Question....

[iluvmybabies]

I was wondering, maybe someone all ready spoke about this before and I do apologize for the inconvenience but I was wondering, what does the Bible and Catholic church feel about scary movies, and scary games??? I was raised with such things were the works of the devil and anyone who sees them is going to hell for supporting the dark lord etc… Is this true?

My brother’s watch zombie movies, and I have watched movies like “Hellboy” etc am I condemmed for doing this? My bf just rented a new video game called “Silent Hill” is he also condemming himself???

Anyone with advice, help is greatly appreciated…

 

[pumpkinbeast]

Unless the movies were condoning using evil powers or turning to witch-craft and the like, I don’t see how they would be sinful… the amount of violence in horror movies might be a moral issue, but I’m not sure about that. I can’t imagine ever having a good time watching horror movies, but to each their own…

If you’re ever unsure, you could check out USCCB’s movie ratings. They rate them according to suitability for different audiences: A-I = kids and adults alike, A-II: adults and adolescents, A-III: adults only, L: limited adult audience for content many adults would find troubling, and finally O: morally offensive.

Here’s the site: usccb.org/movies/

PS: some people have issues with USCCB’s reviews because they make a distinction between the moral content of the film and the artistic aspects of the film. I.e., in their review of Brokeback Mountain, the review does say that it was well filmed and excellently acted, but they still, obviously, gave it a moral rating of O. Just keep that in mind when reading the reviews.

 

[iluvmybabies]

Unless the movies were condoning using evil powers or turning to witch-craft and the like, I don’t see how they would be sinful… the amount of violence in horror movies might be a moral issue, but I’m not sure about that. I can’t imagine ever having a good time watching horror movies, but to each their own…

If you’re ever unsure, you could check out USCCB’s movie ratings. They rate them according to suitability for different audiences: A-I = kids and adults alike, A-II: adults and adolescents, A-III: adults only, L: limited adult audience for content many adults would find troubling, and finally O: morally offensive.

Here’s the site: usccb.org/movies/

PS: some people have issues with USCCB’s reviews because they make a distinction between the moral content of the film and the artistic aspects of the film. I.e., in their review of Brokeback Mountain, the review does say that it was well filmed and excellently acted, but they still, obviously, gave it a moral rating of O. Just keep that in mind when reading the reviews.

Well if you think about it most scary movies are pretty demonic…like that one new movie “mirrors” etc…so does that mean if I see it I am condemmed for condoning to evil by watching a movie???

 

[Truly_Beloved]

As far as I know, the Church has not condemned specific genres of media. One of the greatest Catholic authors of all time, J.R.R. Tolkien, wrote stories that had magic, scary monsters, etc. incorporated into the storyline.

If you start hanging garlic in your house to repel vampires, or figuring out ways to make your home zombie-proof, I would say you should probably give up scary forms of entertainment.

 

[pumpkinbeast]

Well if you think about it most scary movies are pretty demonic…like that one new movie “mirrors” etc…so does that mean if I see it I am condemmed for condoning to evil by watching a movie???

Only if the movie itself is condoning demonic acts. If it is just showing demonic stuff, but is showing that it is obviously evil and destructive, etc, I would guess not.

Please don’t forget that there is always a choice involved with sin. You CAN’T sin if you didn’t know you were sinning! Like, if ate someone’s lunch, but you didn’t know it was their lunch, you didn’t sin, because you didn’t know. If you did know, then it would have been a sin. As for movies, if you start watching a movie and didn’t know there would be a sinful part in it, aka a sex scene or the like, you didn’t sin because you didn’t know(provided you then fast-forwarded, etc, took appropriate action to rectify the situation).

To take your example Mirrors: USCCB gives it a rating of ‘L’, limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. I am one of those adults who would be troubled by this film. However, just from reading the description, it doesn’t sound like people are condoning demonic acts in the film. So if you like that sort of movie, it doesn’t seem to present a moral problem to me.

 

[iluvmybabies]

As far as I know, the Church has not condemned specific genres of media. One of the greatest Catholic authors of all time, J.R.R. Tolkien, wrote stories that had magic, scary monsters, etc. incorporated into the storyline.

If you start hanging garlic in your house to repel vampires, or figuring out ways to make your home zombie-proof, I would say you should probably give up scary forms of entertainment.

