How to undo secular media influence?

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mathematoons

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Let me start with a bit of background. First, after reading about Catholics who gave up TV and movies, I spent a good bit of time praying and reading to look for guidance as to whether I should do the same. What decided it for me, after a year and a half or two, was the death of a famous actor/actress (I won’t say which one it was, or when this was, or even whether it was a man or a woman), whom I had idolized as a child (I converted from atheism at 26). I was devastated, as if he/she had been a parent or close relative. This made me realize that whether or not the media are bad for others, they have too much influence on me, when my influences need to be the Bible, Catechism, Saints, etc.; this person was a total stranger to me except for his/her movies and TV shows, and yet, because of them, I subconsciously came to see him/her as a close family member, even a parental figure (he/she is old enough to be a parent of mine, that’s all I’m going to say). After that, I switched to watching only Christian movies (yes, some of the ones I watch are Protestant, but they’re not anti-Catholic), and even this only with family. This is one of the best decisions I’ve made since conversion.

Fast-forward some time. I’ve grown in faith since then, and replaced secular media with spiritual reading and activities like playing musical instruments and playing with my dog. 🙂 Yet, I notice that the media still have a lot of influence on me. I am still having trouble with the death of that actor/actress. I am still plagued with temptations to want the glamorous lives idealized by the media. Scenes from secular movies still flash into my mind a lot. I still have nightmares about movie villains. The list goes on.

Has anyone else tried to undo secular media influence and had any success? If so, how did you do it?
 
Are you basing this influence off of how you feel or off of what you do?

Your feelings and spontaneous thoughts are never, ever going to 100% cooperate with your will in this life. The important part is how you allow those things to affect your behavior.

Other than that, allow time to do its work and fill your day with wholesome activities that steer you away from whatever you think is an obstacle in your sanctification. I used to spend hours and hours wasting time with video games, Youtube, and internet, and of course, when you spend a lot of time with something, that’s what a lot of your thoughts occupy as well. But those things slowly takes up less space in my mind in order to make room for new things. Keeping a journal if you don’t do it already can be invaluable because it helps gives you perspective in the long-term. During those darker moments of my life - when for whatever reason my optimism is temporarily sapped from me - I sometimes feel as though I haven’t hardly made any spiritual progress, but then when I take an account of all of the different changes that have happened in my life since X months/years ago, I’m heartened to know that God has actually done quite a lot within me, and will do more.
 
I wouldn’t blame the media for your feelings about a particular situation. If an actor dies, people are going to talk about it. So, you could have heard this news from a coworker or friend.

If you don’t want to watch TV, I believe that is a personal decision and you shouldn’t worry about things in the past. Stuff pops in my head all the time, that has nothing to do with TV.
 
I agree the media has undue influence in shaping our society.
 
+1

The important thing is to make sure you have a well formed conscience in the first place.
People have to make decisions FOR morality all the time.
Do I tell the cashier she gave me too much change?
Do I smile or yell at the other driver that cut me off?
Do I snap at my mother or have patience?
Part of life.
Stay close to God in prayer and relax.
 
I think the media we are attracted to often contains a mixture of good and evil. Perhaps you were overly–fixated on this actor/actress, but did he/she have legitimately good qualities that you admired? Could reading his/her biography, if it exists, help you to think about the themes of his/her life and perhaps remove some of the illusions of stardom?
 
mathematoons said:
Let me start with a bit of background. First, after reading about Catholics who gave up TV and movies, I spent a good bit of time praying and reading to look for guidance as to whether I should do the same. What decided it for me, after a year and a half or two, was the death of a famous actor/actress (I won’t say which one it was, or when this was, or even whether it was a man or a woman), whom I had idolized as a child (I converted from atheism at 26). I was devastated, as if he/she had been a parent or close relative. This made me realize that whether or not the media are bad for others, they have too much influence on me, when my influences need to be the Bible, Catechism, Saints, etc.; this person was a total stranger to me except for his/her movies and TV shows, and yet, because of them, I subconsciously came to see him/her as a close family member, even a parental figure (he/she is old enough to be a parent of mine, that’s all I’m going to say). After that, I switched to watching only Christian movies (yes, some of the ones I watch are Protestant, but they’re not anti-Catholic), and even this only with family. This is one of the best decisions I’ve made since conversion.

Fast-forward some time. I’ve grown in faith since then, and replaced secular media with spiritual reading and activities like playing musical instruments and playing with my dog. 🙂 Yet, I notice that the media still have a lot of influence on me. I am still having trouble with the death of that actor/actress. I am still plagued with temptations to want the glamorous lives idealized by the media. Scenes from secular movies still flash into my mind a lot. I still have nightmares about movie villains. The list goes on.

Has anyone else tried to undo secular media influence and had any success? If so, how did you do it?
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I watch a lot of EWTN Catholic Cable Network and listen to the Catholic radio station in my city. I have learned sooo much and it keeps us up to date on the news without shoving it down our throats 24-7. I do check the weather and occasionally a good old movie. I enjoy the quiet of my day also. God Bless, Memaw
 
I limit the type of media I watch/listen to (and not just because I have a 7 year old).

It really helps that we ditched cable and I’m learning to turn the TV off when I’m not interested in watching it. (It really helps that we moved to an area where our antenna doesn’t pick up a lot of channels.)

It also helps that we aren’t really into sports culture or the entertainment award shows.

I gave up on pop music long before I became a Catholic.

I hate how the culture makes me feel like I’m the only person in America who has no interest in the Kardashians and has never actually seen the show. The culture has this way of making you feel like you aren’t part of the in-crowd if you aren’t watching their shows or participating in their culture. But the thing is that I’ve never cared about the Kardashians and when push comes to shove, I really don’t care if I’m part of the “in crowd”. The only reason I know the name is because the media thinks that they are worth focusing time on and I see the sensationalized stories on the magazine covers in the grocery stores.

It really comes down to what you choose to focus on. Like everything else, it’s a process. I look at the magazines and say “what a joke!” instead of saying “I need to know all the details and buy the magazine.” I still remember the day when I realized that 50 cent was a rapper because I couldn’t figure out what 50 cents had to do with what people were talking about. It really made no sense, in context - at all. I felt very liberated because I realized that I didn’t have to depend on the culture for an identity, my likes and fulfillment of needs.

I love good stories, which is why I really like TV and movies - sometimes, they tell really great stories.

However, it’s about picking and choosing what you focus on.
 
I think alot of people would be shocked to learn that ALL the mainstream media news networks are owned by a handful of private corporations…they literally control what the news is from day to day!! That is an extremely powerful position, I can only imagine some of things they refuse to allow, otherwise known as ‘blacked out’ topics.

I trust the alternative media more than any of the major ones today. I still watch the nightly news, but I take it with a grain of salt.
 
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