Attending the movies is no longer an issue with many or even most Bible-believing churches.  The reason is obvious!  The movie industry has moved in a better direction.   There is no longer a justification for warning and avoiding the “artistic” works of the entertainment industry!  It is clear that since the previous century, Hollywood is guided by a higher moral standard.

The PROOF!

“Today, Disney’s live-action Cruella arrives in theaters and on Disney+. But if you’re looking forward to cute puppies, you might be surprised by this dark origin story of the iconic villain. While the 1996 version of 101 Dalmatians was rated G, this retelling is rated PG-13.

Nobody wants a G. Cruella is Disney’s third PG-13 release in a year, according to the WSJ. And if family-friendly Disney is leaning into “extended violence and smoking,” you know the rest of the industry is trending that direction…and has been for a while. By the 2000s, PG-13 movies were raking in most of the box office revenue. 

• • Between 2010–2019, PG-13 movies grossed $54.6 billion. In the same time span, PG movies earned $24.3 billion; R movies, $26.5 billion; and G movies, $2.7 billion, according to Comscore.

Bottom line: PG-13 has become the sweet spot for Disney to appeal to a broader audience interested in violent Marvel films, live-action remakes of its classics, and new projects like Hamilton.”

. . . . . . 

While the issue of attending movies has been tossed in the trash bin of church discernment and warning, as well as taunted as an example of the legalistic attitudes of fundamental churches, the reality of its degrading influence on society, culture, and the church is clear!  Solomon was right . . . .

• My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
• My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
• Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things.
• The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
• Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
• For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil. But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
• For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house
   
• et. al. . . . . . . . . . . . 

Read Solomon — “the legalist” — Proverbs 1-7, and then say that the church was wrong in its long-held admonitions and avoidance of the movie industry!

I know, understand, and probably have heard most all the arguments — whataboutism.  None of these arguments address the wickedness of the cinema industry or why theaters (and TV, and DVDs, and Streaming, and . . . and . . . . and . . . .) should not be seen for what they are — peddlers of filth piped with permission into homes and hearts!

Just as “Planned Parenthood” is not about family planning, but abortion.  Hollywood is not about “Bambi,” but the normalization of wicked and immoral behavior.

But that industry has repented, and it is more judicious and defensible to attend, finance, and/or watch their “artistic productions” today!

The problem is not the children, but the adults in the room.

The problem is not with the sheep, but with the shepherds!

. . . . . 

For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?

When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.