The Entertainment Media

by Dr. Phil Stringer (Florida)

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there by any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Philippians 4:8)

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Analyst Michael Medved began his famous book on the entertainment media Hollywood vs. America this way:

America’s long-running romance with Hollywood is over.

As a nation, we no longer believe that popular culture enriches our lives. Few of us view the show business capital as a magical source of uplifting entertainment, romantic inspiration, or even harmless fun. Instead, tens of millions of Americans now see the entertainment industry as an all-powerful enemy, an alien force that assaults our most cherished values and corrupts our children. The dream factory has become the poison factory.

Network television officials are adamant that TV and the movies do not influence people’s behavior and that the entertainment media is in no way responsible for modern cultural problems. After all, studies authorized and paid for by ABC, NBC, and CBS have concluded (surprise) that there is no relationship between what people watch and what they do! But if TV does not influence both the thinking and behavior of people, why is television advertising a billion-dollar business?

The truth is that of over 3,000 research projects and scientific studies between 1960 and 1992, 86% have concluded that there is a relationship between entertainment and behavior. Warnings have been issued by the Surgeon General for the United States, the American Psychological Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Public Health Service, the National PTA, and the National Education Association.

A number of surveys show that the American people are concerned about the moral quality of the entertainment media. A 1993 Times-Mirror poll showed that 73% of viewers thought there was too much violence on TV. A 1994 survey conducted by Scripps-Howard News Service and Ohio State University indicated that 64% of viewers felt that movies promoted real life violence.

While television is still a major contributor to American culture, viewer dissatisfaction is being felt. Over the last 15 years the three major networks have lost 33% of their evening viewers. Their profits have dropped from $800 million in 1984 to $400 million in 1988 to less than zero in 1991.

Even First Lady Hillary Clinton has expressed concern about the quality of programming on TV:

There has been a reinforcement by popular culture of the undermining of social values and institutions. I, personally, worry more about television than other forms of media, because it’s so pervasive, and it’s a primary baby-sitter and value-transmitter for many children.

I think, on both the actual substance of entertainment and the process by which it’s delivered, there are grounds to worry about its impact -- particularly on children.

More and more attention is being focused on the role of television and movies. Before 1970, 38% of all shows that depicted non-marital sexuality clearly condemned it. In 1993, only seven percent of programs that referred to such material presented it in a disapproving light. Before 1969, references to moral impurity occurred in only one out of 30 TV episodes. In 1993, it was one out of six. A typical teenager watching TV today hears or sees almost 40 mentions of moral impurity daily. By the time the average child graduates from elementary school they will have seen 8,000 murders and 100,000 other acts of violence on TV.

Many in Hollywood clearly understand the importance of their influence. Michael Hudson, vice-president of the Hollywood-funded "People for the American Way," said, "We are in the midst of a culture war."

ANTI-CHRISTIAN BIAS

Movies bashing evangelical Christians are common in Hollywood. There are films depicting them as sexual perverts, serial killers, members of killer cults, and demon-possessed. Christian ministers have been portrayed as hypnotists using TV to take over the world, seductors who prey on teenaged girls, or completely immoral, and financially dishonest. A favorite theme is to show Christians as hypocrites. One film has a Nazi-like Christian fundamentalist character who enslaves people, enforcing public accommodation to religion while living in private immorality. Another is about a woman who lives a life of immorality, makes a profession of faith, and joins an evangelical church. This leads her to kill her daughter and to commit suicide. Still another movie is about psychotic, mean-spirited, repressed Protestant missionaries in the Amazon. When not attacking Christians, Hollywood enjoys making fun of the concept of a true and living God, with special attention being given to blaspheming the Lord Jesus Christ.

Actress Amanda Donahoe, referring to a scene she played in the movie, "The Lair of the White Worm," said, "I’m an atheist, so it actually was a joy. Spitting on Christ was a great deal of fun." The anti-Christian bias is not found only in movies. Television is also guilty of vast amounts of such material and, of course, movies are often rebroadcast on television for in-home prime time viewing

"THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST"

The 1988 release of the film "The Last Temptation of Christ" illustrates much of Hollywood’s attitude towards Christianity and Jesus Christ. Many evangelicals, as well as Roman Catholics, expressed their offense and asked Universal Films to withdraw the film.

It is hard to imagine a movie creating more controversy than was caused by "The Last Temptation of Christ." Christian leaders publicly attacked the movie and called for a strong public Christian reaction. Roman Catholic bishops urged their parishioners to boycott the movie. Campus Crusade leader Bill Bright offered to raise $10 million (an estimate of the production costs) to give Universal in exchange for all the copies of the film. They refused.

