My wife and I watched one episode of “Game of Thrones” several years ago. I think it might have been the first episode of the series. From what I can remember, that particular installment ended with a graphic scene of incest and a child being tossed out of a window. It closed on a cliffhanger (or a cliff dive, in this case). I guess we were supposed to tune in next week, and every week for the next five seasons, to find out how it all unfolds.
We didn’t. We already knew what would happen: lots of people would have sex and die, and there would be blood and nudity and more sex, and then sex followed by sex, which would often occur right after a sex scene.
In hindsight, it appears we were entirely correct.
Now, I’m not pretending that I never make bad choices in the media I consume. I have and I do. But I recognize, even in those moments, that entertainment is not a neutral exercise. In every instance, it’s going to be a net positive or a net negative for my mental and spiritual welfare. I am inviting these messages, images, and ideas into my mind. I am doing something that is active and purposeful, and it will either help me or hurt me in the end.
Music, movies, TV, games — we spend so much of our lives wrapped up in all this stuff because it affects us. There’s a reason why, in this economy, Americans still commit an inordinate amount of their income to cable bills, Netflix accounts, movie tickets, and video games. It’s important to us. Too important, clearly. But even in proper proportion, this is art, and art is a powerful thing. Art says something to us and about us. It drives us. Transforms us. Art moves the heart and the mind in a particular direction. It can pull us closer to Him or push us further away, but whatever it does, it does something.