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SO tonight is a big night for many of us: The Academy Awards. AKA The OSCARS and I will be front and center of the TV to watch it. I have a whole slew of dead animals on the grill right now with the smoke on full, so eating will be fun as well.
I have always been entertained by the Oscars. When I was younger, I had a film camera which I obtained through part time work which allowed me to be known as a "filmmaker" in my school. This was when we made real films on real (or reel) film
I wanted to be a filmmaker when I grew up. Who knows maybe I will someday.
That being said, my mom and her church cronies hated it. Film, Movies, were seen as evil. They were in direct competition for the dollar bill that would be better served in the offering plate. The fact that someone had time to go to a movie made a statement that one is not finding something church related to do every day of the week. No matter that some movies had bad language, violence, nudity, etc (Of course, the church had violence and bad language too) .......The Church wanted to monopolize entertainment and did not like organize mass-produced entertainment. There was even one fundy faction in our town where the members were not even allowed to on TVs. I always thought that our neighbors did not have a TV because they were poor, but the fact is the Apostolic Faithful congregation had a churchwide ban on TVs at the time. (Guess some had it worse than us)
SO looking back, I realize that it was not just the Oscar show that was entertaining, it was my mother's spectacle of insanity that accompanied it. She would always have at least one meltdown over my watching the show which went mostly ignored because I had my attention of that elusive gold statue.
On occasion, there would be "The preacher said not to watch it" to which I would say "Tell the preacher to come over here and try turning it off and see how long he lives"
She would always grab her hair by her temples, stomp her feet, and make this painful grimace, which would stop as she was ignored. She would eventually watch the show with us, complaining occasionally but maybe realizing that her authority on behalf of the church was nil in this matter.
Later Of Course, I would discover that I was the only one in our congregation of a supposed few hundred who watched it. And one of the few in the realm of the land of the Philistines who cared. Movies did not just represent entertainment.
Movies represented creativity, imagination, persuasion and information. Movies created a reality that some people could not understand. And there were people like my mom, who hated movies outright, and in typical Baptist fashion, tried to twist everything, including the film industry, into a religious issue. And this was long before the openness of gays, of heaven forbid, a black person on the show, or any of the other triggers of the Baptist church at the time. This was simply about the wonted ignorance of her church, her beliefs and how the gullible could be controlled to oppose anything outside of their little congregation.
I asked a Baptist person a few years ago if the Baptists are still all against watching the Oscars. He said that they were not that legalistic, but he knew no one who was watching it. Or anyone who cared if anyone else did or not. Perhaps things have changed. I know issues which are accepted in Hollywood, such as homosexuality, racial integration and intellectualism are still frowned upon by the Baptists, but for the rest of the world who lives in the 21st Centruy, we will enjoy ths show.
(This is probably better suited for a Chat thread. Which, btw, I think R&S could use. Why let the Atheists, Christians, and those rascally Pagans have all the fun?)
I remember that story from when you first related it. It reminded me of those little acts of rebellion that protect people's sanity when they are stuck in an authoritarian environment. Enjoy your celebration with the drama onscreen instead of in your living room.
SO tonight is a big night for many of us: The Academy Awards. AKA The OSCARS and I will be front and center of the TV to watch it. I have a whole slew of dead animals on the grill right now with the smoke on full, so eating will be fun as well.
I have always been entertained by the Oscars. When I was younger, I had a film camera which I obtained through part time work which allowed me to be known as a "filmmaker" in my school. This was when we made real films on real (or reel) film
I wanted to be a filmmaker when I grew up. Who knows maybe I will someday.
That being said, my mom and her church cronies hated it. Film, Movies, were seen as evil. They were in direct competition for the dollar bill that would be better served in the offering plate. The fact that someone had time to go to a movie made a statement that one is not finding something church related to do every day of the week. No matter that some movies had bad language, violence, nudity, etc (Of course, the church had violence and bad language too) .......The Church wanted to monopolize entertainment and did not like organize mass-produced entertainment. There was even one fundy faction in our town where the members were not even allowed to on TVs. I always thought that our neighbors did not have a TV because they were poor, but the fact is the Apostolic Faithful congregation had a churchwide ban on TVs at the time. (Guess some had it worse than us)
SO looking back, I realize that it was not just the Oscar show that was entertaining, it was my mother's spectacle of insanity that accompanied it. She would always have at least one meltdown over my watching the show which went mostly ignored because I had my attention of that elusive gold statue.
On occasion, there would be "The preacher said not to watch it" to which I would say "Tell the preacher to come over here and try turning it off and see how long he lives"
She would always grab her hair by her temples, stomp her feet, and make this painful grimace, which would stop as she was ignored. She would eventually watch the show with us, complaining occasionally but maybe realizing that her authority on behalf of the church was nil in this matter.