LOL that’s hilarious!!! I am not trying to do anything like that…but the way my parents raised me, like when my bf would come over with a freddy kruger film my parents were reading the Bible, bringing down all the Saints, praying, and the Rosary I was condemmed!!! So they had to pray for my soul!!! I thought it was just a dumb movie my bf wanted to see during our pj nights with our other friends!!! I had no idea…that’s why whenever my bf tells me “hey baby let’s go see this new scary movie!!” I tell him OMG you are Catholic don’t you know you go to hell for that?!! Oh yeah I have gone over proportion, because of the fear my parents have bestowed upon me, of course my bf convinces me my parents are having issues and I go…lol… I submit into temptation!! May GOD forgive me for watching zombie and scary movies!!!

 

[iluvmybabies]

Only if the movie itself is condoning demonic acts. If it is just showing demonic stuff, but is showing that it is obviously evil and destructive, etc, I would guess not.

Please don’t forget that there is always a choice involved with sin. You CAN’T sin if you didn’t know you were sinning! Like, if ate someone’s lunch, but you didn’t know it was their lunch, you didn’t sin, because you didn’t know. If you did know, then it would have been a sin. As for movies, if you start watching a movie and didn’t know there would be a sinful part in it, aka a sex scene or the like, you didn’t sin because you didn’t know(provided you then fast-forwarded, etc, took appropriate action to rectify the situation).

To take your example Mirrors: USCCB gives it a rating of ‘L’, limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. I am one of those adults who would be troubled by this film. However, just from reading the description, it doesn’t sound like people are condoning demonic acts in the film. So if you like that sort of movie, it doesn’t seem to present a moral problem to me.

OK so that means if you watch an O rated film then you are committing a sin??
OMG I really need to go to confession then!!

 

[duskyjewel]

iluvmybabies, based on this thread and your comments on the tattoo thread, I feel safe in saying you should probably forget basically everything your parents told you about being Catholic, get some good resources, and study the faith on your own.

We are not the ones walking around saying everything on Earth is going to send you to Hell… that’s just not Catholics. We are one of the few denominations that does try to incorporate and respect artistic value and evaluate it separately from moral value. And you cannot sin without intent. You have to purposely and knowingly violate God’s law in order to commit sin. So far, none of what you have said your parents told you will condemn you qualifies…

Get yourself a Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It’s much easier to read than the Catechism itself, and is in question and answer format. You should be able to find it at Amazon and most bookstores. If you eventually wish to delve into the Catechism, that would be great, but the Compendium will give you good, solid, understandable information about Catholic teachings about EVERYTHING!

 

[pumpkinbeast]

OK so that means if you watch an O rated film then you are committing a sin??
OMG I really need to go to confession then!!

Only if you knew it was morally offensive before watching it, and decided to go ahead and watch it anyway…

and I second Duskyjewel’s advice, re-educate yourself on what is REALLY Catholic teaching and what is not, sounds like your parents may have confused you.

 

[ohioszo]

I think that it is wrong to say that your parents should not have been hoping and praying that you would not view those videos. You are being raised by them, and, they cannot see how horror films contribute to your upbringing. In fact, they consider them detrimental. Our time on earth is rather valuable as it is also limited. A waste of time to see many movies, particularly horror films. Halloween for instance, who needs the horror show part of it. When I was a child I ran out of the room when blood was shed in the movies. My Father simply told me it was ketchup, and, by that time I was well into my 20’s. It is or should be hard to watch violence. Violence begets violence, … Columbine is one and there are a list of terrifically horrible things that people do when they fill their minds with violent images. Traumatic Stress Syndrome, after the Wars, is a reality. Be leaven to your friends. Ask them to participate in another activity that is more wholesome! Movie watching is not conducive to conversation for that matter, and unless there are a dozen in the room yakking at the picture, it is a very private kind of interaction when all you can do is lie there and take it, that is why movie theaters and drive-ins have their notoriety as make-out places! Saint Augustine has something to say about drama, and, I find this in cliff notes: "Book 1 closes with Augustine’s lament over his empty education. He is sharply critical of the literature-based curriculum of his childhood, which valued artistic style over moral content. Already, Augustine is being trained to manipulate words to produce emotional responses in an audience, but these responses are without any real substance, or worse, are directed toward ends that are actually immoral. Augustine seems to have had a particular weakness for theater (see Book 3), based mainly on the strong emotional responses it aroused. He learned as an adult to condemn these empty emotional displays. How can it be right, Augustine argues, for you to weep over a fictional tragedy, but feel no sorrow for your own sins, or to condemn someone for a minor academic error, but fail to condemn your hatred of your fellow human beings? Education without moral content leads only to further estrangement from God, entangling humans in a world whose values are fundamentally skewed. " cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/Chapter-Analyses-Book-1-Chapters-12-20-Commentary.id-166,pageNum-17.html
One time I had an experience of someone who I suggested to that we all go to the bar and have some drinks, and she said, how about the ice cream parlor instead! Embarrassing for me, but never again. Take the high road, be good to your parents, and your younger family members. Be obedient to them, they have your best interests at heart. Be grateful that they know the traps in the world, and are preventing you from falling into them. Don’t make a big deal about a lousy movie that someone made millions with plenty of folk who believe in those evil things, and who may use them against Christians. Never believe it when someone says certain things are harmless, for they will be in your memory forever, and that is harm itself. Make good memories, and fill your mind with good things and love, memories that you have forever as God has promised. The Bible has plenty to say about friendship, BTW. Read the OT. The Catholic Faith!

