I think this all depends on the human being. Films that glorfy violence are immoral, however a film that happens to have violence in it due to the circumstances in the story line Cannot be said to glorify violence or be immoral. Most films, even childrens animations have violence in them, there is violence all around us.The entertainment industry know that people lust for violent films, so they make them, But thay allso make films in Which violence is neccerary to the the plot, Like a super hero saving a women from a group of rapist using force( which is neccerary violence and is understandable to the plot). Is there somthing wrong with watching a film just because it has violence in it? or is it wrong to gloryfy and desire violence in your “heart”
If you lust for violence in the heart and desire to cause harm to people in “real life” because of watching a film, then i agree that you shouldnt watch a films with Violence.
If i was a film maker, i might make a film about the reality of the Cruel streets of london, which would natural include violence. When you watch it, your watching it for the “overall film” “the story”, Not for the violence, You relate to the violence because it happens in real life. If you cheer the violence and take elements of it in to your reality then you have a sugestive mind which could lead to your demise. You might see the demise of the bad guy in an action movie and cheer, but you would not do that in “real life” because its not in your heart to cheer the demise of people.
I think it depends on the film and what it is promoting. If its promoting an intresting story line that has bloody elements that are neccerary to the film, i see nothing wrong with it unless your seceptable to commiting sin as a result of wacthing it. If its a film
that is a promotion tool for violence and works soley on your lust for violence, then you shouldnt watch it. If you watched the rise and fall of a boxer, like ali, theres more to the film then just boxing, thier are other elements that express the life of the boxer, on the other hand, i would not watch a live boxing match because i dont enjoy watching two people boxing each other to a pulp.
There is also the factor of whats real and what isnt. If your see sombodys head explode in a film for what ever reason
, i dont see how you could be commiting a sin by wacthing it unless your wacthing it specifically to satisfy a lust for violence and to act it out in reality. If you see sombodys head explode in real life your gonna be in a state of shock, possibly for the rest of your life. But when one watches a film that is made up of a collections of actions and conceqences that lead up to a man head exploding, you are not affected in the same way, you might cringe, but thats all, unless you have a problem with seeing the diffence between reality and fiction.
Some people have suggestive minds like children that cannot tell the difference between reality and fantasy. If i pretend to hurt you, is that the same as me wanting are “lusting” to hurt you? i dont Think so. Thats just my opinion however.
If you feel that films with violence in them affect your relationship with Christ, then it wouldnt hurt to go with out it. I am just stressing that, “violence” when used in a film to portray and element of reality, isnt in my opinion immmoral, nither is it immoral to watch. Some times in very extreme circumstances violence is nesserary, The film called “the ten commandments” Dipicts God using “Violence”.
When isreal are freed from slavery, it is done by violent plagues and death. When isreal leave egipt and walk through the sea that was parted by God, the soldiers that came after them are drowned. When i saw this i cheered for isreal freedom and gave glory to God! but this is not the same as gloryfiying the soldiers death’s or the Violence that was used, i wasnt glad that they where dead but i was glad that they wasnt a fret, i was glad that evil had been defeated. “The violence in the film was necceray to the plan” Violence is a part of are reality and therefore is depicted in films, Films like eunich. But if you desire Violence in your heart and only watch FIlms for that sake then it is dangerous for your faith.
Computor games are different. I dont play games that would suggest that i make a moral choice to kill because this insights lust for violence. Theres no real story lines to games, you just go on missions killing people feeding your lust for violence. Violent computor games make violence more exciting rather then movies though some films have the same affect. It depends on you as a person, but i most definetly recormend you stay away from computor games like grand theft auto and role playing games where the main objective is to kill, i do feel personaly that these games are dangerous and contradictive to my faith since these games are manifested simply to engage your lust for “violence and death”
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) In these cases I am not enjoying the violence in and of itself, only in as far as it contributes to good drama and an edifying resolution.