Movies and My Opinion, In Case You Care

I read a terrific article in the Chicago Tribune about the movie ratings system and how warped it is. The author, Michael Phillips, specifically used the new Watchmen movie as his example, and I highly suggest you read the article. Here, I'll even link it.

I'm so helpful.

The author uses the assertion that kids shouldn't see all R-rated movies as his premise, but he hints at a deeper issue: the failure of those who rate movies to accurately convey what is and isn't appropriate for different demographics. Stephen and I have always been leery of mutely following the ratings system, seeing everything that is rated "acceptable" for adults. Instead, we choose to research the content of the movies that sound interesting, and if the content sounds like it's in direct opposition to whatever is "true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable" or "excellent" (see Philippians chapter 4), then we stay away.

Now this doesn't mean that we refuse to watch anything with sex, violence, or "bad" language. In our opinion, sometimes those movies with such content actually convey the most meaningful truths. Confused yet? Here, let me give you some examples: Have you ever seen Magnolia? Or what about The Shawshank Redemption? Both of those movies make me want to puke my guts out at various points--the content is raw, hard to swallow, and shocking. But oh, the truths they espouse. The layers of human emotions they strip away, leaving only the soft candy core. The redemption they offer. Both of these films are rated R, and both of them present some beautiful moments that are worth seeing. While the characters in these movies may make terrible decisions (and have a shockingly strong grasp of profanity), the truths they steer their viewers toward do, in fact, line up with our "true, noble, pure" etc., etc., standard. They are imperfect, broken humans, glimpsing at something divine.

I guess where I draw the line content-wise is just how movies use sex, violence, language, and drug use. If it's sex for sex's sake, then I'll most likely stay away. (You're probably remembering this post. I admit, we should have just turned it off. There was a lot of sex just for the sake of having sex. Plus it was stupid. We lost some brain cells.) Same thing with violence. Phillips, in the above article, comes down hard on violence in movies and how it relates to the ratings system. We are a desensitized society, ready to allow our children to "witness an act of brutality on screen, dozens of them, hundreds--but along comes a consensual sex scene, and it's 'Cover your eyes! I said cover your eyes, Melissa!'" Obviously I'm not focusing on children watching these sort of images. We don't allow it, and we won't. But we as adults need to protect ourselves from such senseless violence and sex as well, and oftentimes we just drop the ball. We have no discernment between what is redemptive and what is simply trash. Take my Shawshank Redemption example: prison violence, prison rape, language, and an altogether gritty, depressing setting are all present. But the whole movie is about redemption (thus the title), and you come out of watching it feeling stripped of pretenses, ready to search for truths in the most unlikely of places.

It's worth the rough content.

Here's another example: Wes Anderson. We love his movies. (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic, etc.) We will watch anything he puts out just because we like his movies so much. And his movies deal with depression, suicide, casual sex, drug use, strained family relations, and so much more. But they are good, so very good. The people are broken, but the messages so often ring with truth.

We have some friends and family who have chosen to avoid all R-rated movies, and I'm not out to mock their decision or say I'm better than they are. They have their reasons, all of them noble, and we respect their intent. But in my opinion, people who make this sort of vow are missing the point. They are assuming that all movies rated "R" are worth giving a wide berth, whereas anything rated lesser than "R" is okay. Now we all know just how sick, crass, and generally disgusting a lot of PG-13 movies can be. Michael Phillips touched on some of that in his article, and I think he hit it spot on. Truth be told, I'm much more wary of movies rated "PG-13" than I am of those rated "R."

I guess, in the end, it's all about using our brains. The entertainment industry, while it produces a lot of trash, isn't trash in and of itself. It just is, and we need to put what wisdom and discernment we have been given to good use when we partake of Hollywood's offerings. If you haven't yet read that article, here it is again. Really, it's good. And its take on Watchmen's violence has my husband, a fan of the graphic novel, thinking twice about going to see it.

As he put it, "it's one thing seeing it in comic book form, and a whole other thing seeing it graphically acted out in front of you."