Sin and the Cinema

The results are in and the Awards have been handed out at last night's Golden Globe Awards. The Globe awards are one of the most popular of televised awards shows, and yet I was sickened by this years display of low moral values. It was on this one subject that many of the films seemed to converge.

The only recently released morally depraved film "Brokeback Mountain" walked away with a stunning four Golden Globes. The story about two ranch hands who hide a secret homosexual love relationship from their families was a favorite at the awards. Among its victories were best screen play and best director for Ang Lee.

Other winners seemed to follow the sexuality trend including awards for "TransAmerica," a movie about a sex-change, and the ever popular "Desperate Housewives," abc's lust see tv comedy.

Between the twin towers of "free-sex" and high political outrage the whole awards show made me not only annoyed, but completely appalled! It seems to me that going to the movies anymore for a conservative Christian is getting harder. The recent statistics from the movie industry are showing that people don't go to the movies nearly as much anymore, and that in part has to be because Christians are fed up with the sin seen at the cinema (at least I hope). Thankfully some are now realizing they can get our money by promoting good family and moral values. The success of Lord of the Rings, The Passion of the Christ, and The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe are compelling more and more movie exec.s to turn towards religious themes. The End of the Spear, a film about missionary Nate Saint, comes out this Friday as another indicator of this attention Christians are now getting. Nonetheless I think it is fare to say this trend won't last. Christians may be "hott" now, but sooner or later it will be more of the same old cinema sins put before our eyes. If such is the case it begs the questions: how will Christians respond?

As "Brokeback Mountain" is finding more and more of an audience, even in the Midwest, the conservative heartland, one has to wonder if Christians care as much as they insist that they do. I hope and pray that we will all respond to the low morality of Hollywood with both serious Biblical conviction and with deep compassion for the lost. But let us never respond to these films the way the culture does- with indifference and tolerance. Such would be an even bigger cinema sin!