Porn = Survival (in Hollywood)

When are we ever going to learn? What will it take for Christians to (finally) stand up and stop supporting sinful entertainment and droning on and on about every latest celebrity happening?

I often ask myself that question, and I fear that the answer is “nothing is going to change us.”

The decline of morality in Hollywood creations is undeniable. We can argue about whether Christians should watch “this” or “that,” but it would be impossible to deny that programming and movies now are raunchier, cruder, and more sexualized than ever before. Not every song, TV program, or movie is sinful, but the movement away from God overall (and with most works of entertainment) is clear.

Sadly, young women are often in the cross hairs of all this sexualization. They reveal more and more skin and do more and more pornographic acts on stage and screen. But even the secular media is starting to take notice. USA Today opened a weekend edition article with the following two paragraphs:

Rihanna is channeling her inner stripper in videos and on Instagram. Britney Spears is whipping women on leashes. Nicki Minaj is braless and spilling out of her revealing jacket on Ellen. Scarlett Johansson’s in her undies on the cover of Esquire. Gaga’s got a thong on. And Miley Cyrus? Well, she has taught us that each and every day could bring a new tongue or twerk Twitpic from her.

Young Hollywood stars seem to have hit a new low. Why are they suddenly so oversexed, so determined to show all, so proud of parading around naked?

Two answers were given to that final question. The first is what we might think: “Because they want to.” Ultimately, that’s the reason, because we know that sin is selfishness. It is choosing my own way over God’s revealed will.

But the other reason given in the article floored me: “Survival.”

In the article (which, by the way, I am not linking to due to some very revealing pictures), several music, TV, and movie stars admit to taking off clothing and “pushing the envelope” in order to keep jobs or move up the ladder in the public’s eye.

One person interviewed for the article was Kimberly Hairston, who works with celebrities and trying to get them to promote fragrances and related products. She referenced the recent furor over Miley Cyrus’ sexualized performance at the VMA’s. She said,

We [society, ADF] are accepting it, and we’re actually almost celebrating it. Miley is not on Saturday Night Live by accident. Had she not done (the Video Music Awards), they wouldn’t have had her on.

Some are not going down that road of using sex to sell, however. Charlotte Church was a young British singing sensation before she was a teenager. Now age 27, she can still sing, but have you heard of her lately? Not much, and one reason was that she would not allow herself to be used in that way. In the article, she said that young pop stars are “encouraged to present themselves as hypersexualized, unrealistic, cartoonish, as objects, reducing female sexuality to a prize you can win.”

Then, reflecting on her own musical career, she said, “There was a big clamor to cover my breasts as they wanted to keep me as young as possible. Then it became, ‘You should definitely get them out, they look great.’ ” Remember, this was when she was just old enough to be showing a feminine figure. Sexuality was considered to be part of what she “needed” to do in order to have a “look” about her, so she could advance her singing career.

The baseness of what is shown in the world of entertainment should cause every Christian–male or female–to blush and turn the other way. Yet, on a daily basis, I see Christians posting about “needing to see” the latest movie where there are sex scenes, or making sure to catch up on a particular TV show on the DVR, though the show is based around sexuality that does not honor the Lord. We just keep watching, and even paying money to watch, while the movement is further and further away from God.

In reality, these stars are not “surviving” by using sex to sell. They are selfish, because they will do anything to get the money, attention, fame, and power that they want. Even if it means selling their own bodies to do so, they will go there, because they only are thinking of short-term satisfaction and selfishness.

But, before we get so ready to shake our heads and be all upset over what these celebrities are doing, maybe we need to check our own habits. What’s in your DVD collection that shows sex outside of marriage in a glamorous way? What’s the latest Hollywood movie you can’t wait to see, knowing full well that you’ll be seeing a lot of one of the actors or actresses? What music video do you replay on YouTube over and over, even though the dancing and clothing are hyper-sexualized?

If being pornographic is what equals survival in Hollywood, then maybe Christians need to be part of the reason Hollywood doesn’t survive.

COMMENTS: Share your thoughts on this trend toward the pornographic in our entertainment, and how Christians need to respond, in the comments.

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Photo credit: Nauly22 on Creative Commons

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