When the film epic "Gone with the Wind" first hit
the cinema's it was greeted with howls of protest and with a public
outcry. The reason for the protest is that the very last word
in the film was a four letter swear word. That word was "damn!"
Today we have films which use even more graphic swear words with
abandon and where sex and violence are taken as an almost essential
selling point.
In the past many Christians were horrified by the standards in
the Hollywood films. In places that were insulated from the low
moral standards of the cities they had never come across the violence
and the immorality that were portrayed in the films and they were
scandalised. In communities where it was the talk of the town
if the coalman's daughter was going out with the minister's son
they had never come across things like this in their lives. They
were scandalised to such an extent that it became accepted that
a cinema was no place for any Christian who was trying to live
a holy life should be seen.
Today we look at the films that scandalised people of a by-gone
generation and we wonder what the fuss was about. Indeed I am
sure that many Christians have watched "Gone with the Wind
on the television and probably never noticed that there was a
swear word at the end.
Today people smile at the quaint belief's of people of a bygone
day but I wonder have we really advanced or have we gone back?
On the television today we are fed a diet of sex, scandal and
violence. So much so, that people now hardly notice the crudest
of curse words and may even sit through scenes of the grossest
immorality. Hollywood has now come to our living rooms and in
the privacy of the home people are watching things, which make
the films that shocked a by-gone generation to the core, look
mild. Even the very children's cartoons are now beginning to contain
cursing and even the taking of the Lord's Name in vain.
In the face of this immunising of people to sin there are now
those who argue that Christians should be allowed to go to the
Cinema. They argue that they watch the same films at home in their
living room. They say that they can pick and choose the kind of
films they can go to and it makes no difference. There may be
films (although very very few) which would be suitable for a Christian
to watch but I hope those same people who argue that they should
be able to go to the cinema would concede that they can drink
soft drinks but they should not go into a public house to obtain
or drink them. A cinema is a place which makes it's money on the
promotion of highly questionable films and I for one would not
like to support such an industry. The Bible says "Be not
deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners." There
should be a guarding of the kind of communications we receive
and listen to, and rather than arguing that because I see these
things on television therefore I should be able to go to the cinema
to see them, should we not be arguing that because these things
are evil in the cinema should I be watching them at home?