What to Watch (Pt. 3)

Posted by Joe Thorn - 15/05/07

What to Watch Pt. 1
What to Watch Pt. 2
What to Watch Pt. 3

Just a few last thoughts on what to watch - things that may help you choose better movies on which you can spend your time and money.

1. Content Concerns
Before I take my kids to a movie, and before I see some films myself, I check the content on screenit.com. Sites like Screenit.com break down a film into its potentially objectionable parts. Language, violence, sex, frightening scenes, guns/weapons, etc. all get detailed treatment. Here’s their write-up of Disturbia, a thriller that tells a story similar to the classic Rear Window. This can produce some spoilers, but for those who want to be careful it’s worth it.

2. Culture Buzz
Just because a film is popular does not mean it’s worth watching. But, films that are generating culture buzz (attention and/or controversy producing a lot of dialog and interest) may be worth your time. These are stories that say something, explicitly or implicitly, about our culture. When seeing a movie like this, please watch it thoughtfully and critique it redempitively.

3. Christian Films
Just because a film is family-oriented, or Christian, does not mean it’s worth watching. In fact, my rule used to be - avoid films made by Christians. Why? Because they stink. Or stunk. The truth is more Christians are getting into the movie business and some are doing great work. Thankfully some are really using film as an art form instead of a tool simply to proselytize. Still, my advice is - be careful about Christian movies. In my experience most are not very good (I am not trying to be provocative here, but honest. I will unpack my thoughts on this topic in a future post.).

Related Posts:
Why go to the movies?
Help at the movies
Advice for watching movies

5 Comments

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  1. Love point 3 man. I’m trying to think of what my last “Christian” movie was, and what defines it to be Christian. Narnia? To End All Wars? Those are better ones in the Christian realmosphere.

    Screenit is in constant use in my life. Great resource.

    Comment by Steve McCoy — May 15, 2007 #

  2. I kind of have two ideas going in that point, or at least in my head. “Christian films” are generally tools, not art. They have a very specific use for which they are created - to evangelize. And then there are Christians who are making films as art. They may, or may not speak directly of God. Of course it is not as simple as i am suggesting, and this will quickly get away from me in the comments so I will try and clarify my thinking in the next movie post.

    Comment by Joe Thorn — May 15, 2007 #

  3. i’m trying to wean myself off of movies lately and onto other more meaningful thoughts. truthfully, good old fashioned reading makes my mind more animated and creative than movies do. plus, especially with Christian films based on the Bible, in my mind the stories are always better.

    Comment by bryce — May 15, 2007 #

  4. [...] Joe Thorn has a great post on Christians and the discernment of watching movies.  Here are his points on how to choose what to watch: 1. Content Concerns Before I take my kids to a movie, and before I see some films myself, I check the content on screenit.com. Sites like Screenit.com break down a film into its potentially objectionable parts. Language, violence, sex, frightening scenes, guns/weapons, etc. all get detailed treatment. Here’s their write-up of Disturbia, a thriller that tells a story similar to the classic Rear Window. This can produce some spoilers, but for those who want to be careful it’s worth it. [...]

    Pingback by Samshua » Blog Archive » Christians and Watching Movies — May 16, 2007 #

  5. Came across your site recently (I think Justin linked to it) and really appreciate it. Thanks especially for this post. Kidsinmind.com is a site that my wife and I use sometimes to checkout movie content although it tends to be a little over the top sometimes. Pluggedinonline.com has a decent Christian perspective on movies as well.

    Comment by Dan — May 17, 2007 #

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