 

[iluvmybabies]

I am so sorry if everything I have posted here makes me seem like a simpleton or even an ignorant, but seriously…whenever I wanted to question something like the tats and scary movies, my paren’ts entire world would tumble and the screams of "OMG Are you questioning GOD’s morals and rules etc etc etc…I was never allowed to question or even ask…it was against GOD’s rule!!! I am not kidding…Like when I wanted to investigate on my own, and read almost half the Bible, searched through the internet etc, and I didn’t find a single thing that stated it was a sin for the tats, I was 23 years old then, I tried to speak and inform my parents about my “NON” findings, and they reacted with “May GOD forgive your for your lack of knowledge and trust!!” I was like OK!! Thanks alot!!! They are super old fashioned and sometimes they make me feel as if they are over dramatizing everything in order to perfect us under GOD but I am sorry with curiosity getting in the way of human growth, exploration and potential, it’s hard for me to accept that I am condemmed to hell for watching scary movies and even get tats…I even questioned them with this, since to them you go to hell for tats or “distorting the temple of GOD” or your body, I made an educated comment/question…I asked: If God doesn’t forgive you and you are condemmed to go to hell for all eternity for distorting his temple, or our bodies, then why are girls allowed to pierce their ears? Isn’t that part of your body and isn’t that a puncture wound that sometimes doesn’t close nor heal? So technically shouldn’t everyone who has pierced ears or any other part of their bodies go to HELL?! They looked at each other and at me and my father stated it was different, and my mother stated to shut up because I was disappointing her with my idiotic questions and childish remarks…I was 25 when I finally asked them this!!! UGH!! So still no response…did that stop me from doing what I wanted noooo!! Well when I was 21 I was in a car accident, was in a comma, broken bones, facial reconstruction, fractures etc it was God’s work and miracle I actually was able to wake up and be alive after all that…and my mother finally saw my tats and told me that God punished me with the accident for all the wrong I had done including getting the tats… I have tried to study faith on my own, but when something I do that my parents say is against GOD like renting a scary movie like “Ghost Busters” or “The EYE” or something I decide to want to discus with my father I read in the BIBLE or something and they don’t like it or don’t approve of it, I am going to hell!!! So it’s hard for me to actually be able to know what’s right and wrong because under their eyes everything I seem to do and say goes against GOD?! just about…

iluvmybabies, based on this thread and your comments on the tattoo thread, I feel safe in saying you should probably forget basically everything your parents told you about being Catholic, get some good resources, and study the faith on your own.

Yeah you try telling them that one!!! good luck is all I can say to you!!!
We are not the ones walking around saying everything on Earth is going to send you to Hell… that’s just not Catholics. We are one of the few denominations that does try to incorporate and respect artistic value and evaluate it separately from moral value. And you cannot sin without intent. You have to purposely and knowingly violate God’s law in order to commit sin. So far, none of what you have said your parents told you will condemn you qualifies…

Thanks for the advice I am definitely going to grab me a copy of that book!!! Definitely I am tired of hearing how everything I do seems to be wrong you know? Thanks once more for your help!!!

