Redbox

I have found myself going to Redbox more frequently over the past few weeks. One reason is that it is convenient, cheap in these tough economic times and becoming a great opportunity to people watch. This can be entertainment in itself. If you haven't done it, it is a great opportunity to view to social dynamics of entertainment decision making in the process. The engaging discussions, arguments, choices that are made, the debate over which movie to get and why. I have found the interactions between parents and children to be the most provocative. This past Saturday, I watched a family of five try to pick out one movie out of a possible fifty plus choices. Each kid chose a movie that was either rated R or PG-13 and the parents said little if anything. Each kid gave their justification for why their choice was the best, and each were on the verge of throwing a fit if they didn't get their way. What is a parent to do? They have the credit card and ultimately have the final decision on the matter. Whatever the parents choice, only one kid was going to be happy in the end. In this case, the parent made their own choice and disregarded their kids choices altogether. That's democracy for you!

Would you say something if you saw a parent pick a rated R movie for their family or would you turn the other way and say nothing? The parent in this case picked a rated R movie (horror) for her kids (all of whom were in elementary school). I do not know if she let the kids watch the movie, but I can only assume that she did so.

I remember having nightmares as a kid when I watch movies that were beyond my age level. Even today, I am very careful about the things that I fill my head with and do not watch rated R movies anymore. God calls us to have pure minds and pure hearts, otherwise we fill our lives with the garbage of the world.

The next time that you go to Redbox, ask yourself the question, "what am I filling my life with by watching this movie?" Here's another thing to think about the next time you watch a movie. Who is the Christlike character in the film? What is the films socially redeeming value? Who has the "saved" or repentance moment in the film?