For some reason, I have a hard time trying to explain my view on art to people who hold the same viewpoint I grew up with. It’s easy for me to get frustrated talking about art with someone who thinks Harry Potter is evil, or who doesn’t agree with Philippines 4:8 (“whatsoever things are true”) and wants all their movies to present a fake, saccharine, sanitized view of life, to be like animated Thomas Kinkade paintings. So I’m glad when guys like Andrew Peterson, a friend who comes from a similar background and with whom I’ve had this discussion several times, take time to try to explain their views to others.

Andrew wrote a post on the Rabbit Room two weeks ago about Once, one of my favorite movies of last year. Since it is an Irish movie, Andrew included a disclaimer about some of the language used that doesn’t have a negative connotation in Ireland but does in other cultures, letting people know they should pass on it if that is a hurdle for them. Most of the comments were in agreement, until one guy, who hasn’t watched Once, called everyone else out claiming that a movie that uses the “f word” couldn’t be “recommendable or beneficial” and that it was “certainly unbiblical”. Andrew responded with a really great post about language, He Said a Wordy Dird, that he stayed up until 3AM writing, a response that both articulated his beliefs (and mine) well and yet was sensitive to those who disagreed with him. Here are a couple excerpts:

First of all, I think there’s a difference between Cursing and Using Foul Language. We tend to lump them together, but they’re not the same, I don’t think. Cursing, at least in the Biblical sense, has more to do with wishing death and evil upon someone instead of life and goodness; it is meant as the opposite of blessing. According to two concordances, the word “curse” is used in the New Testament only nineteen times, and after a quick read of each case it looks to me like that’s the sense in which it’s used every time. It doesn’t have to do with the use of certain words that society deems foul, but with wishing evil on someone, by using the inherent power of words to hurt and not to heal. Like I said, I’m no exegetical guru, so if I’m reading this wrong, by all means let me know.

I think someone uttering and meaning the words “I hate you” is much more offensive than thirty nine casual uses of the F bomb. I’ll say that again. Words are the overflow of the heart, so words spoken in anger, hatred, and bitterness are far more damaging and dangerous than the flippant use of words that are thought of as dirty.

I made the disclaimer about the movie because I realize that we’re all at different stages on the journey. We all have unique baggage that we’re lugging around, and some things that you might not think twice about will send me up the wall like a cat in a dog pound. If I had watched this film when I was in Bible college, I would have been offended to my core. I know what it’s like to be sensitive to foul language, and I sympathize. I’m not writing this to convince you to not be offended. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you, seek counsel, be humble, love wisdom, and pray that I’ll do the same. I have come to know Christ much better over the fifteen years since my Bible college career began, and I find that I am much less worried about some things and am much more sensitive to others.

That post is now up to 89 comments, with a lot of great discussion taking place. Unfortunately, the author of the comment he was addressing from the first post, as well as a number of other commentors, look as if they just skimmed Andrew’s post to see that he still disagreed with them and didn’t consider any of his arguments. One of the best comments came from Jason Gray who gave one of the best summaries I’ve seen about the different reasons that people watch movies:

Another thought I had on this issue is the different ways that people experience entertainment. Going to movies as a form of escapism is different than going as a means of engagement to the mysteries of your own life. My wife and I, for instance, often watch movies with different goals in mind. She is very deep (and in a lot of ways smarter than me) and we love the same books and movies, but sometimes after a long day with the kids she just wants to unplug and enjoy a fun romantic comedy. On the other hand, I find it hard to relax and enjoy a romantic comedy. I feel like much of the tasks I do throughout the day make me feel disconnected from my inner life, and so when I watch a movie I want it to help me re-engage with my own life. I want it to remind me that stories are important, that maybe even my story is important. I want to see again that in the midst of the all that’s ugly in the world beauty can still flower in unexpected places. I want to cry, to feel, to be challenged to see the world differently. I want to be afflicted. I want to be moved.

Yes, yes, yes. Here is that last sentence again, if you skimmed over it: “I want it to remind me that stories are important, that maybe even my story is important. I want to see again that in the midst of the all that’s ugly in the world beauty can still flower in unexpected places. I want to cry, to feel, to be challenged to see the world differently. I want to be afflicted. I want to be moved.” I walked out of a movie recently after it had finished, a current blockbuster, with a knot in my stomach. I’ll be surprised if I see another movie this year that I hate as much. And I don’t know why I had such a strong reaction to it. I think it was because it was so pointless, especially since the trailer billed it as something more. None of the violence meant anything – it was all there just to entertain, par for the course for a “good action movie”. And I don’t want to waste time watching something like that. I want to “see again that in the midst of all that’s ugly in the world beauty can still flower in unexpected places”,to be reminded that “stories are important, that maybe even my story is important.”. That’s why some of my favorite movies last year were There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men, why I love Wings of Desire, A History of Violence, and Dogville.

Ron Block, another of the contributors to The Rabbit Room, followed up Andrew’s post with a post on Sin in Movies – Seeing the Heart of Art, that has also generated a good number of comments. So this post doesn’t get any longer, I’ll just give you the link with the encouragement to read it when you have some time. And if you haven’t added The Rabbit Room to your list of daily reading yet, believe me, it is time well spent.