Get yourself a Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It’s much easier to read than the Catechism itself, and is in question and answer format. You should be able to find it at Amazon and most bookstores. If you eventually wish to delve into the Catechism, that would be great, but the Compendium will give you good, solid, understandable information about Catholic teachings about EVERYTHING!

 

[duskyjewel]

iluvmybabies… none of us think you are a simpleton or anything like that. You have been mis-educated, and that is not your fault.

You are an adult, and I think you need to just stop listening to a lot of what your parents say to you. What you describe in your last post is a pair of abusers using their religion as a club to control and belittle their child. Yes, I said ABUSERS. The only healthy response is to stop giving them any control or influence over your life and decisions.

You don’t have to cut them out of your life if you don’t wish to (though I would seriously consider it if I were you), but what you can do and need to do is to stop caring about their opinions. When they go off, just remind yourself that you are an adult making your own decisions, and that their opinion doesn’t ultimately matter. Whenever they speak abusively to you, say calmly, “When you can discuss this respectfully and calmly, then we can continue this conversation.” Then walk out of the room or hang up the phone. Do that **every time **they say something abusive. Just don’t take delivery of their abuse anymore!

Do your parents treat your children the way they treated you? Because you have to protect your babies and even keep them from contact if the abusiveness is extending to your kids.

:console:

 

[Truly_Beloved]

I am so sorry if everything I have posted here makes me seem like a simpleton or even an ignorant, but seriously…

You don’t seem like a simpleton, Hon. Asking questions is how we learn!

…and my mother finally saw my tats and told me that God punished me with the accident for all the wrong I had done including getting the tats…

Oh, boy. Well, I respectfully disagree with your mom.

So it’s hard for me to actually be able to know what’s right and wrong because under their eyes everything I seem to do and say goes against GOD?! just about…

I think a good priest would be able to help you out! It might help you, too, to hear the advice coming from a trusted authority like a priest. When you go to Confession (make an appointment, if you can), the priest can help you figure out what is a sin and what’s not.

 

[iluvmybabies]

iluvmybabies… none of us think you are a simpleton or anything like that. You have been mis-educated, and that is not your fault.
I do feel like it sometimes especially about our religion…I speak with our priest he tells me one thing if that sort of conversation comes up between my family it’s so frustrating because I am like HELLO MY PRIEST TOLD ME THAT!! And they turn around and tell me well obviously he doesn’t know what he’s sayin!! it’s like WHAT???

You are an adult, and I think you need to just stop listening to a lot of what your parents say to you. What you describe in your last post is a pair of abusers using their religion as a club to control and belittle their child. Yes, I said ABUSERS. The only healthy response is to stop giving them any control or influence over your life and decisions.
Well if you would read the other thread about “when should parents intercede” or something like that, many parent’s believe it’s a correct way to act, try to tell their kids what to do no matter what!!! Well that’s one of the reasons I have moved far away!!! I am tired of everything I do is wrong even in raising my kids!!!

You don’t have to cut them out of your life if you don’t wish to (though I would seriously consider it if I were you), but what you can do and need to do is to stop caring about their opinions. When they go off, just remind yourself that you are an adult making your own decisions, and that their opinion doesn’t ultimately matter. Whenever they speak abusively to you, say calmly, “When you can discuss this respectfully and calmly, then we can continue this conversation.” Then walk out of the room or hang up the phone. Do that **every time **they say something abusive. Just don’t take delivery of their abuse anymore!
Yes actually after almost 30 years I have finally learned not to contradict, I will continue following what I believe and if I feel I need to ask someone I will pray, I will ask our dear friends here on the forum or my priest… Oh yeah me walk out of a room or hang up the phone ya right!! I would never hear the end of it…I just sit there shaking my head as if I understand what they are saying and pretending I agree with them, I no longer fight nor fuzz about anything nor try to prove them wrong, I will never win!!! Nor be correct…

Do your parents treat your children the way they treated you? Because you have to protect your babies and even keep them from contact if the abusiveness is extending to your kids.
That’s actually a good question…They tried to spoil them rotten!!! LIKE seriously!! I couldn’t control my children at all! It was horrible thus I moved far away!!! No they just made my daughter ask one day why my mother treats me bad or hates me!! I was like uhm? Well…it’s not hate she is just special!!! I didn’t know what else to really say you know…In the end I let my daughter know that some people don’t know how to really control themselves nor frustrations and take it out the wrong way and it looks wrong but that’s how they are, we just have to be calm and accept them and pray for them!! Well my mother has always had favs I wasn’t one of her fav kids…Same thing with grandkids mine are not her favs which causes issues with my daughter and niece…my daughter once asked me why my mother hated her, and I was like it’s not hate sweety she is just trying to protect the youngest girl in the family it’s a natural feeling that has been passed on from our ancestor’s its our primate control!!! So my daughter was not happy but I told her her grandmother loves her more than life itself she just has a different way of showing it!!!

