I've had enough. I'm done with 'R' rated movies.
My wife and I rented what the jacket billed as the ultimate romantic comedy, Love Actually.
While it delivered the laughs, it often served them up wrapped in profanity, nudity and sexual situations. To be fair, the rating warned me about those issues. I should have known better.
What bothers me is that so much of it was completely unnecessary, especially the sex.
Another Spoiler Alert!
Two of the ancillary characters in the movie (I don't even remember if they even had names) get together through their, um... work. They are actors in a so-called 'adult' film. Their roles in the plot are on the fringe to say the least. The parts could easily have been cut without compromising the movie. In fact, removing them would have allowed greater development of Laura Linney's character. As it turns out, we end up knowing more about how the porn stars fare, than we do about Linney's frustrated love life. Still, as they say, "sex sells" so the porn stars escape the cutting room floor. Okay, so the director made the decision to keep the adult film "actors" in the movie. Even so, it wasn't necessary to show what I believe was showed. I say believe, because I closed my eyes and looked away at the first sign of trouble. Call me a prude if you must, but there was just nothing I needed to see in that scene. We could have gotten the point without actually seeing what they apparently chose to show.
We are called on to be holy as God is Holy. I, for one, do not believe that one can watch that kind of thing without it having an effect on one's psyche. I try to impress on our children the need for caution and restraint when choosing our entertainment. So often, I hear people say things like "It doesn't bother me. " or "It doesn't affect me." Sadly, it just ain't so. The really insidious thing about it is the lie. If anyone believes it doesn't affect him or her, then they go on watching stuff like that and often progress toward more and more wicked things. Starts out with a popular mainstream movie, moves into a hip "cult" favorite flick, on to soft core porn and then to X and XXX. Each one is a stepping stone to the next. A gateway drug, if you will. Each step moving closer to total depravity.
And it's not just sex. It's violence and evil, too. One of my best childhood friends was obsessed with monster movies. The scarier and gorier the better, in his opinion at the time. For him, movies just weren't much good unless they scared the bejeebers out of you or totally grossed you out with the special effects. So many of these scary flicks centered around monsters, aliens, and more frighteningly, demons and such. One of his favorite movies was Salem's Lot. He described a scene to me in which one of the monsters (a vampire type critter, I believe) was sitting outside a kid's bedroom window asking to be let in. In another movie, Fright Night, parts of which I'll admit I did see, the vampire villain couldn't come in to your house uninvited. I think the same thing happened in the 80's flick, The Lost Boys. Polite devils, those vampires. I am happy to report that this young man, my school friend, is now a devout Christian last I heard. Perhaps those movies literally did finally scare the hell out of him.
Frankly, a movie these days doesn't even have to be rated 'R' or even 'PG-13' to be potential poison to your soul. (Reference my earlier post on WALL-E.) Take the Golden Compass movie from a year or so ago. There was so much hype about that film meant to get families, kids and young people to go see it. All with a latent(?) sinister intent. Even though the author on whose work the film was based claimed the movie was a little watered down, the message was still pretty clear from what I understand. I'll have to admit I didn't see it. I don't want to see it, even to pick it apart flaw by theological flaw. I certainly wasn't about to pay to see it. I won't buy any of the toys or books, or allow my kids to have them. (They don't want them, anyway.) The author of the books, Philip Pullman (as in pull man away from God, on Satan's behalf) once stated in an interview (I'll have to paraphrase) that his whole purpose in writing the series was to destroy children's/people's faith in God and/or religion. Oh, and I'm pretty sure he didn't mind making a few bucks in the process, either. In fact, this film's existence has left such a bad taste in my mouth it has colored my opinion of the actors involved in making the film. I don't plan to see a Daniel Craig film, or a Nicole Kidman movie anytime soon. It has colored my view of other actors as well. Ian McKellen, whom I enjoyed watching as the heroic wizard, Gandalf, in the Lord of the Rings films, lent his voice to an important animated character in the Golden Compass. His association with this film, along with the rumor that he is a homosexual, taints my opinion of him at least as an actor and yet also as a person, too. According to the credits, Kathy Bates, Sam Elliot, Kristin Scott Thomas, are all in the film. Last, and certainly not least, Christopher Lee, himself no stranger to dark roles in dark films, played a role as well.
Even the character's names could be construed as having significant meaning, particularly Lord Asriel, Daniel Craig's character. If I'm not mistaken, the Bible refers disparagingly to a sorcerer or sorceress named Asreal (sp?). I think it's in Judges, but it may be Kings or Chronicles, or I might just plain be wrong about where it is. The similarity in these names is striking... and I'm sure it's no accident. It's a chance for someone like Pullman to take another (not-so-subtle) jab at God and His divine judgment of wickedness.
...And for you children of the 80's like me: Azreal was the name of Gargamel's cat on the Smurfs. Gargamel was the "human" bad guy who looked like Gregor Mendel's mentally unbalanced cousin. I think that Smurf lore attributes the Smurfs creation to Gargamel, and yet in spite of this fact (or maybe because of it) he spends most of his time trying to capture them or put an end to their idyllic lifestyle. The blue homunculi, in turn, spend most of their time running from him and countering his evil schemes.
It's at once encouraging and sad to see films like Facing the Giants and Fireproof. It's great that these films are being made. It's sad to see they usually only make it out in limited release. I assume it's because they anticipate there's only limited interest, or maybe there really only is limited interest and that is sadder still.
The bottom line is this: You are what you eat. If you feast your eyes on whatever garbage Hollywood is offering, then you will eventually become what you watch. Violent, oversexed, foul-mouthed, etc. Be careful friends. Be vigilant, brothers and sisters. As they say, the eyes are the window to the soul. Be careful what you let in the window. It can't come in without your permission.
Have a Smurfy Day!
