"Your celebrations of diabolical mayhem and pornographic violence prey on the fantasies of sick, fragile minds"

I rarely watch a movie. I have not seen any of the previous Batman movies and won’t see this one either. But what has been entirely interesting to me even prior to this saga in Aurora is the clamor from so many of my Facebook friends, the vast majority of whom claim the name of Christ, who are absolutely driven to distraction to partake of the latest Hollywood must see that is just being released, and come back praising it as “epic” at some level. The single common denominator, whether it be Twilight, or Hunger Games, or Batman, or Saw XXIII, is that each movie must see tends to glorify that which God abhors, but it is okay because it is only entertainment. I cannot think but that this inundation in the macabre robs the soul at its very core, and is especially offensive to the indwelling Holy Spirit whose entire Being is consumed with conforming that individual to the image of Jesus Christ.

An interesting perspective was this piece from the Washington Times.

This is indeed a great article. But be careful Lee, I have found out that some here are not fond of the idea that going to see Batman was wrong.

Thank you for your comments.

Lee: It’s obvious that you haven’t seen either Hunger Games or The Dark Knight Rises, because neither of those movies “glorify that which God abhors,” and they are therefore diametrically different from any of the Saw movies. (The Twilight movies are just goofy.) This is not an argument that you have to see the movies before you can criticize them (or fellow Christians who have seen them), because if you had merely read any thorough review of the movies (or read the Hunger Games book or a review of it), you would know better. Under your approach, movies like Saving Private Ryan or Flags of Our Fathers that make an effort to depict with some realism the horrors of war are “glorify[ing] what God abhors.” Nonsense.

Providentially, I received today an e-mail from BJU Press with their (positive) review of the Hunger Games book trilogy. The review is here:

http://www.bjupress.com/resources/christian-school/articles/is-hunger-healthy.php

Here’s an excerpt of the review: “By choosing to write a dystopia, Collins helps the reader to understand the violence and situational ethics in context. She engages the reader to judge right and wrong, not just to absorb the action. This trilogy satisfies the hunger for an exciting adventure with a serious message. Throughout the narrative, Collins reminds us that what happens is not good or normal, but terrible. The Game is not a game. She warns us by showing bad consequences more than by telling us that certain things are bad. We reach our own conclusion: we convince ourselves.”

Similar statements would be accurate about the Dark Knight trilogy of movies as well.

–—

Mod note: added HTML tag to hyperlink

I recently saw the Dark Knight. And to be honest, there wasn’t that much action in it. About the only real violence in the movie, is when Batman and Bane face off, and an occasional scuffle here and there between police and revolutionaries. It is mostly a movie about a terrorist planting a nuclear bomb in the city, and Batman and the police trying to find a way to disarm it before it goes off.

This past weekend my wife and I watched an episode of I Love Lucy

http://everythinglucy.youns.com/lovelucy.asp?offset=152

All one has to do is watch media from years ago …. and then watch something vomited up at us from our TV sets today and the difference is stark!

Goes for TV (I used to watch Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Maverick, etc …) and for film

I don’t think media shapes culture but rather reflects culture but much (the vast majority in my view) of today’s media is absolute filth.

What strikes me as safe viewing:

• The news …. keeps one informed.
• Sports (but turn off the Olympic Women’s beach volleyball!)
• Financial networks (CNBC)
• Documentaries: History channel, discovery channel, food network, etc.

[Jim] I don’t think media shapes culture but rather reflects culture but much (the vast majority in my view) of today’s media is absolute filth.

I agree that media is a reflection of culture, but I think it also shapes culture by constantly “pushing the envelope.” It normalizes what is just a little beyond the pale in people’s minds. Then, when culture takes the next step, media pushes the envelope again and moves just a little beyond the pale again.

I think the “open letter” makes for some stimulating thinking about the level of violence is so many big-budget popcorn movies based on comic books. To be fair, the message of The Dark Knight, whose villain apparently made an impression on this psychotic murderer, is the opposite of murder and mayhem. It makes the Joker a fool because his nihilistic belief system is exposed as false. I believe that was the intent of Christopher Nolan.

The bigger question is can images overwhelm the story? There are, as the letter points out, very violent images and ideas in that PG-13 film. I’m not sure audiences always take away what the director intends. In fact, I know they don’t.

I won’t be seeing The Dark Knight Rises. I heard they make Batman a fornicator. Another topic, but probably more destructive to most people’s souls than the violence, because while the violence is promoting a biblical view of justice, the sex is promoting a satanic view of sexuality.

The news isn’t safe. It’s mostly propaganda.

I think if you are going to write an open letter, it shouldn’t be so horribly off base.

[Brad Kelly]

This is indeed a great article. But be careful Lee, I have found out that some here are not fond of the idea that going to see Batman was wrong.

Thank you for your comments.

[Greg Long]

[Brad Kelly]

This is indeed a great article. But be careful Lee, I have found out that some here are not fond of the idea that going to see Batman was wrong.

Thank you for your comments.

Actually Brad I don’t think anyone was defending Batman, or at least I wasn’t. I was just arguing against the idea that we should speculate on whether or not God is chastising his children (who didn’t even get shot) with the theater shooting.