Close Topic Options

Mormons & R-Rated Movies - Page 8

I try not to sell out my mind as far as letting someone tell me what to watch.(My family has origins in the church back to the beginning) and oddly enough the most important teaching I recieved was to think for myself,not think what someone tells me to prophet or no prophet,he is still a man.And men make mistakes.

Question authority,Think for yourself, Notice I did not say defy authority,simply question it.No man can/should make your decisions for you,he may advise,but thats all.

Besides everyone of us has something we do or have done that goes against the teachings of the church/words of wisdom,and so forth.Thats why we are here,to make mistakes and not listen,how else would we learn?

I did not read all the posts,so excuse me if I'm repeating anyones thoughts.

Movies R-Rated and Mormons

You probably are, but that's all right.

Actually, you have summed up my point of view quite clearly. However, it is not a popular position to take.

NightHawk

Mormons & R-Rated Movies Studies Doctrine Mormon

I try to avoid movies I feel are inapropriate. I don't thing a rating system, made by uninspired men should be a measuring stick to tell me if a movie is not worth seeing. Now, I admit at least 90 percent of R movies are inapropriate and would fall into the category that church leaders have asked us not to attend. But there are exceptions. Schindlers List was in my opinion a good movie, very educational with very little if any offensive material. I watched it with my then 15 year old son. I also felt The Green Mile was a good movie and not at all in the category of movies the Bretheren have warned us to stay away from. Both were rated R.

Compare this to most PG-13 movies. The majority of them have questionable material, scenes I do not feel comfortable watching with my children. Some R movies are more appropriate than an episode of Friends.

Page 8 Movies R-Rated and Mormons

I feel like in any other subject, the Brethren counsel us to do certain things and it's up to us to decide what's right from wrong. Nobody can or should decide for us, that's why we have free agency, therefore, we should analyze what's the best for us and follow the promptings of the Spirit.

Movies R-Rated and Mormons

Well, I saw this movie last night and I don't really know what to say. People at work have been asking me what I think and I really don't know. I wasn't all that affected by it, or at least I don't think I was, but then as I think about it more, maybe I was. I don't know. I know I didn't cry or feel like I had any better sense of what he went through. To me it was just a movie. A gory one at that. Yet, it seems others were more affected. When I left the theater, most of the people were still in their seats so I guess they were impacted somehow.

So, for specifics of what I felt, read on:

First, I think the flogging or beating went on too long. I think it was over the top. I don't believe anyone could have been beaten to that extent and then managed to walk to their crucifixion. There was not a spot on his body that wasn't bloodied by this beating. He was one big blob of drying, blood. It was gross. They showed his blood splattering on the soldiers as they were beating him. I don't see how that was meant to increase my sense of what he went through.

The most difficult thing for me was the part of the movie where they are nailing him to the cross. I didn't watch it but I couldn't escape the sounds. It was horrifying. The sound of the hammers striking the spikes and then the sounds of the bones and cartilage breaking. It wasn't quick either. This went on for a while. I cringed with each blow of the hammer, which is exactly what Mel Gibson was trying to make happen, so he did a good job with it. However, as a member of the LDS Church, I experience a similiar horror over the thoughts of these spikes being driven into the Savior every time I go to the Temple, so I really didn't need the movie to make me think about it. Although, I must admit, my discomfort was much greater than any I have ever had when thinking about this in the Temple or anywhere else. Those who do not know what I am referring to with the Temple might really be changed by this, I don't know. It was definately awful.

As far as an opinion on if it is worth seeing. I can't really tell you. I still don't know. I don't think I got any benefit from it, but I can't argue that many others have. Perhaps those of you on this forum who chose to go will be among the group that is impacted positively by this movie.

Edited: tenaheff on 4th Mar, 2004 - 9:33pm

Mormons & R-Rated Movies

My understanding is that the Church has never counselled any of the adult members to avoid seeing R-rated movies. The Strength of Youth pamplet and one of Pres. Benson's talks given in General Conference counselled the youth of the church to avoid rated-R movies, but the adult members have never been so counselled. All members have been counselled to avoid rated-X movies (Pres. Kimball) and all pornographic material. Also, the Lord in the scriptures (D&C) states that that which is not edifying is not of God. So, obviously, we should seek that which edifies and avoid that which doesn't. But, this is a personal decision that each person must make to the best of their knowledge and wisdom and according to the gift of free agency which we have. We are all free agents.

