Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Incidental or Intentional?…The Incredibles 2

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I’m not going to spell the profanities out for you here, but there are just too many moms who’ve been disappointed by obscenity/profanity in the language of The Incredibles 2 film; too many  exit reports, for the claims to be untrue. Some have said that the movie is definitely geared toward the now-adults who saw and loved the first film as children. But the sad truth is…Disney is, once again, showing Christians that our day to influence is over and our objections are inconsequential. Here are a few observations:

  1. There’s a level at which moms should not be surprised that there’s inappropriate material in the movie. The PG rating almost always means there will be something that’s offensive to someone. (If not Christians, who?) Occasionally, there’s a movie that’s rated PG merely because the theme is, while not offensive or profane, just too complicated or deep for littles. But mostly, the PG rating means there’s objectionable material for followers of Jesus. This is especially true about cartoons or Pixar movies. The PG is probably not going to be assigned in a cartoon because of a deep theme. Just saying here that diligent moms should have probably figured this out before entering the theater.
  2. This kind of language in a major kid-friendly movie is not inserted incidentally. Film-makers deliberated and intentionally pushed the language-line in the face of Christian parents. They are not overlooking our objections. They are aware and they are purposefully defiant of the Biblical parenting agenda. We know this from multiple offensive agendas being promoted by Disney.
  3. If everyone who is offended by the use of profanity would abstain from ever paying for it at the box office, our collective voice would be heard. But we complain privately, while we fork over the ticket prices and then we talk about how amazing the movie was, “except for the language they inserted….Why would they even want to do that?” (The logical response, then… “Why not?”)
  4. Entertainment is optional. If my entertainment choices compromise my holiness, I could just omit the optional altogether. I can go to heaven without ever being entertained. However, most Disney movies that would violate my profession of Christianity, could be watched a few months after release, using ClearPlay or VidAngel without the profanity streaming through. If entertainment is actually optional, couldn’t we at least delay the gratification until it might align with our values? Instant gratification is not always a good thing.
  5. The response of the producers to my boycott of material that should offend Christians should be irrelevant to whether or not I expose myself or my kids to offensive movies. Seven in ten Americans still claim to be Christians. Thus, it is true that, if all people professing Christianity would refrain from watching movies that contain obscenities and profanities, the industry would clean up its act. But that desired result should not be my primary goal in abstaining. Holiness should be my primary goal in staying away from movies that contain cursing, blasphemy and crude language. Philippians 4:8 should be the standard in my decisions about movies. My children will compare what I profess to what I actually do. They will, over time, come to understand whether or not my profession affects my decisions. They will assess whether or not my faith is real based on the decisions I make about things like entertainment, ethics, evangelism and involvement in the church. 
  6. Sacrificial choices are very tangible ways to teach children, Abstaining, because of conviction, from something that you’ve really been looking forward to doing has a far bigger potential for teaching commitment and holiness than does any rhetoric. As the world around us becomes more unholy, our chances to teach the contrast between holiness and this world become more and more plentiful.
  7. We should not let the fact that we’ve made poor choices before keep us from making good choices from now on. I know many have compromised multiple times before. Maybe you just did that very thing in recent weeks by taking your teens (or even your littles) to see The Avengers. (It seems the whole world did.) It’s never too late to start afresh if conviction and holiness is the motivator. Remember, we are talking about a tangible way to show your family Romans 12:1,2.
  8. We should never let the fact that we are imperfect people keep us from pursuing and touting the importance of holiness and sanctification. Our world loves to label any who plead for righteousness in practical ways as being “judgmental” or “holier- than-thou” or even as being arrogant/prideful. “Blessed are you when others…shall utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account,” said Jesus In Matthew 5:12. It’s important to remember that, except for Jesus, everyone who’s ever contemplated holiness and tried to discern practical ways to be set-apart from the world, has also often missed the mark, failed at times, and been in dire need of His mercy. But if we, out of misguided “humility”, all stop trying to be distinctive…if we stop teaching sanctification and fall in line with the ever-digressing culture around us, we really are prideful, because we let our own comfort in conformity take precedence over His will for our lives. 
  9. You might be thinking “Can’t Cindy Colley think of anything worse than a kids’ movie about which to have a rant?” Boy, I sure can. I can think of things like the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21), and  the seven things God hates (Proverbs 6:16-19). But then I notice that in the former list there’s uncleanness and in the latter there’s “feet that make haste to run to mischief “. If you do look up the words in that movie, you will agree there are some that are simply not clean. They are unclean. So why would you want to make haste to get your children over to that mischief/evil? Maybe a little less haste could buy you some time to just wait and watch it with your filters on. That’s what I plan to do.
  10. You can incidentally ingest or let your kids ingest some impurities. You can do it without really thinking. Perhaps your kids won’t notice the language and the damage will not be great and eternal. But being intentional about entertainment choices will have a profound and positive effect. They will notice when you choose not to do the thing that the whole world around them is doing. They will notice and they will want to know all about the “why”. And there’s your big opportunity.
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