:console:

 

[duskyjewel]

You say if you walked out of the room you would never hear the end of it… yes you would, if you choose to walk away or hang up EVERY TIME they start it. As in, you walk away, they berate you for it, you say, until you calm down I refuse to discuss it. And walk away. They berate you again, you say it again. And walk away again. And again and again, until they get it or give up.

You have the power to choose this… or you can choose to let them have the power and not do this… it’s up to you, but I really think you’ll have a more pleasant life if you choose to take control.

And I think teaching your daughter that they way your mom treats is an acceptable way for a mother to treat her grown daughter is a big mistake. Do you want her learning and thinking that what your mother does is OK? Because that is what you are telling her. It’s OK to tell kids the truth, even when the truth is something unpleasant about a family member. You can state it compassionately, but still tell the truth.

 

[iluvmybabies]

You don’t seem like a simpleton, Hon. Asking questions is how we learn!

Thanks sorry but I want to be you know at least try to know that I am actually going in the right path not hating myself and living with this huge guilt over things I have done that may not be sins as if they are sins??!! You know?



Oh, boy. Well, I respectfully disagree with your mom.
Seriously she told my that’s why I almost died and was nearly destroyed it was God’s punishment for all the sins I had done and the tats… I was like in my deathbed almost looking at her like WHAT?

I think a good priest would be able to help you out! It might help you, too, to hear the advice coming from a trusted authority like a priest. When you go to Confession (make an appointment, if you can), the priest can help you figure out what is a sin and what’s not.

Yes I will go God willing this saturday, I must…I have spoken with our priest so many times but personal things don’t really come out. The last time I was curious about ghosts and spirits and kept asking our priest questions he looked at me with this concerning look and he kept changing the subject so I dropped it and left him alone!!! So I am afraid he will judge me for other questions as well!!!

 

[iluvmybabies]

I think that it is wrong to say that your parents should not have been hoping and praying that you would not view those videos. You are being raised by them, and, they cannot see how horror films contribute to your upbringing. In fact, they consider them detrimental. Our time on earth is rather valuable as it is also limited. A waste of time to see many movies, particularly horror films. Halloween for instance, who needs the horror show part of it. When I was a child I ran out of the room when blood was shed in the movies. My Father simply told me it was ketchup, and, by that time I was well into my 20’s. It is or should be hard to watch violence. Violence begets violence, … Columbine is one and there are a list of terrifically horrible things that people do when they fill their minds with violent images. Traumatic Stress Syndrome, after the Wars, is a reality. Be leaven to your friends. Ask them to participate in another activity that is more wholesome! Movie watching is not conducive to conversation for that matter, and unless there are a dozen in the room yakking at the picture, it is a very private kind of interaction when all you can do is lie there and take it, that is why movie theaters and drive-ins have their notoriety as make-out places! Saint Augustine has something to say about drama, and, I find this in cliff notes: "Book 1 closes with Augustine’s lament over his empty education. He is sharply critical of the literature-based curriculum of his childhood, which valued artistic style over moral content. Already, Augustine is being trained to manipulate words to produce emotional responses in an audience, but these responses are without any real substance, or worse, are directed toward ends that are actually immoral. Augustine seems to have had a particular weakness for theater (see Book 3), based mainly on the strong emotional responses it aroused. He learned as an adult to condemn these empty emotional displays. How can it be right, Augustine argues, for you to weep over a fictional tragedy, but feel no sorrow for your own sins, or to condemn someone for a minor academic error, but fail to condemn your hatred of your fellow human beings? Education without moral content leads only to further estrangement from God, entangling humans in a world whose values are fundamentally skewed. " cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/Chapter-Analyses-Book-1-Chapters-12-20-Commentary.id-166,pageNum-17.html
One time I had an experience of someone who I suggested to that we all go to the bar and have some drinks, and she said, how about the ice cream parlor instead! Embarrassing for me, but never again. Take the high road, be good to your parents, and your younger family members. Be obedient to them, they have your best interests at heart. Be grateful that they know the traps in the world, and are preventing you from falling into them. Don’t make a big deal about a lousy movie that someone made millions with plenty of folk who believe in those evil things, and who may use them against Christians. Never believe it when someone says certain things are harmless, for they will be in your memory forever, and that is harm itself. Make good memories, and fill your mind with good things and love, memories that you have forever as God has promised. The Bible has plenty to say about friendship, BTW. Read the OT. The Catholic Faith!

