IT
 

Let me preface this thread by saying that I do not have a television in my home, and I don't watch it on my smaller screens either.

This discussion isn't on the evils of television or Hollywood. I wanted to get that out of the way first.

Today, I happened to see a preview for the upcoming movie IT, based on the novel of the same name by renowned horror author, Stephen King. Now, if you haven't seen the trailer, I'm not advocating that you go search it out. My unintended viewing came via a sponsored ad on Instagram, and after I saw the trailer, I seriously considered deleting my IG account. The trailer, as I'm sure it intended to, scared the ........ out of me. Let me say, I'm not a fan of either Stephen King or the horror industry as a whole, although at one time I was an avid reader. Not being familiar with the story, I quickly read the Wikipedia plot line to get a better understanding of what was going on in the trailer. To summarize the storyline for those less familiar than myself; basically there is this evil entity aptly called IT that is terrorizing a small town in Maine. The evil thing takes on the forms of whatever it's victims fear the most, with it's most popular form being that of a very scary clown. This evil thing terrorizes the town's children every 30 years or so, with many children missing over the town's history.

Now that I've probably given everyone nightmares tonight, I want to pose the question; what is your opinion on whether a christian should partake of the horror genre, in whatever format? It seems to me that a story revolving around a great evil, committing gruesome acts of violence against small children, should most definitely not be in a Christian's library. I look forward to hearing your opinions.

PS, I HATE anything involving zombies, video games, books, movies, shows... nope

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Sometimes when I'm sitting on my couch watching TV my dogs will start barking at nothing. I'm pretty sure that's what this is. A lot of barking about nothing.

A movie is not real. It's fiction. Owning or enjoying a movie like that doesn't mean you enjoy great evil committing gruesome acts of violence against small children. It doesn't mean you condone such acts. Just like owning or having read Mein Kampf doesn't make you a Neo-Nazi. Just like reading a Quran doesn't make one a Muslim.

I get finding the movie distasteful. The same applies to those books I mentioned. I get disliking horror movies in general, their gruesomeness can definitely be a turnoff. I don't get how you can make that dislike and distaste into a moral issue that suddenly transforms anyone that owns such material into being less of a Christian than you.

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What do these mean to you?

29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.
32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.


3 I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.


9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.


21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.

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We have a TV, I don't watch it other than watching the news with my husband. He watches news and sports.

Other than that I do check out movies from the library. I attempt to choose movies that are positive and inspiring in some way, I like movies based on history and true stories. There are Hallmark movies and Christian based movies.

As a man thinks in his heart so He is. I want to cultivate a right attitude and a right spirit and I think what you watch and read contributes to that. I am also careful about what I read, reading mainly the bible and history.

I don't feel that watching horror movies is conducive to having a right heart and spirit and attitude.

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We have a television. However, we don't have cable. Also, we rarely ever watch syndicated television. I get most of my news off of the internet. For the television we have an Amazon Fire Stick that allows us to stream virtually anything over the internet on our television from sporting events to nearly any television series (past or present), and typically any movie you can imagine, even those currently in theaters. The Fire Stick allows us to pick and choose everything we watch, and so it allows us to preview or review the content of everything we choose to watch. We especially like to stream older television shows. We're big on Star Trek. If we watch a movie, we normally make popcorn and stream it on a weekend because time doesn't allow us to do much television viewing during the week. Over the Summer we streamed a lot of kid's shows, Discovery, and educational things for the kids.

As for horror and Stephen King. I'll be honest... I love Stephen King's work. But let me explain. One of my dreams from childhood was to be an author. When it comes to King, he's a master of the art. His use of the English language to convey the exact emotion he desires is a talent to be greatly respected. In fact, the only real "horror" novels I've read and enjoyed were written by King but I haven't read anything of his for several years now. The last Stephen King book I read was the older title, Thinner. For me, a great deal of the enjoyment is his style and technique.

