Are Horror Movies Bad?

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Perhaps my son is right then. Maybe we should all make up our own version of religion according to our particular likes and dislikes.

Porn is damaging but why? Is a good movie one which is realistic, I think that the usual comment, “it was a naff movie because the action wasn’t realistic enough.” So if it’s realistic enough what makes it ‘better’ for a viewer? The emotions it stimulates through the images and accompanying ideas provoked. I don’t think that’s a great idea, if nothing else it desensitises us to real violence that we read about or see on the screens on the news, that can lead to a greater tolerance of violence in society generally I think. We’re moving away from God in that way.
 
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This case of determining whether a particular movie may be bad for you spiritually speaking is a case of prudential judgement.

Your advice has given me fruit for thought, so I am not automatically discounting your views. I believe your views on this matter has merit.
I will be talking to my spiritual advisor on this matter.
 
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I would be interested to know what your advisor has to say on the subject, sincerely.

Thank you for a fair and balanced view and giving me a chance to express my thoughts. 🙂
 
Thank you also for the reasonable and calm discourse.

I too am curious to hear my spiritual advisor’s view on this matter.
 
I actually am aware of someone who committed a very serious sin involving totally G-rated media, to the point where he had to seek help from a priest and really step up his prayer life to get out of it. I don’t know what it is because he didn’t choose to publicly share that in his testimony to a prayer group but apparently it was bad enough that he had to get rid of everything associated with whatever it was. He made a point of telling us it was not porn and was totally family-friendly. Really, anything can become an occasion of sin.
 
Lee1 said:
Porn is damaging but why?
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Porn objectifies and harms the people who are appearing in it. It is harmful to the actors, not just the viewers.

An actor dressing up as a vampire or zombie or monster and acting the part is not automatically objectifying, degrading and harming himself. He is acting.
 
Yes

Food is a necessity but for me it can be an occasion of sin.
 
Porn alone doesn’t invite demons in. However, it can increase this likelihood when in the occult or when involved in New Age, which in of themselves attract the demonic.
 
Here horror movies have a distinctive movie rating, they are full of violence , gore, horror and goings on prompted by evil. Murder, torture, violation of human rights, the expendability of human life, and often of animal life.

They can become the model for very disturbed individuals to either copy cat on themselves or on others. Or leads them down the path of great error in belief.

Do you guys have movie ratings?
 
Roseeurekacross said:
I would avoid them.
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A Catholic priest was involved with producing The Exorcist.
What do we really mean when we say we should avoid “horror” movies or books? There are certainly “horrific” episodes in the Bible… remember the OT story of a father slicing and dicing his daughter into 12 parts and send a piece to each of the 12 tribes of Israel?
 
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We have much more graphic representations in the media here. I don’t know if you guys have full frontal nudity on tv yet, but we have had it for a very long time.

In the same vein, when I talk horror, I am talking blood guts torture murder violation of human rights. Not cute ghostbuster type movies. Horror movies do not make up Sacred Scripture so I cannot see a valid comparison there. In fact I feel it is doing a great disservice to Sacred Scripture to make such a comparison.

We are called to move towards holiness, and to do this we must discern what to accept or reject in this secular world of which we live but are not of.

And that goes for a lot of the drivel coming out of film studios.

And yes I have been told by religious that these type of media representations can be extremely spiritually damaging.

Catholic Priests have been involved in all sorts of things, However I do not believe hollywood gives them full production rights.

Exorcists will list influences such as horror movies when enquiring what may be impacting the spiritual health of a person.
And that is straight out of an exorcist priest’s mouth, in person, at a talk I was at one night. It was a very enlightening talk.

The devil is so polite and so subtle and so very deceptive.
 
What amazes me are those characters who go out to fight demons and not one word of a prayer comes out of their mouths.
 
We haven’t had meaningful movie ratings in USA for many, many, many years, if ever.

Usually “G” rating denotes a children’s movie, “PG-13” is a family movie and “R” is a normal adult movie. Directors will always try to get the “R” rating for any movie that’s not directed at families/ children. If necessary they will throw in one swear word or one nude scene to get the “R” rating. There is also an “NC-17” rating which means nobody under 17 admitted; it replaced the old “X” rating which generally denoted porn and nothing else. It wasn’t used for violent movies except maybe some very extreme ones in the early days of the rating.

The ratings system has evolved a lot during my lifetime and it has never been reliable, nor have we had the bans on gory or violent movies that many European countries and perhaps Australia have. In addition, most people are not seeing their movies in the theaters these days, so a rating is meaningless when people can just pick a movie and stream it at home whenever they like.

I’ve always been interested in the subject of movie ratings because they seem very subjective and there are a lot of issues with censorship. I also think adults should be able to set limits for themselves. If you are really concerned about content in a movie because for example you have triggers or you want to watch it with your child or elderly parent, etc. you’re better off reading a plot summary of what actually happens in the movie (these are generally available online) than relying on some unreliable rating.

“Horror films” as a genre do not always mean slasher/ gore or “Saw” franchise bloody graphic murders. There are many types of horror films out there. And the ones that don’t have slashers and gore aren’t all “cute Ghostbusters type movies”. Many of them are genuinely scary but without blood. In fact sometimes it’s MORE scary because of what isn’t seen. In past decades, relatively un-bloody movies were banned and sometimes directors’ careers were ruined, very unfairly as the movies are now considered classics.
 
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Depends. Does the depiction of horror point to something good, or is it gratuitous in itself?
Many movies in this time depict violence in the context of sexuality, and so it is for the purpose of titillation. It doesn’t take a psychiatrist to see the horrific possibilities for those who consume this material.

In my opinion: our modern depictions of horror and violence are very toxic, and in some circumstances, just as harmful as watching pornography. Possibly worse, when violence is tied to sexual gratification. Take a look around, these movies have become reality.

When our son was in high school, we had zero tolerance for violent video games or movies that were gratuitously violent. Just say no. There are plenty of other things to watch and do that are not toxic. (our son is a Marine now, so not playing video games had no ill effect on his ability to use weapons for their intended purpose. )
 
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I actually talked with a Priest about this as I like horror movies (Purge movies, Silence of the Lambs, When the Bough Breaks, Secret Window, No Good Dead, The Call…)

I could name more also but notice how none of these are exorcist or paranormal related or anti-Catholic or something demonic. I really enjoy suspenseful movies and especially those that have social commentaries on societal problems (due to my academic interests). I was told this is not a problem at all as long as I don’t start acting violent or something.

But I do think it’s bad to watch satanic movies like “The Nun” or “Ouija” so I don’t watch those.

I also don’t watch movies with nude scenes, I think it lowers the overall respect of the movie because there was no reason for the nude scene and it’s too much of a temptation for me to have impure thoughts or actions.

So before every movie I watch in the theaters (and I watch a good amount of movies) I check the parents guide on IMDB to see if there is nudity and if there is I don’t go no matter how interesting the movie is. If the movie is really interesting and I still want to see it I might wait to get it on red box or stream it or something but fast forward through the nudity but I don’t like to promote movies with nudity
 
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Similarly related but different - does anyone else wish Game of Thrones was censored from tv? I’ve never watched it but people always say “I watch it for the storylines and nothing else.” While that may be so isn’t it not a massive porn show basically?

I know people that had watch it and currently watch it and they say it’s basically porn so why is this allowed on tv
 
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Game of Thrones. Don’t even get me started.

It’s such a rapey show. People think I’m weird for hating it.

Why is GOT still showing? Because sex sells.
 
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