See now I am confused again!!! So I guess this means that my parent’s are correct? OMG I never thought I would say that with such hesitation!! And now I feel even more salty for always trying to prove them wrong…

Just want to share with you, I like scary movies, I used to read mistery books all the time…It’s the whole suspense, and mistery and all that stuff…sorry weird child eh?! lol…Now the memories don’t stay, so I don’t worry about that…And yes it seems silly to cry over a movie but the fact is that sometimes movies are based on reality and it is touching…not only that but many of us can identify the feelings and situations and circumstances that goes on in the movies with our own feelings and situations as well…

Also I don’t think it’s a waste of time it’s just a different mode of entertainment and hobby…but sorry if it’s a sin to do so???

I am not naive nor fall into traps or anything…I am not easily hurt, nor weak, and after all the hardships I have gone through I am more grateful to GOD for everything I have than ever before and I am not afraid of showing how much GOD means to me…and that’s why I have been living with this feeling of guilt because I think I am committing a sin when I say I want to watch a scary movie or get a tat!!!

I am happy and make great use of my time, I have 3 kids, I work, have 2 dogs, go to the gym, take my kids to their first communion classes, take them swimming etc and barely have about 2-3 hours to spend with my fiance…so… I do like to watch movies…I don’t see a problem with that?!

Not only that but I am not easily influenced to say because I saw someone do drugs in a movie I am going to go do them so I can be cool…Never been one to follow the crowd…not because my parents told me not to but because it’s not who I am…I am not a follower of the trends or coolness, or whatever…like I stated in previous posts I am the black sheep of my family…always questioning and curious…always trying to find reason, but at the same time making sure God is always first!

 

[ohioszo]

This review may touch on your situation.(see below)
God speaks to us through each other … He is the Word, Himself. Sometimes we watch movies that entertain us, but, are targeted for others like this one. Still, since the Word is God, we can find that we can extract something, since the intent of the movie may be higher than the visuals would suggest. Some seemingly terrible “from hell” boy can actually become a good person who aids others? Your brother perhaps? Or, the last line that speaks of the lack of love in relationships? You and your parents? One should try to understand why a song, a novel, a poem appeals to oneself. I wrote about the visual aspect before … filling oneself with images of horror. This movie is something you may be able to explain to your parents. Our parents controlling, in a positive way it is called child rearing. If you are no longer a child, and, childhood is lasting into the twenties and beyond it is said, then they will be able to trust your judgement. My Mom is a reader, and, I often find fictional reviewed in America magazine for her to read. A Catholic website rates America Magazine low, IFYWIM. It’s target audience may extend to Protestants and young adults in college. Other people may strictly read Catholic literature, rather than mass market literature written by Catholics for the masses. So knowing who wrote that book, who produced or wrote the movie is very helpful. Someone reviewed this movie, and, they are Catholic, and, I believe their reviews are based on their Faith. Reviews, especially as they are readily available … are the way to go with your parents. You need to find a way to nurture your relationship with them, and one way may be to hold your own counsel about your viewing habits. They will pray for you, and you them, and eventually! you and they will find common ground.

From USCCB about “Hellboy:”

"Despite his dark origins, Hellboy is just your average blue-collar joe, ready to rumble with a squid the size of a sequoia, but shy around the ladies. Like the misunderstood mutants of the “X-Men” franchise, Hellboy selflessly fights to protect the very people who consider him a monster.

"Still, some Christian viewers may find it troubling being asked to root for a denizen of demonville. It says something disheartening about our culture when we have to look into the deepest bowels of hell to find heroes. And while the film is full of Catholic symbolism, the religious objects (rosaries, etc.), as used by the characters, remain superficial talismans – like crucifixes in vampire movies – and lack any meaningful spiritual significance.

