Someone To Watch Over Me and Link Crazy
I took my brother to see Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. He wanted to see American Pie 2 but I didn't think it appropriate so I took him to see something that wasn't much better. Now he's in jail.
Something similar happened with Aaron. I forget what he wanted to see, something with boobs I guess, but I objected and we rented Igby Goes Down instead. It was a good movie, but I don't think I showed very good judgment. Now he goes to APU.
(this is Aaron)
At the school where I used to teach, I frequently did not see eye to eye with the teachers in the Bible department. I don't see eye to eye with a lot of people but only a few have told me I'm damned; this department is where you would find them. I mentioned to one of these guys that Magnolia was a good movie. I actually told him that I thought it was a morally superior movie to Forrest Gump. He rented Magnolia that evening and his head exploded. It didn't really, but he later made his wife quit her job, he sold his house, bought an RV and moved to Florida to join a religious commune. That's true.
I admit, when it comes to movies, I have made some bad recommendations and choices. I guess this is because I don't have any hard and fast rules about what makes a movie worth seeing. I used to say I wouldn't see Jerry Bruckheimer productions, then there was Pirates of the Caribbean. I'm okay with that. There are some movies I won't bother seeing, but it is not necessarily because they have boobies, bad language or violence in them. This makes some people nervous if I am selecting a movie, but, those three errors mentioned notwithstanding, if I know my audience I can pick some pretty great movies.
That whole knowing your audience thing is key. The Parent's Television Council recently released their picks for the best and worst shows for families during prime time. It turns out what is good for families generally sucks for everybody else. Except Bernie Mac, that show is great. I wouldn't disagree that the shows on their worst list are typically not appropriate for children, sometimes they're not appropriate for anyone 'cos they're lame. But the PTC does more than make recommendations. They run campaigns to have shows completely removed from the air, making them unavailable for anyone. They call for boycotts of companies advertising on shows they don't like. Some things aren't for kids, some things aren't for anyone, but we shouldn't be pushing for a world where culture and discourse are reduced to only that which is suitable for seven year olds.
Kid Friendly Playlist
The One I [deleted]-Sarah Vaughan
A [deleted] and a [deleted]-U2
[deleted]-Smashing Pumpkins
Stepping Into [deleted]-Madlib
Thriller-[deleted]
[deleted] of [deleted]-Warren Zevon
The [deleted] Greats-Wilco
My [deleted]-Miles Davis
Untitled [deleted]-John Coltrane
[deleted] Good-Devo
1 comment:
I was very happy when Friends finally went off the air. You see, I really liked that show. It made me laugh.
Why was I glad to see it go? It was terribly raunchy at times, completely inappropriate, and I shouldn't have watched it. "It's shameful to even talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret". I can't imagine the fellow who would write that might say, "well, maybe if it's funny..."
I certainly agree we shouldn't force entertainment for 7 years olds on everyone, however, I'm not so certain highlighting the inappropriateness of often popular shows is all that bad. In our freedom from the Law, methinks we've become overwilling to indulge in watching things because of some ill considered overarching ideal of art or humor. That, however, is outside of any sort of historical Christian teaching.
I remember a CT review on Amityville Horror a few months back. The authoer made a point of saying that when he was a child he avoided horror movies, but when he grew up he put aside childish standards and went to see them, as a movie critic of course.
I laughed out loud when I read that, because he seems to be hitting on Paul's words exactly wrong. Growing up is not about finally being able to stand the "adult" or "scary" or otherwise inappropriate. Growing up in a Christian sense is about rejected all those sorts of things as being outside the framework of Christ, and thus a waste of time.
We don't need a knowledge of evil, we need a knowledge of good, and it is this knowledge of Good which seems to be missing from most of the "worst" shows, even if they do make a person laugh or have insight into sinful humanity.
All this to finally get to my main point. "Everybody Hates Chris", which is on the Good list, is a really, really funny show, much better than Bernie Mac in my opinion. So, they did hae some stand out choices worth watching, that is far and away not just entertainment for 7 year olds.
Post a Comment