Sickness and Joy in Entertainment

Being a product of this technologically dependent world, I enjoy television, music, and movies. I am not a fanatic, but I do love entertainment. Yet, I find myself lacking the fulfillment that it used to give me. I used to love watching action, comedy, and horror movies late at night. I would listen to any music if I liked it regardless of the “message” that it contained. Now most of these disturb my conscience instead of entertain. This has been on my mind for a while but has recently become a topic of discussion for me.

I watched a specific horror movie one night in which a group of strangers was quarantined in an apartment building. All were eventually infected with super rabies and brutally murdered by each other. While it seemed to bother me at first, it eventually passed, and I proceeded to watch more movies of the sort. This last weekend, I watched a Sci-Fi movie with alien weapons that splattered enemies like watermelons at a Gallagher show. I was deeply disturbed by this movie. It left me feeling worse than I expected any movie should.

I was then left wondering why I was so upset with the movie. One can quickly reply with the idea that I was “too caught up” in it. This is possible, but there is a bigger picture behind that. I sat back and thought about what I actually just watched and what it means for humanity. Hollywood clearly makes movies to make money. If the movies don’t sell, they lose money. We see that there has always been bloody action, crude, vulgar comedy, sci-fi, and horror movies as well as television shows in these genres on for decades. Logically, we can assume that there is a demand for these things. Think about that: there is a demand for these movies. Sin in humanity has made it popular to watch people get tortured, shot, writhe in pain, stabbed, get cheated on, lie, steal, and even have sex in front of us. Clearly, Hollywood makes movies that they can make money on due to demand. The entertainment we crave is truly sickening.

I see now why such movies disturb me. The more I focus on the Lord, sin becomes detestable. These horrible visual productions of sin only hurt our walk with Christ. Would Christ find entertainment in watching people torture each other? Would he cheer when a man avenged his wife’s death by brutally murdering her murderer? Would he enjoy watching zombies eat people alive? Then, why would we want to indulge watching these acts?

We all have watched these types of movies and saw horrible things happen to people and animals. As followers of Christ, we cannot and must not look to these deplorable things for joy. Turn to God first, and he will fill our hearts with righteousness to the point of joy and gladness in holy things. I don’t mean that watching these movies is a sin. Finding joy and entertainment in sinful, unrighteous acts is what dangerously affects our walk on the path of faith.

The challenge that the path of the zealot now gives all of us is to examine ourselves. Do these types of entertainment disturb us? Ask yourself if Jesus would watch and enjoy these movies, shows, or music. Should we be doing so then? If we claim to be Christians, we claim to live Christ-like lives. Would enjoying the acts of sin be acceptable actions and external examples of Christ for nonbelievers? The answer is no. As I said before, watching these movies is not a sin. The “comfort” and joy that we attempt to find in movies and sitcoms that promote sin leads us to enjoy sin. We should hate sin, not enjoy it.

What do we do then? Stop watching movies? Not necessarily. The best thing to do with our lives is to rid ourselves of anything that is contrary to the word of God; this means anything from television to bad habits. Don’t go to the extreme though. I had a friend tell me one time that any music that didn’t glorify God was bad. I guess this would include “Happy Birthday.” The point is that not everything will glorify God directly as church hymn, but not everything works contrary to his glory. Be smart, and evaluate your surroundings.

“Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path” Psalm 119:127-128.