"The movie opens with a question, “What is it that makes a man a man?” The answer suggested by the filmmaker is that belted by Ethel Merman: It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish – even if you had the misfortune of starting in hell. As Catholics, we believe that damnation – and for that matter salvation – depends not on some sort of Calvinistic doomed-from-the-womb predestination, but on the sum of the choices we make using our free will in cooperation with (or rejection of) God’s grace. In the end H.B. realizes that the truest definition of hell is existing without love – on that point, comics and catechism agree. "

 

[Ruthie]

Luv,

You are old enough to make up your own mind as to what is, or is not, good for you and your children. Obviously, scary movies neither cause *you *nightmares nor cause you to sin, so where’s the problem?

I agree with the poster who said your mother is abusive. You need to make it plain to her that screaming about hell will no longer get a reaction out of you.

Maybe my method will work for you… My mom used to drive me nuts. My role growing up was to be a buffer between her and my older sister, and it kept up after I moved to the opposite coast.

What I did that was successful was to stop reacting. I even resorted to putting the phone down, just picking it up now and then to say “uh-huh.” I stopped defending and explaining my sister, and neither agreed nor disagreed with my mother. I just said “uh-huh” in a neutral tone of voice. It took a long while, but it worked.

Have you heard of “selective hearing?” My dogs may not hear “come” or “sit,” but they can hear “cookie” from a mile away! You need to develop selective hearing, like I did. Hear the news about her and your dad, and react to that. Don’t “hear” the damaging stuff. Let it be background noise into which you occasionally inject an “uh-huh.”

Learn our faith for your *own *sake, not so you can argue with your Mom! It will help *you *to know when she’s wrong, but arguing with her will only feed the monster.

And pray for her. Use what I call the resentment prayer: “God, bless her with all the blessings you have given me, including love and spiritual joy.”

God bless you,

Ruthie

 

[iluvmybabies]

This review may touch on your situation.(see below)
God speaks to us through each other … He is the Word, Himself. Sometimes we watch movies that entertain us, but, are targeted for others like this one. Still, since the Word is God, we can find that we can extract something, since the intent of the movie may be higher than the visuals would suggest. Some seemingly terrible “from hell” boy can actually become a good person who aids others? Your brother perhaps? Or, the last line that speaks of the lack of love in relationships? You and your parents? One should try to understand why a song, a novel, a poem appeals to oneself. I wrote about the visual aspect before … filling oneself with images of horror. This movie is something you may be able to explain to your parents. Our parents controlling, in a positive way it is called child rearing. If you are no longer a child, and, childhood is lasting into the twenties and beyond it is said, then they will be able to trust your judgement. My Mom is a reader, and, I often find fictional reviewed in America magazine for her to read. A Catholic website rates America Magazine low, IFYWIM. It’s target audience may extend to Protestants and young adults in college. Other people may strictly read Catholic literature, rather than mass market literature written by Catholics for the masses. So knowing who wrote that book, who produced or wrote the movie is very helpful. Someone reviewed this movie, and, they are Catholic, and, I believe their reviews are based on their Faith. Reviews, especially as they are readily available … are the way to go with your parents. You need to find a way to nurture your relationship with them, and one way may be to hold your own counsel about your viewing habits. They will pray for you, and you them, and eventually! you and they will find common ground.

From USCCB about “Hellboy:”

"Despite his dark origins, Hellboy is just your average blue-collar joe, ready to rumble with a squid the size of a sequoia, but shy around the ladies. Like the misunderstood mutants of the “X-Men” franchise, Hellboy selflessly fights to protect the very people who consider him a monster.

"Still, some Christian viewers may find it troubling being asked to root for a denizen of demonville. It says something disheartening about our culture when we have to look into the deepest bowels of hell to find heroes. And while the film is full of Catholic symbolism, the religious objects (rosaries, etc.), as used by the characters, remain superficial talismans – like crucifixes in vampire movies – and lack any meaningful spiritual significance.

"The movie opens with a question, “What is it that makes a man a man?” The answer suggested by the filmmaker is that belted by Ethel Merman: It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish – even if you had the misfortune of starting in hell. As Catholics, we believe that damnation – and for that matter salvation – depends not on some sort of Calvinistic doomed-from-the-womb predestination, but on the sum of the choices we make using our free will in cooperation with (or rejection of) God’s grace. In the end H.B. realizes that the truest definition of hell is existing without love – on that point, comics and catechism agree. "

Thank you for the advice…