The movie "The Last Temptation of Christ" was based upon a fictional novel of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis. This novel was a major factor in his being censured by the Greek Orthodox Church. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader, and the movie was produced by Martin Scorsese (who once wanted to be a Roman Catholic priest).

This movie presents a most unorthodox interpretation of the nature, life, and ministry of Jesus Christ and was an unveiled attack upon the Saviour. The Lord Jesus was presented as a lustful, adulterous, unstable revolutionary, the apostle Paul was a liar and a hypocrite, while Judas Iscariot is set forth as the hero. Even secular media commented on the extremely unorthodox portrayals in the movie. Patrick O’Driscoll of USA Today called it, "Scorsese’s cinematic vision of a sometimes weak, doubting, even lustful Jesus." He quotes the producers’ aim as creating "a psychological portrait of Jesus as a man learning to accept his divinity." The August 15, 1998 issue of Time magazine contained an article entitled "A Holy Furor" in which the blasphemy was described. Time concluded, "Such an approach to explaining Christ goes beyond even films such as ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ and ‘Godspell,’ which offended believing Christians."

Many critics accused believing Christians of being "afraid" that this film would destroy the faith of Christians. They completely misunderstood the issue. Presenting Christ as a mentally incompetent, unsure religious reformer, overwhelmed by dreams of lust and adultery is insulting to those who know Jesus Christ as the sinless Son of God and who place their faith in Him as their personal Saviour.

We would not react calmly if someone produced such vicious attacks on the character of anyone that we love. Evangelicals are especially incensed when such misrepresentation is made towards Jesus Christ.

Telling the story of Christ apart from the historical and theological truth has no possible value. It would be the same with ordinary human beings. Such stories would tell you a lot about the fantasies of those who wrote and produced such stories.

Scorsese spent 16 years trying to get this film to the public. He was given a copy of the novel in 1972 by Barbara Hershey who played Mary Magdalene in the film. He says that the movie "is my way of getting closer to God."

Amidst the furor caused by their insistence upon releasing the controversial film, Universal Studios responded by attacking those who said they were offended and aggressively releasing and promoting the film. When everything was said and done, they ended up losing $10 million on the project.

The role of modern rock music, movies, and (increasingly) television in promoting moral impurity, mocking the traditional family, promoting illegitimacy, focusing on the bizarre and perverted, and glorifying irresponsibility is well known. Even Hollywood insider Steve Allen (a clear liberal in most areas) said the following:

Humans can do without roller skates or TV but they literally cannot long survive, as a rational, emotionally healthy species, without a secure family structure.

The reason, to belabor the obvious, is that the family is the soil in which each year’s new crop of humans grow. It is mostly the failed human family therefore, which has produced our present millions of prison inmates, rapists, drug addicts, burglars, muggers, sexual psychopaths ....

It is no wonder that so many parents are concerned about the message of television.

ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA AND VIOLENCE

The relationship between the entertainment media and violence has been the subject of a great deal of study. Particularly disturbing in the discussion is the lack of separation of self-defense and the defense of freedom from mindless violence. In many movies, it is increasingly hard to tell the heroes from the villains.

Another influence of television on popular culture is the way that adults and children are exposed to the same information. In The Disappearance of Childhood, 1990, author Neil Postman, professor of media and communications at New York University, asserts that TV has erased the boundary that once separated childhood from adulthood. This boundary according to Postman was only possible to maintain through a culture that communicates primarily through the print media.

Children and adults read different literature, but they often watch the same TV shows. As a result, children are pushed into adult experiences before they are ready. The innocence of childhood is gone for most children. The teenage years were once thought to be a bridge between childhood and the adult years. Now children often act the way that teens used to and teens engage in activities once reserved for adults.

Finally, in the most recent trend in the entertainment media’s unabashed attacks on the concept of family, more and more television programs and movies are being introduced where the homosexual movement is presented as a completely normal, alternate lifestyle. This subtle, "normalized" presentation will certainly have an even greater effect on public opinion in the future, as it already has.

Christians must learn to be very careful about the entertainment media. They must be aware that many of the people involved in the entertainment media are engaged in a Cultural War against Christianity. Christians should be very wary of the potential for the entertainment media to spoil their spiritual life. Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

Dr. Phil Stringer is Executive Vice President at Landmark Baptist College, Haines City, Florida.