I was making a Netflix queue the other day, and added the movie 'Horrible Bosses' to the list, before I knew what is was about. I looked at the ratings and description a couple minutes later and decided I didn't want to see it because it would probably make me feel slimed (crude and sexual content, pervasive language, etc). So, I took it off the queue.
A couple days a go, I mailed back the last movie I rented knowing I didn't have anything coming from Netflix anytime soon. But today I get home from work, and what's in my mailbox? A red envelope...Oh, a Netflix movie. Which one is it? 'Horrible Bosses'. Oh man. Apparently I didn't take it off the queue like I thought I did. Well, crap, now I have to watch it. For real, I couldn't just send the movie back. I couldn't just not watch it. (p.s., I don't get this thought pattern--what goes on in our brains that makes us so eager to do something that we know is going to make us feel terrible? Not necessarily after, but even during? It fascinates me.)
So, I watch the movie. The first 30 minutes were so repulsive, I almost turned it off. But then it got funny. And I started belly laughing at some parts. And I'm not gonna lie, by the end of it, the movie was hilarious. The characters were great, the plot wasn't totally predictable, and I like I said, I laughed really hard. So, the point is, now that I'm done watching it, I don't really regret it. It was funny. Some parts were vile, for sure. In some parts, I covered my eyes. But I think I ultimately enjoyed this movie.
My question now is...what does that signify? Watching a movie like this HAS to be doing stuff to my mind and heart--slowly creating moral callouses, right? Excusing and even laughing at degrading speech, violence, perversion...Today I shrugged my shoulders at all of that and said, "Yeah, but some parts were just so funny!" We all watch these things and act like we remain unaffected. We all say we can handle it. But can we really? And, if we really can remain unaffected, is that even healthy? And if not, where do we draw the line in what we take in? Can we draw a line, with all the media/information/ads we take in that display all of this crap on a daily basis anyway?
Anyway, questions we've all heard/thought about before, but I was reminded of them strongly once again tonight. Share your thoughts!
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I think it depends on the intentions and purposes behind the writers of such things. Sometimes it takes offending people in order to wake them up things that are perverted in the world. While a film may portray something that is wrong and the characters may lack a moral compass, it doesn't mean that the film itself is necessarily condoning it.
I haven't seen "Horrible Bosses" and don't really want to, because it does look like something that is pure ridiculousness that I might find unfunny, but I do believe that people often (particularly Christians who are a part of the world that you and I tend to engage in) will reject something as being wrong because it has this or that in it without looking to see what it can teach us or how it can enhance our lives through such material.
This is always an interesting discussion. Hope you're doing well!
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