An Ongoing Process

I think we can all agree that sometimes we set the bar high for ourselves.  New Year's is the most typical time we do this.  I will go to the gym everyday! I will never fight with my sister! I will manage my time better! All are admirable, but rarely do these self-promises stick as we wish they would.  The desire to better oneself is not only present on New Year's day, the week, or maybe month after.  If we have the proper attitude, these standards are also present in our spiritual lives.

IF we're honest with ourselves, it becomes fairly obvious that the world we live in often works against the standards we set for ourselves. How many food or restaurant commercials do we see on TV? How many iPad games exist to suck up that "free time" in our schedules? My friends, the world works against us even in matters that are not matters of faith.   

Although the list is extensive and the variety of situations is vast, I would like to focus on one simple example that has been prevalent in my life the past week or so.
So I start with a confession.

I LOVE MOVIES!!! ...okay so that's pretty obvious to basically anyone who knows me.  That's not the real confession.  The real confession is that I recently saw the movie "Gone Girl."  Why is that a confession you may ask? Well, let me explain how movies like "Gone Girl" relate to the idea of standards.

If you don't like Spoilers and are more interested in this...tasteless...movie than what I have to say, don't bother continuing.
***A disclaimer: I have not read the book and have no idea how it compares to the movie***

"Gone Girl" has gotten significant praise (and I believe nominated for some awards?), but I believe that the standards that society has for movies do not necessarily align with the standards our faith asks of us. While perhaps the acting was well-done and the screenplay well-written, can a movie really be "good quality" when its content is perverted?

I would say no.

The two main characters seem to get married because of their premarital sex-life rather than anything remotely akin to true love. If my memory serves me correctly (and the quotes I found are from the movie and not the book), I believe Amy (the lead female character) states that: “We weren’t ourselves when we fell in love, and when we became ourselves – surprise! – we were poison. We complete each other in the nastiest, ugliest possible way.”

As if that wasn't enough, this is her perspective on unconditional love:
"If I know I am loved no matter what, where is the challenge? I am supposed to love Nick despite all his shortcomings. And Nick is supposed to love me despite my quirks. But clearly, neither of us does. It makes me think that everyone is very wrong, that love should have many conditions. Love should require both partners to be their very best at all times.”

...now THAT sounds like true love. Sign me up for a lifetime of THAT right there!...Honestly, if two characters get married and are in a relationship like that, how can we even remotely believe the movie will be anything other than dismal from there? I mean honestly, she frames her husband for her own murder because what? He got lazy? Didn't appreciate her? Was having an affair with one of HIS college students? How about a real conversation? Real communication! If you want someone you love to get a message, you don't have to threaten them with a life sentence in prison...seriously, dramatic much?  Maybe in the book she is diagnosed with some sort of mental illness, but the movie did not demonstrate any sort of hope or redeeming qualities about poor Amy here.

Aside from this depressing depiction of a marriage (did I mention his affair with his student who's in college? or her idea that buying things for him means she doesn't have to actually love him?), the vast majority of the plot revolved around several pornographic scenes.  I will spare you from being exposed to the scarring content of the movie, but how can we - as Christians - consider a movie to have any sort of quality when it has FIVE graphic sexual scenes that not only don't belong on screen but also completely pervert the beauty of sex the way God meant it to be?

So the actress can pretend to be a psycho...who can't? So the director can transfer a book to a screen...he really couldn't find any better books? Forgive me if I have seemed hot-headed in this little rant. To say that the consideration of immoral movies as "quality" film or even "works of art" irks me is an understatement.

Have some standards when you watch films. Think to yourself, if Christ were sitting here with me, would He be offended? or disappointed? Does He really care if the acting is well-done?  What does it matter if society sees a film as quality if it hurts our souls?  It is true that a movie may engage our minds and thrill us with its mystery.  Is it really worth the two-hour thrill for a week of trying to rid our minds of the movie's content? Is it really a good movie if it promotes vice or glorifies sin? It is true that the movie does not say: attempt this at home. Of course not, but what message is the movie sending? Is it making you a better person? Pushing you to live out the standards you set for yourself? The standards God has set for us? No? Then why are you watching it?

Being Christian in today's world is hard.  Living up to the standards of virtue and love that God has set for us can seem impossible.  So why make it any harder? It's time for us to fill our minds and hearts with the beautiful.  God is beautiful. Virtue is beautiful.  Love - actual, true, self-sacrifice, "I would die for you" love - is beautiful.  I'm not saying we will be perfect - only one man ever has been.  It will be challenging.  It will be difficult.  We will fail, but what a thrill it is to try.