The youth, however, being young and inexperienced have been specifically told not to see rated-R movies. This counsel does not apply to the adult members of the church. Every discourse or sermon must be taken in the context of the audience it was intended for. This is how the historians explain away the four (I believe) differing accounts of the First Vision (Joseph was speaking to different audiences, they say.) That is why they say that Noah's revelations weren't good enough for Abraham and Abraham's not good enough for Moses. Different times, different audience, different circumstances, different revelations. The same applies to the words given by the GA's. The counsel was given to the youth. Although you may choose to apply that counsel to yourself, it is your own decision to do so. The interpretation that this counsel has been given to the general, adult membership of the church is "wresting" their words.

There are, of course, principles of the gospel which are embodied in the scriptures, by which to judge acceptable material. Senseless, desensitizing violence is hardly edifying. But that doesn't mean that a violent act, shown as an evil deed, cannot be portrayed in an edifying manner. So, again, we are brought to make our own judgment call based upon the scriptures and the gift of the Holy Ghost which we have.

The problem nowadays is that the rating system we've got is made without the principles of the gospel in mind. G, PG, PG-13 and R movies do not mean "good", "okay" "a little bad" and "very bad." G rated movies may be just as bad as an R-rated movie if is is portraying witchcraft as something desirable, etc. In other words, it may not have cuss words or sex or violence, but it still may have something abominable and entirely at odds with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The rating system, though, will not reflect the content as it compares to the gospel.

For this reason, I use Cap Alert's Cap Reports. It's a christian ministry of watching and rating movies according to a very interesting system which applies the gospel principles to the content of the movie. It is the best rating system I've seen so far and sad to say, it outdoes all LDS critics' reviews. The url follows:

ChildCare Action Project (CAP) Ministry Reports

Now, as for the Passion of the Christ, I've seen it and I, personally, found it edifying, as did my wife. In fact, I cried several times during the movie. The performance of Peter denying Christ and then his subsequent shame was one of the most moving scenes I've ever seen in cinema. We've all experience the pain of guilt and feelings of unworthiness. It was very touching. The scourging sequence, though bloody, probably was not as bloody and horrendous as it actually was. After all, this was Satan's day to have "all hell break lose" upon his sworn enemy, the Lord. I think he inspired all around Jesus to inflict as much punishment as they were capable of.

Remember, no one could take Jesus' life, only He could lay it down, so the Lord could and would take the full brunt of everything that Satan gave him. So, although the scourging scene was horrendous, to say the least, it was undoubtedly the most accurate portrayal of what actually happened, except that I think that it was even worse than the movie. Does not Isaiah say,

Isaiah 52:14

So, I think Jesus was unbelievably disfigured by the ordeal, more so even than the movie portrayed. Isaiah also said,

Isaiah 50:6

Mel Gibson didn't include any scenes of Jesus' beard being pulled out, but if the giving the back to the smiters prophecy was literal, surely the plucking the hair off the cheeks prophecy was, too.

All in all, I found the movie fairly accurate, more so than any other movie on Jesus' life I've seen, and also emotionally moving, cinematically captivating, well acted, but above all, I found it edifying.

P.S. Sorry for the length of this post!

Edited: Buggeyes on 26th Mar, 2004 - 4:45am

Mormons & R-Rated Movies - Page 8

No problem with the length of the post.

Thank you for saying exactly what I was trying to say. You did it much better.

While I still haven't seen the movie, the impression I get from people (members and nonmembers) who have seen it is that you get from it what you bring to it. That is, if you come to it expecting to understand Christ a little better, you probably will. If you come to it trying to find evidence of Mel Gibson's Catholic (including mystical Catholic) ideas, you will find it. If you come trying to find anti-Jewish elements, you will find them. But then I think that these are evidence of truly great art.

And you are completely right about the counsel concerning R-rated movies. Not all of them are edifying, but then not very many movies of any rating are at the moment.

NightHawk

Mormons & R-Rated Movies Mormon Doctrine Studies - Page 8

"Now, brethren of the priesthood, there should not be any X- or R-rated movies that we participate in viewing or talking about."
(H. Burke Peterson, "Purify Our Minds and Spirits," Ensign, Nov. 1980, 37)
I have other quotes that speak to the sisters in the Relief Society about R-rated movies. And although I agree that we should avoid any bad movie regardless of its rating, the Church have counsel its members to avoid R rated movies (yes, adults included).