Movies and Shows
One
The goodness of TV and movies
The distinguishing art form of the last hundred years has been “moving pictures,” or what we now call movies and TV shows. And no wonder, this art form combines the drama of the theater with the power of music and visuals limited only by the imagination of the director and his team.
In itself, that’s a remarkable cultural and technological achievement. That’s why most of us watch movies and shows. So far so good.
But if we are trying to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, this means we have to ask ourselves…Does the stuff I watch, and do my motives for watching it, bring me closer to Christ by giving me a greater sense of the truth goodness and beauty of the real world? Does what I am watching cause me to realize a good God, created a good world, and he created me VERY good and he is bringing everything to the greatest end?
Two
Quantity and hyper-stimulation
One of the things you have to watch out for when it comes to movies and shows, is quantity: how much are you watching?
Because the hyperstimulation of the screen, the quickness of the movement, the speed of the plot, the intensity of the music, the snappiness of the dialogue, the faces and physique of the actors – all of this stuff tends to be artificial, unrealistic, and more exciting than day-to-day life. That’s okay, just like it’s okay to ride on a roller-coaster. But if you were to spend several hours every day riding roller-coasters for years and years, we might worry about the long-term effects. We might worry that putting yourself into such an artificially supercharged experience day after day would make you numb to the quiet and simple beauties of regular life.
Just like staring at the sun for too long will make it hard to see less sensational sights, so will watching too much TV, too many movies, or too many shows, blind you to the goodness and loveliness of what is quiet, undramatic, and slow.
And quiet, undramatic, and slow is where God wants most of us to be most of the time. So we don’t want to do anything that will make us appreciate that less.
Three
Filth in Films
The next obvious question we have to ask is: what kind of stuff are you watching?
Are you watching movies and shows filled with explicit sexuality, graphic violence, or pervasive vulgarity?
Each of these three things is bad for you for the same reason: they all involve seeing and hearing the human person debased. And to watch and listen to the human person debased is a very sick form of entertainment. It’s scandalous – absolutely shameful – how many Catholics and Christians watch things like Game of Thrones, or Horror Films, or Gangster Shows that pack as much vice into an episode as they possibly can
Do you think it makes God happy to see his sons and daughters get their pleasure by watching His other sons and daughters degraded?
Even worse is explicit blasphemy, where God himself is debased. Try this exercise: next time you’re watching an R-rated movie or an MA-rated TV show, every time they take God’s name in vain, or Our Lord’s name in vain, say. “Have mercy on us.” You might find you’re better off just praying a litany to the Sacred Heart!
Maybe you’ve heard this criterion: how much human excrement would there have to be in a brownie or a piece of birthday cake before you would refuse to eat it? Probably not too much, right? Probably if you just found out there was a little poop in the desert, you’d say, “Thanks, I’ll pass.”
Okay, why would you not apply the same standard to what your soul consumes through the screen? How much spiritual filth, explicit sex, brutal violence, vulgarity, blasphemy, does there have to be in a movie or a show before you say, “You know what, it’s not worth it”?
Four
Beautiful Films
The good news is, there are good movies out there. People are still making good stuff.
For instance:
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Dunkirk
Knives Out
2019’s Little Women
The Princess Bride
2012’s Les Misérables with Hugh Jackman
Hacksaw Ridge
A Hidden Life
Lord of the Rings
12 Angry Men
And one of the best places to find it is in children’s movies. PIXAR, for instance, has produced some amazingly beautiful, thoughtful movies, over the last twenty years. Other animated movies, some mainstream, some less known (like The Book of Kells or The Peanuts Movie) are exquisitely crafted, and express truths that you can meditate on by yourself or with your kids.
Five
Transcendent Films
Like every art form, movies really only reach their highest peak when they engage with the divine.
Think of Ben-Hur, Man for All Seasons, Chariots of Fire, On the Waterfront, and It’s a Wonderful Life – all celebrated by movie-buffs, and they all testify to the dynamic power of the Christian faith. Think of the Passion of the Christ, one of the biggest blockbusters of all time.
There are other gorgeous films that are true to the human condition and also to the reality of the faith, even though they aren’t as well-known. Have you ever seen Alfred Hitchcock’s I Confess, a thriller centered on the sacrament of confession? Have you seen good saint movies, like the old Song of Bernadette, or Beckett or Seven Cities of Gold about St. Junipero Sera?
How about more recent movies that chronicle the true stories of Christian heroes? Check them out. Movies like For Greater Glory or Of Gods and Men.
The point, again, is that there’s plenty of good stuff out there. And yeah, you might like some and you might not like others, but that’s true of every genre of movies. As long as you’re going to try something, try something that might bring you closer to God, make you prouder of your faith, and make you more resolved to become a saint. Because that’s supposed to be the result of everything we do and what we watch is no exception.