It's Only Entertainment

Discovering A Better Life
P.O Box 1540, Albany Western Australia 6331
Phone/Fax: (08) 98 418 418
E-mail: abl-alb@omninet.net.au

It’s Only (?) Entertainment
Friend, by now you’ve probably heard about the phenomenal success of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Perhaps you’ve even been to see it! Well, after a slow start, the low-budget movie that opened in a limited number of theatres throughout the U.S.A has become one of the most profitable movies this year. It seems like word-of-mouth rather than slick and expensive advertising sent people to see it. And Hollywood movie moguls are saying over and over again that they just can’t account for its success. Several movie critics have said this movie proves that Hollywood doesn’t know what a good movie looks like anymore. Others have pointed out that the movie succeeds because it bucks the Hollywood standard of torrid sex, heave violence, and overwhelming special effects. It is a simple and fairly predictable story of a thirty-something Greek woman who falls in love with a man who isn’t Greek. People are pushed out of their comfort zones. Prejudices and stereotypes have to be faced. It is a touching story with genuine belly laughs along the way. No, it isn’t a perfect movie. It has some implied sex and there are some words that Christians regard as profane. But even with those disappointing features, it is tame by the standards movie producers have used for decades now. An economics professor at the University of California Irvine released a study a couple of years back in which he said that films with R-ratings for sex and violence aren’t good investments for the industry. He reported that R-rated releases were less than half as likely as PG films to gross $25 million in domestic ticket sales. Yet more than half the films released in the decade he studied were rated R. So do I think the habits of movie-makers are about to change? Not on your life! Their claim that “we only give the public what it wants” isn’t true and never has been. They have an agenda. And it is overtly negative toward faith, chastity, and other positive virtues. Voyeurism, sex, and foul language are stock in trade. You and I could wish the negative stuff were “only” entertainment that didn’t have such damaging effects on our culture. But it isn’t. And it does. In the meanwhile, you and I can practice mature discernment and model it for our children. Friend, this column is present each week in the hope that it may help you find and enjoy a better life. Your comments and questions may be addressed to: Email me or write to me at P.O Box 1540, Albany W.A 6331. Telephone / Fax (08) 98 418 418 Have a great day. Ron.

It’s Only (?) Entertainment

Friend, by now you’ve probably heard about the phenomenal success of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Perhaps you’ve even been to see it!

Well, after a slow start, the low-budget movie that opened in a limited number of theatres throughout the U.S.A has become one of the most profitable movies this year. It seems like word-of-mouth rather than slick and expensive advertising sent people to see it. And Hollywood movie moguls are saying over and over again that they just can’t account for its success.

Several movie critics have said this movie proves that Hollywood doesn’t know what a good movie looks like anymore. Others have pointed out that the movie succeeds because it bucks the Hollywood standard of torrid sex, heave violence, and overwhelming special effects. It is a simple and fairly predictable story of a thirty-something Greek woman who falls in love with a man who isn’t Greek. People are pushed out of their comfort zones. Prejudices and stereotypes have to be faced. It is a touching story with genuine belly laughs along the way.

No, it isn’t a perfect movie. It has some implied sex and there are some words that Christians regard as profane. But even with those disappointing features, it is tame by the standards movie producers have used for decades now.

An economics professor at the University of California Irvine released a study a couple of years back in which he said that films with R-ratings for sex and violence aren’t good investments for the industry. He reported that R-rated releases were less than half as likely as PG films to gross $25 million in domestic ticket sales. Yet more than half the films released in the decade he studied were rated R.

So do I think the habits of movie-makers are about to change? Not on your life! Their claim that “we only give the public what it wants” isn’t true and never has been. They have an agenda. And it is overtly negative toward faith, chastity, and other positive virtues. Voyeurism, sex, and foul language are stock in trade.

You and I could wish the negative stuff were “only” entertainment that didn’t have such damaging effects on our culture. But it isn’t. And it does. In the meanwhile, you and I can practice mature discernment and model it for our children.

Friend, this column is present each week in the hope that it may help you find and enjoy a better life. Your comments and questions may be addressed to:

Email me
or write to me at
P.O Box 1540,
Albany W.A 6331.

Telephone / Fax (08) 98 418 418

Have a great day. Ron.