W
Wesrock
Guest
Hi, all. My wife and I became serious about our faith about a year and a half ago. I was a lapsed Catholic, she a convert from a Baptist tradition. I’ve been musing over the TV programs we watch (which we had enjoyed when we were still lapsed). Some examples being Friends, How I Met Your Mother, Vampire Diaries. There are other things as well, but you get the idea.
Friends and HIMYM take a very cavalier attitude towards casual (not even just pre-marital) sex. The main characters move from sexual partner to sexual partner with each episode. Vampire Diaries does this as well, but also dabbles in real issues the Catholic Church would have with the occult (to be clear, I’m contrasting this with Harry Potter, which for the most part presents a rather fantastical idea of magic that really has no overlap with actual occult practices condemned by the Church – we can be more nuanced than that, and I’m sure some would like to debate that issue further, but I only offer that as a quick contrast. Debate about Harry Potter can be saved for elsewhere). Vampire Diaries also paints villains in a rather sympathetic and heroic light, and I don’t think the writers are clever enough to do this in a way that’s supposed to prompt us into self-reflection. I think they’re mostly blind to the issue and doesn’t really even see them as villains.
Personally, I’m mature enough now, having come from a lapsed history and making the commitment to faith on my own, that such things aren’t going to erode my faith or sense of morals. I can watch the shows with a proper filter. I’ve no doubts about my wife in that regard, either.
My concern is children, should God ever bless us with them. If we’re watching these shows as we’re raising children, or introducing children to them, I doubt the children will be able to view it with a proper filter. I fear it would only endorse the pressures they will face in their teenage years and cause scandal when they contrast it with their parents’ faith. There are other shows, which my wife grew up with and are very dear to her heart, which, while not being at all casual about sexual partners, still promotes pre-marital sex and is somewhat judgy about religious types who would say otherwise.
I’m not sure what I’m asking. I’m not sure how or whether to broach the issue at all with my wife, who I’m not sure sees the issue the same way I do. These are just some things I’ve been musing on, and I was wondering if anybody had any advice or things to share regarding this type of issue.
I guess I also want to say I’m not against media with difficult things being portrayed, or complex, imperfect characters, or even some rather bad characters with bad vices as a main character. The issue is when the story as a whole loses its sense of proper morality and self-reflection and casts these things as normal… or not even just normal, but as the proper thing to do, while those who do otherwise are cast as the “weird” ones.
Friends and HIMYM take a very cavalier attitude towards casual (not even just pre-marital) sex. The main characters move from sexual partner to sexual partner with each episode. Vampire Diaries does this as well, but also dabbles in real issues the Catholic Church would have with the occult (to be clear, I’m contrasting this with Harry Potter, which for the most part presents a rather fantastical idea of magic that really has no overlap with actual occult practices condemned by the Church – we can be more nuanced than that, and I’m sure some would like to debate that issue further, but I only offer that as a quick contrast. Debate about Harry Potter can be saved for elsewhere). Vampire Diaries also paints villains in a rather sympathetic and heroic light, and I don’t think the writers are clever enough to do this in a way that’s supposed to prompt us into self-reflection. I think they’re mostly blind to the issue and doesn’t really even see them as villains.
Personally, I’m mature enough now, having come from a lapsed history and making the commitment to faith on my own, that such things aren’t going to erode my faith or sense of morals. I can watch the shows with a proper filter. I’ve no doubts about my wife in that regard, either.
My concern is children, should God ever bless us with them. If we’re watching these shows as we’re raising children, or introducing children to them, I doubt the children will be able to view it with a proper filter. I fear it would only endorse the pressures they will face in their teenage years and cause scandal when they contrast it with their parents’ faith. There are other shows, which my wife grew up with and are very dear to her heart, which, while not being at all casual about sexual partners, still promotes pre-marital sex and is somewhat judgy about religious types who would say otherwise.
I’m not sure what I’m asking. I’m not sure how or whether to broach the issue at all with my wife, who I’m not sure sees the issue the same way I do. These are just some things I’ve been musing on, and I was wondering if anybody had any advice or things to share regarding this type of issue.
I guess I also want to say I’m not against media with difficult things being portrayed, or complex, imperfect characters, or even some rather bad characters with bad vices as a main character. The issue is when the story as a whole loses its sense of proper morality and self-reflection and casts these things as normal… or not even just normal, but as the proper thing to do, while those who do otherwise are cast as the “weird” ones.
). It’s really hard to say if it has affected my real-life view of casual sex. If I knew a friend was doing that it would bother me, but less so than it used to. But that may be because we are all older now and also because I am married so there is less mystery involved and the idea is less scary… so I really have no idea what affect TV has had on my real-world interactions.
) but we watched a lot of tv shows with casual sex and we don’t get too scandalised by it, we watch for the humour.
in fact, they (2 people that slept around the most, are the saddest in the end. Barney was alone, Joey was the one without true love in the end). Barney, when he fell in love, couldn’t keep a relationship anyway.
