Is the entertainment industry evil? (from a religious point of view)?

Question

They promote crass, rampant materialism, defining yourself by your outward appearance, success, anything goes mentallity, promotion of values about yourself, society, sex, anything and everything, in a somewhat negative way.

Fashion, music, movies, all give the viewer ideas about everything on their own self image, to what they should drive, where to live, what to value, who to marry, etc. And it's all somewhat godless.

Don't want to make this too long, or pose an epic of an argument, but it's a simple question,

is the entertainment industry evil, from a religious perspective?

Doesn't it virtually go against every commandment, or what is written in the bibles or scriptures of many religions?

Does it not promote falsity? Advertisements, marketing, etc, are AIMED to delude us.

I don't see how the entertainment industry's influence on modern man is a GOOD thing, let alone a godly/religiously non-offensive thing.


Any opinions?

I mean, people literally break down crying after a certain age because their looks fade, so they waste money on surgeries, and they base complete self worth on their looks, clothes, cars, all the superficial things.

Answer 1

it's extremely hypocritical. Take smoking for instance: while we see shows and movies crap on people smoking cigarettes it celebrates celebs smoking CIGARS. last night Tom Selleck was asked to put out his cigar on Vegas since the casino has a no smoking policy he kept smoking it.

To this date no female lead has ever gotten an abortion. Hollywood is rabidly feminist and pro choice but every time a show starts lagging the female lead gets pregnant, even with the rest of her life is a complete mess. Third Watch did have one female who had gotten one in the past but we never saw it done.

Instead of introducing new gay and lesbian characters it's still easier and better for ratings to change the orientation of an established character never mind their previous history.


the villains on law an order are still upper middle class and rich white people. just like the stars and producers.

guns are still evil unless it's a single woman or single mother defending herself or her kids.

life is out of order don't know where your going? have a kid and divorce your husband is the message we constantly get from hollywood.

even when divorced and a faithful and good husband the man still has to pay alimony and portrayed as a deserving idiot.

no one still cares about fat white guys..

and it's ok to be fat if your a woman because judging a woman by her wieght is cruel and sexist, and hollywood really cares about who we are on the inside.

men are still incapable of communication, taking care of themselves and their kids and are still the fault of women's problems.

other than Peggy Bundy and George Lopez's mom we never see shows with deadbeat moms.

women are still always right. men are still shown as incapable of being good husbands and dads able to take charge at home, with what good they DO do is to the woman's credit.

Speaking of married with children: why was peggy a feminist champion while al worked and took care of business?

everything that makes the traditional female lead strong is what be be decried as sexist in a male character.

Answer 2

So many things are evil by religious standards; especially fundamentalists.

I guess we will have to take the bad with the good with Hollywood. A lot of movies make very good points and others create a feeling in America that we have saved the world many times. There's a lot of crock.

One type of movie I really detest are the Rambo type movies. In these movies the main character is 'bullied' and then goes on an insane rampage killing indiscriminately.

I don't know if these movies had anything to do with school shootings but the concept is there.

Answer 3

All Media can be used for good or Evil, A television, A Phone, A Computer, A funny show that is a family show, would not be bad, but a violent show would, it is how they come across, there are several good programs for learning The Gospel, as in a computer age, now we can really go and witness, I wonder if this is the reason, Society is getting so bad, that new forms of media had to be created to reach more people, and of coarse there is going to be bad stuff in there, satan sticks his nose into anything, but Good will alway overcome Bad, It already Has.
No, Society does not reflect the Christian as much, but we've already been told, The Road to The Holy Kingdom is Narrow.

Answer 4

No, I don't believe the entertainment Industry is evil, nor would I generalize anything that has an available choice to all, as either evil or good.

Humans enjoy sin, and we are easily catered toward that urge. Our personal will power should be judged as much as the force that tempts it.

We cannot generalize that the Internet is evil simply because of the easily available porn. If we were to do that, then your question would be considered evil since it is a part of the Internet.

There is also much good in the entertainment industry. The industry caters to our will through the ratings.

Answer 5

This is a good and very broad question. From a religious point of view, it will probably be considered evil for the reason that it takes the focus away from God and centers on the human. And as you know, in the monotheistic religions especially, despite the slightly different conceptions of God, the one common thing about God is that He is a very jealous God. He wants all attention and worship for him and no one else. Also the industry focuses on human desires, something which religions deny. In most religions, the person who is generally considered the most pious, is the one who can best resist her own desires.

My answer to the question from a non-religious persective is the following:

In my opinion, everything that exists in this world can be used in a good or bad way. Most things (not all) are not inherently bad. I'll give you some random examples:

-Wine has existed since about 7,000 years in one form or another. You can drink and enjoy its fine delicacies. But if you are irresponsible and drink it excessively, you will harm yourself and others. Wine is not bad itself. How you use, is what matters.

-A kind of funny but relevant example. This phenomenon called Facebook. If you use it as a way to stay connected with friends, talk to them, greet them on their birthdays, share photos, etc., it is quite a good thing. If you use it to spread rumours about people at work, bad mouth others, get people fighting with each other, then it is a bad thing. My point being, the "use" is what is the important thing. On its own, facebook is not inherently bad.

The entertainment industry can have bad effects on people, like the ones you mentioned, but I don't think that it is bad on its own. The entertainment industry mirrors the society it belongs to. If it is showing a lot of vices, those vices exist in that society.

Movies show a lot of violence. But they only show the violence that already exists in society. They are not the cause of all violence.

I enjoy films because there is a tremendous amount of artistic work that goes into the making of them. I appreciate that a lot.

So if a person enjoys entertainment for what it is (entertainment), then it is not a bad thing. But if she uses it to cause bad things in society, then she is the one to blame, not the entertainment.

Answer 6

I think the mainstream media is purely a reflection of society today. They are businesses first and foremost, and if tomorrow everyone in the world was interested having sex with animals, than by golly you would see Anderson Cooper doing a 360 to a goat. They only reflect what people have proven they want to see. They are out to make money, not shape society. Can you blame the really?

Answer 7

The entertainment industry exists on the money spent by Joe Citizen. If people didn't like it, they wouldn't buy movie tickets, CDs, DVDs, etc. No one is holding a gun to anyone's head making them do any of these things or watch TV. If people are so gullible that they buy into what the media says,that's just showing how little self-esteem they have, and that they are unable to think for themselves.

Answer 8

The mass media is for the most part a way to extract money from people, and psychological warfare is one of the main methods used. This is certainly harmful to the weak-minded.

Iit is worth noting that religions use the "evil" media in as much a reprehensible way as other advertisers do.

Answer 9

People don't value their looks over their personality because of commercials or movies. It's because they don't have a personality or not enough self-esteem to think their personality will be accepted. Nothing is "evil" but we can turn it evil by the way we look at it and use it

Answer 10

Actually the Love of Money is the root of all evil and has even corrupted many churches. I would say God is going to Judge the Church before the world, according to his own word. So we should focus on ourselves and our own repentance.