of the context of meaningful relationships, and it gave a completely warped perspective on how sex should be used or perceived. The women were dying, absolutely dying, to jump into bed and please their men, and sex was hailed as the ultimate climax of any relationship. Plus it was easy, clean, and completely natural, never awkward or vulnerable or, hey, realistic.

My favorite part of the movie was when one character broke up with her underwear model-boyfriend (she had caught him in bed with three or more women, she wasn't sure) and then had sex with Luke Wilson's character not five minutes after telling him about the break-up. Now that's real, folks. Also very healthy.

I know none of these revelations are new or earth-shattering. But remember that we have been without a television for a long time now, and we don't watch cable television at night, unless you count The Office or Futurama episodes we've recorded on my folks' DVR. (And the beauty there is that we can fast-forward through the commercials. Genius!) It kind of came as a slap in the face to us. We get so sick of the sickness that is our society's obsession with sex, and we were both pretty amazed at how twisted and ridiculous it had become. And hey, that movie is three years old! Good thing we don't keep up with many movies nowadays.

My husband recognizes that he is a man, and that men have to guard their eyes so carefully in order to remain pure and faithful. He has witnessed firsthand the destructive nature of allowing oneself to slip in that area, and he is determined to protect his mind and eyes, with God's help. And a few parts of this movie and even the commercials during this movie's breaks certainly were not helping. Twix and Burger King are using some perverted form of sex to sell food, for heaven's sakes, and we were shocked to see a pretty unashamed commercial for a local strip club.

All I could say at that one was, "Aren't those men worried that their wives and girlfriends will recognize them? They're not even bothering to cover their faces!"

Now I probably shouldn't get too comfortable on my soapbox. We didn't turn off the movie, as you might be thinking right now. We kept watching it, and we even laughed sometimes, namely at Eddie and Luke. We wanted some mindless entertainment, and boy, did we ever get it. The "mindless" part was at least quadrupled by our partial viewing of Nacho Libre, and we certainly weren't working to better ourselves or our minds, as we would normally with our various pursuits. (Reading, writing, French translation on S's part, etc.) We succumbed to the lie of "prime time" instead of making it our prime time and doing worthwhile things.

I think we'll probably be okay. But let me reiterate: we are so very glad to have given up the television. Best. Decision. Ever.

You know, besides our decision to marry one another, have children, and pursue our faith to its fullest. After all those, best decision ever.

Let me know what you think about all this. Has anyone else given up the tube? Are you hanging on to it, with good reason? How do you combat the impurities? How do you enjoy it without getting preachy, like me? Share, share!

And for heaven's sake, if you're an Eddie Izzard fan also, please comment. We like to know people of like minds and warped senses of humor. What's not funny about a cross-dressing, historically minded, Star Trek-obsessed, British comedian?