I love a good story. And these days, there are so many great stories being told on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Paramount Network, etc. But. I am earnestly trying to remain close to God. To remain in the state of grace. So many of these great stories are infused with sex and the occult. I watch the shows for the story, but there is no doubt that for some of the shows the hedonism and occult in the margins of the show has an effect on me. Is God asking me to stop watching these shows? Specific Examples: The Witcher: I enjoyed season 1 and was looking forward to season 2. I found myself guiltily and naughtily looking forward to some of the steamy scenes there would certainly be in season 2, even though my main attraction to the show is the story. Evil: What a creepy and moral twisting show. The show somehow simultaneously makes me revolt and appreciate how cunning evil can be. The show somehow makes me feel dirty for watching it... But the show is all about fighting evil. The show is like watching "The Exorcist", except that the devil is slowly winning and audience revels in a bit of excited anticipation to see how much the devil is able to corrupt the good people around him. Midnight Mass: A show that plays on tropes about the Catholic Church to show how religion can be used to manipulate good people into making evil decisions. Yellowstone: Now this one is good show to dissect. Good story, not great, but good, and I enjoy watching the show with my wife. But, in previous seasons there were definitely some edgy sex scenes, and in the latest season there are some sex scenes. Unlike the other shows I mentioned, I don't feel like Yellowstone is corrupting me. But it does have sex and violence... should I walk away from this show and other shows like it? Am I being subconsciously corrupted? Game of Thrones: Great story. Lots of sex scenes and gore. I never felt corrupted by it. I never felt like I wanted to watch the show to see the sex scenes or the gore. It was always just about the story. But still, am I sinning by watching it? Outlander: I actually don't watch this show. But I thought it would be good to include it in the discussion. I definitely shouldn't be watching this show, because it is borderline softcore porn. But, my understanding is that this show is basically a romance novel in TV form. Are there any devout Catholics who think watching a show like this is OK? Or reading romance novels is OK? I am interested in everyone elses opinions.
As I reflect on this topic, I realize that choosing to abstain from certain tv shows due to their content is hard for me. 1. I enjoy many of these shows. 2. My wife enjoys them too, and it would cause some tension between my wife and I if I decide not to watch the shows with her. 3. Questioning the morality of these shows also makes me question the morality of a lot of other related things... Basically opening Pandora's box. For example, maybe I should cancel my Netflix subscription? Are Netflix, Amazon Prime, and YouTube net positive influences on my families life? Are my dollars going to enterprises that do more harm to society than good? Are there other services I should subscribe too that provide content that is better for the soul?
It’s so hard to find good wholesome to shows. They’re almost all polluted in some way by sex. As the old adage goes - Sex Sells. I rarely watch TV now though I am a sucker for sitting down and watching a movie every so often. Over the years I have found myself more and more going back to my favourites. It’s rare these days that I actually watch something new. I love being able to rewatch a movie and deepen my understanding of it. My favourites are the likes of The Revenant, A Beautiful Mind, The Shawshank Redemption, Rudy, The Pursuit of Happyness etc.. My interest in reading fiction is growing as well and often times now when my girlfriend is chooses to watch some sort of drama on TV I prefer just to sit beside her and read a good book. I’m currently reading The Odyssey. I was never one for the classics but this is seriously changing my opinion.
I like this idea. Frustrating thing though, I know my wife will find me reading a book while she watches TV to be annoying (she will feel like we aren't hanging out, not sharing in the experience), but at least it is better than me being in a different room, or me forcing my watching preferences upon her.
Some shows are banned by the Bible. We are commanded to not have anything to do with witchcraft. So I ban shows in that category even if I want to watch them. Other shows assist us in falling sooner or later. I tried GOT, but I stopped watching it because I thought that all that smut would cause me to fall sooner or later. I don't watch Yellowstone but I watch shows like it (Ones that don't overwhelm me). I think that if we forward fast through the smut, it becomes at least sort of okay.
If a film, program is worth to be seen for me but it contains some nudity or soft sex scenes then I change channels for some seconds or a minute ( until the scene is over) or I forward fast. But if I see that the only or main reason of such a program is sex then I run away from it in order not to take risk. Without changing channels or forwarding fast watching such programes usually ends in pmo.
Can you provide more details on this? Maybe some links to the Catechism? My wife and I enjoy watching horror films, often the films have witchcraft, excorcism, etc. But normally, the movies do not glorify those things. I guess I had always assumed that the content in the film is not near as important as how the content is presented. For example, is "The Exorcist" OK? And, aren't spells and magic in the Lord of the Rings similar enough to witchcraft? Seems like there is some nuance needed to discern what is OK and what is not. And, what is OK for one person might not be OK for another person.
