Article January 29, 2001 ISSUE

Pass the popcorn: spiritual discernment at the movies

By Madelon Miles

With the current debate about movie censorship, it's easy to jump on the bandwagon and criticize everything that comes out of Hollywood. Yet movies are about communicating ideas. The discerning viewer looks for universal messages irrespective of costume and location—insights that shed light on our own circumstances.

But with all the violence, gratuitous sex, and other tough scenes often depicted, what's a moviegoer to do? Obviously, parents can read about films before letting children see them, even check out the Web sites that most films offer and read reviews in newspapers, like The Christian Science Monitor. The responsibilities of parents don't stop because of the possibility of federal regulation of the industry.

About the author

Madelon Miles is a management consultant and frequent moviegoer in Los Angeles, the movie capital of the country, where it's rare to be in a conversation that doesn't eventually include "Have you seen ...?"

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