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Eye on the World: a night at the Oscars
The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, the Oscars, was held Sunday night, as Hollywood honored the best movies of 2012. The political drama “Argo,” a story about the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, won the Best Picture award, while Ang Lee took home the Best Director award for his movie “Life of Pi,” a shipwreck drama that explores questions of faith and spirituality. Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor for portraying President Lincoln in “Lincoln,” and made history in the process by becoming the first man ever to win three Best Actor awards.
Whether or not you’re a movie buff, it’s worth recognizing the helpful spiritual lessons that can be highlighted by film. Movies often carry healing messages that inspire and uplift us. Of course, it’s important to distinguish between films with a message and redeeming social value, and those that have neither. “Pass the popcorn: spiritual discernment at the movies” explains more about how we can recognize and appreciate the spiritual aspects of movies without getting taken in by violence and other “tough scenes.”
“Gratuitous violence in films, and the prayer switch project” takes this line of reasoning a little further, discussing how we can reject the “deadening influence” of media that seeks only to shock or horrify the viewer. By recognizing that it’s not in anyone’s real spiritual nature to respond to this kind of downward pull, we’ll find ourselves naturally drawn to entertainment that’s genuinely engaging, intriguing, and uplifting.
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