Later Of Course, I would discover that I was the only one in our congregation of a supposed few hundred who watched it. And one of the few in the realm of the land of the Philistines who cared. Movies did not just represent entertainment.
Movies represented creativity, imagination, persuasion and information. Movies created a reality that some people could not understand. And there were people like my mom, who hated movies outright, and in typical Baptist fashion, tried to twist everything, including the film industry, into a religious issue. And this was long before the openness of gays, of heaven forbid, a black person on the show, or any of the other triggers of the Baptist church at the time. This was simply about the wonted ignorance of her church, her beliefs and how the gullible could be controlled to oppose anything outside of their little congregation.
I asked a Baptist person a few years ago if the Baptists are still all against watching the Oscars. He said that they were not that legalistic, but he knew no one who was watching it. Or anyone who cared if anyone else did or not. Perhaps things have changed. I know issues which are accepted in Hollywood, such as homosexuality, racial integration and intellectualism are still frowned upon by the Baptists, but for the rest of the world who lives in the 21st Centruy, we will enjoy ths show.
I don't see anything wrong with Christians watching mainstream movies. If movies are sinful then you have to ban literature, music and works of art. Movies have great value in preserving our history and giving us empathy, compassion and understanding for each other by allowing the viewer to mentally walk in other person's shoes. Even a movie like Shawshank Redemption can speak to people on such a spiritual level that church groups studies have been made of that film. A film with violence and language.
Everyone just needs to exercise their own level of discernment. There is some entertainment that is so bad that it has no creative or redeeming qualities like horror flicks which I avoid. Also a movie with a ton of bad language can have a bad influence on me personally as I have found myself using the same language after awhile so I try to avoid those.
I don't see anything wrong with Christians watching mainstream movies. If movies are sinful then you have to ban literature, music and works of art. Movies have great value in preserving our history and giving us empathy, compassion and understanding for each other by allowing the viewer to mentally walk in other person's shoes. Even a movie like Shawshank Redemption can speak to people on such a spiritual level that church groups studies have been made of that film. A film with violence and language.
Everyone just needs to exercise their own level of discernment. There is some entertainment that is so bad that it has no creative or redeeming qualities like horror flicks which I avoid. Also a movie with a ton of bad language can have a bad influence on me personally as I have found myself using the same language after awhile so I try to avoid those.
I typically vehemently disagree with your postings. Here I think we are in agreement.
There is much to be learned from films, sometimes good, sometimes bad. Sorting those things out is better than one hiding from popular culture.
I typically vehemently disagree with your postings. Here I think we are in agreement.
There is much to be learned from films, sometimes good, sometimes bad. Sorting those things out is better than one hiding from popular culture.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pleroo
I agree. A subject people can agree on ~ a rare and beautiful thing.
Amen. But there is an important caveat that was created in the computer age that bears repeating: Garbage in, garbage out.
Amen. But there is an important caveat that was created in the computer age that bears repeating: Garbage in, garbage out.
Sure. But a born again who rants against today's culture...but doesn't know anything about today's culture...is probably not very effective or meaningful.
When I was a vice principal, we had a Latino student who was wearing a particular pattern/style of handkerchief that denoted gang membership. The principal said, "We will suspend anyone who wears that". She was, ironically, a born again. I took her upstairs to a social studies classroom and pointed to the "mature" female teacher wearing the EXACT same handkerchief, but as a scarf. The principal's jaw dropped open.
[b]Originally Posted by jeffbase40 View Post
I don't see anything wrong with Christians watching mainstream movies. If movies are sinful then you have to ban literature, music and works of art. Movies have great value in preserving our history and giving us empathy, compassion and understanding for each other by allowing the viewer to mentally walk in other person's shoes. Even a movie like Shawshank Redemption can speak to people on such a spiritual level that church groups studies have been made of that film. A film with violence and language.
[/B
I agree. Movies can have a message that speaks to anyone. They can also be pure entertainment. They can be good, bad. Movies themselves are not the problem.
L8Gr8Apost8 I remember that story from when you first related it. It reminded me of those little acts of rebellion that protect people's sanity when they are stuck in an authoritarian environment. Enjoy your celebration with the drama onscreen instead of in your living room.
THAT was the Problem...an authoritarian religion that wanted to ban EVERYTHING across the board that was associated in any way with entertainment not underwritten by the church. And that gullible, desperate people. like my mom, would fall for it, while many of us opposed it. We who opposed it were deemed"rebellious" while those who followed blindly were considered "good".
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A subject people can agree on ~ a rare and beautiful thing. 
