Ugliness in Hollywood

But even as I wrote that Christians shouldn’t curse and have sex in films, I’m thinking about the seeming sinfulness of being angry, killing another person, or stealing. Should a Christian steal in a film? Couldn’t one say that as there is no difference between having sex in real life and film, there’s none between stealing in the movies and doing so in real life?

One could say this, but one would be wrong. If one has sex on set, this is objectively wrong, unless it’s done with one’s spouse, and that’s not likely in Hollywood. (And even then, it's quite questionable.) However, the real world in this case is the film, and vice versa. If, however, one steals in a film, one has not really stolen anything. One has pretended to do so. So there’s clearly a line between some actions and others in considering what Christians can/should do in films.

But one could respond to this by noting that even if the stealing is pretend, if the movie presents the action in anything but a negative light, the Christian is wrong to do so, because their performance gives a positive light to sin. This is clearly a problem. So, then, it would seem to be important that Christians in Hollywood avoid doing “real-life” ugliness and also that they avoid positive depictions of sin. Movies seek to draw audiences. We must remember that. But more than a sea of nameless faces, there is One watching us at all times whose review is the only one that really counts.