Ephesians 5:10 says: "And find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. So I take back my previous statement. Blatant witchcraft shows are not banned by the Bible, I just decided to ban them for my family because of this verse. I am currently trying to push myself to find healthier cleaner options on TV. In the past, I rarely worried about whether my TV viewing pleased the Lord. I just worried about whether I could get away with it and still squeak into heaven. Thank you for bringing this topic up. I started the Netflix movie, "The darkest hour," which is a story about Winston Churchill. I personally like riskier (for us) movies. But I am pretty sure that if my choices please the Lord better, then my life will be better. Maybe a good rule would be to ban shows and movies that glorify "Deeds of darkness." Just thinking out loud.
@timcia thanks for the response, and the followup, very helpful. After doing a bit more researching online. The consensus seems to be this: If the content you are watching is tempting you to sin, you should not be watching it. Some shows, might lead someone to sin immediately, for example, watching a sex scene and lusting after a character in the show. Temptation itself is not a sin. This still seems like a gray area. Can someone know with certainty that the show they are watching is leading them to sin? Probably not. Better to err on the side of caution. I was listening to a good Matt Fradd podcast a few days ago in which Matt Frad and Alex Frank were talking about Yoga. Turns out, the practice of Yoga is steeped in false God worship. Each pose is meant to be a way to physically worship a specific diety. I have attended beginner Yoga classes before and found them quite relaxing, a good workout, and very meditative. There was zero mention by the Yoga instructor that the poses were meant to worship different dieties. In hindsight, I am sure I was not sinning in those moments or corrupting my soul. But, Alex Frank made the good point that, it is probably a lot safer to avoid those types of situations, he said that for every conscious thought we have, we have hundreds of subconscious thoughts. What would have happened if I had become smitten with Yoga, or found that that particular Yoga instructor was an awesome instructor? I might have found myself 6 months later is some grace compromising situations.
Yeah, the watching clean TV helps today. I think some people want a list like that. And people who are really struggling need one.
I sat down to watch a historical movie with my brother 2 nights ago. "The Last Duel". I didn't do any research on the movie beforehand and there was one quite pornographic scene and a bunch of less pornographic sex scenes in the movie. I am giving myself a pass because I had zero inkling that a movie about two medievel dudes dueling in France would have a moaning group sex scene. Totally caught me by surprise. Pretty annoying. I wish I would have had the balls to get up and walk away during the scene, but I was self-conscious about how it would make me look to my brother... I might need to think on that for a bit, seems like I have some social norms holding me back. I did shut my eyes when I realized the scenes were going to be lengthy and my brother (who knows about my porn addiction) picked up on my uncomfortablness and suggested we fast forward through future sex scenes, which is pretty cool of him.
Congratulations! You did resist the temptation to stare at these scenes and you clearly regret not doing more. You are making great strides towards Our Precious Lord. I am sure He was gratified by your efforts. Keep it up and well done!
Yesterday, I was suffering a bit from some knee pain and I needed to spend time with it elevated on ice. This is frustrating to me, as I would rather be up and about doing something productive during daylight hours. I have a nice comfortable recliner in the same room with our TV. However, instead of turning it on immediately, I picked up a book of short stories that I started a few weeks back. I enjoyed that and it struck me that I read far less than I would like to. I am also working my way through a self-study course in a subject that I don't need to know but simply enjoy. Such hours are also great for prayer, which I can always do more of. I will spend some time this way today, on the eve of God's greatest gift to earth. The more I think about it, there is a limited amount of time in the day. I am foolish to waste it on TV, unless it is a means to enjoy some time with others.
Thank you for the suggestions. I have just finished one of the most inspirational books I have ever read "Life of Christ" by Archbishop Fulton Sheen. This man was a genius, I hope he is canonized soon.
It is not a quick read. I have been reading it for approximately one year at a rate of 5 to 10 minutes every other day or so. There is so much wisdom in there, it is not one to be skimmed over quickly. He clearly knew the bible from cover to cover and was an expert on philosophy. I am an expert on neither, so I had to give myself time to really think about what he wrote and let it sink in. Last year, I made my way through another educational book that I have been meaning to read by vowing to give it just a few minutes per day. I found that as a very manageable commitment and thus I was able to get through it. Give it a try, I think you will be pleased with what you can accomplish this way.
My parish gave me a subscription to FORMED (http://formed.org). I dunno if you can pay for a subscription individually but if you can it's worth it!
