Movies: To Watch or Not to Watch?

Last week’s piece on chick flicks brought up one of the most disputed topics for New Man readers: what kind of movies are appropriate for Christians to watch? This is a common debate among Christians in America today because movies are such a big part of our culture. When talking about in-the-world-but-not-of-the-world issues, this one hits home for a lot of people. Like most of these gray issues, I find the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle.

The two extreme opinions regarding movie watching among the Christian world also seem to be the most vocal (isn’t that often the case). One the one hand, many don’t think we should watch secular movies at all, or if we do, it shouldn’t be anything more than PG-rated. The reasons behind this view are obvious, because the Bible warns us not to pollute our minds and only to think on things that are good.

On the other hand, there are those who think that Christians should understand our culture, and one of the best ways to do that is by watching movies. Movies are truly the main American art form, and if you want to understand current worldviews in our country, there are few better ways to do it than by closely watching our films. This side of the group says that they only watch movies with a critical eye and are not affected by what they see.

Our chick flick survival guide last week was a prime example of these tensions. We had several responses that were shocked that we would promote these type of movies in our Christian magazine. We also got a huge positive response to it. Many enjoyed the fun, tongue-in-cheek way we handled it. It actually turned out to be the most-read article we’ve had in the last six months. So clearly, a lot of men are falling somewhere in the middle of these two arguments.

To be honest, as a young Christian man who loves to watch and examine a good film, my natural tendency is to fall in line with the latter group. I have to struggle to keep myself more in the middle, because I just enjoy movies a lot. But I understand the value of what that first group says, and I certainly think that what I watch affects me. It’s a hard balancing act to walk, but I think each of us has to walk that line, and I also think the line is different for each of us. Certain things may be all right for you to see and not me, or vice versa. I think that principle is true for a lot of the gray issues in Christianity. The key is to know what we can handle, and to make sure others around us (like our wives or friends) keep us accountable to that.

In line with that thought, starting next week we will be starting a new feature for all of our movie and TV reviews. At the end of each review, we will make sure to tell you what to expect in the way of, shall we say non-Christian content. This isn’t going to be one of those really detailed lists, but we will give you an idea of what to expect in the film so that you can make an informed decision about your entertainment watching.