The majority of what I read is non-fiction (religion/spirituality). But when I'm in the mood for fiction I prefer science fiction and fantasy.

I don't watch a lot of movies. I think I watch maybe one movie every two weeks or so on average. When I watch a movie I enjoy science fiction, fantasy, organized crime, romantic comedies, thrillers, and ancient mysteries/adventure. In my years I've enjoyed a few horror movies, but they aren't a favorite. The horror movies I enjoyed most were built more around the paranormal, not blood and gore. I'm not into gore. I also don't like war movies.

As a Christian, I think we do well be cautious about our entertainment. In our media driven high tech society it can be a challenge.

You asked about a Christian library. It wouldn't bother me if a believer had the works of various authors from many different genres (including horror) in their home library . But if they had a movie library filled with violence, blood, and gore horror... something about that would bother me.

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Has anyone read any Ted Dekker books? I think he's the closest I know to a "Christian" horror author. I used to be read a lot of Dean Kuntz's books, but I haven't read a non-fiction novel in years.

I agree in this world of streaming services and video technology, the Christian should guard what is allowed in your home for entertainment. I have 3 small children, and it blows my mind when I think about what will be at their fingertips in a few short years. I just listened to a Cody Marks message," Take Heed to Thyself, and to the Doctrine." Highly recommended for anyone.

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I attempted to read through a couple Ted Dekker books 4 or 5 years ago. Don't think I ever made it through more than 2 chapters. I don't care for his writing style his obsession with "dark things" is disturbing. In my opinion, darkness should not be entertaining or bring enjoyment to the Christian.

I Thessalonians 5:5
Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness

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Its just a movie! Is it any worse than watching Josey Wales go on a revenge killing spree? Horror is not really my thing I think its all kinda silly.

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Forgive me, but who is Josey Wales?

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Another FICTITOUS old west gunslinging character played by Clint Eastwood.

Re: IT
 

got it, thanks. Have you seen the trailer for IT, Joe?

I just don't understand why a Christian (especially an apostolic) would want to entertain themselves with something that is completely centered around evil, fear, violence and gore; whether that entertainment comes from a book or a movie.

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I have seen it. I think its silly.

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I like some Frank Peretti books.

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:thumbsup

Frank Peretti is pretty good.

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I read somewhere that the desire for scary stories goes all the way back to when ghost stories were told over campfires in ancient times. What these stories do is provoke the emotion of "fear". Through these stories we experience "fear" in a controlled and safe environment. This helps us to feel fear, to understand fear, to recognize fear, and even overcome fear. In each story we face what terrifies us. And through the protagonist, we overcome it and gain some sense of victory over our fear. And so "scary stories" (and perhaps movies?) actually serve a purpose. The problem is when one obsesses over the rush of feeling fear. To get that rush, they will consume themselves with dark subjects, and horrific entertainments to experience the rush.

I'm no expert. But that's something I remember reading.

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Josey Wales is based on true American history concerning the Missouri border war with Kansas.

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He's my favorite Christian fiction writer. I still have and read This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness.

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Sorry, but you can't honestly compare a western with horror movies. Especially the older westerns.

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I've always wondered why people "enjoy" being scared senseless. The above seems to make some sense. Thanks for the insight!

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I read through all 1,000+ pages of It when I was 14. I also watched more than once and really enjoyed the TV mini-series based off of the book. This was all years before conversion. Since then, and especially with this new movie that's coming out, I won't touch the thing with a 1,000+ foot pole.

It can be easy to write off some type of entertainment, like a movie, as unreal or just a harmless good time. But I tell you the truth in Christ Jesus, I lie not, some forms of entertainment are sourced in some seriously wicked spirituality. It may not be the content of the material, but the creators and their motivation for why they made what they did.

And that stuff can become palpable to your spirit if you expose yourself to it.

As for It, the opening scene is beyond almost any horrific thing you can imagine. Don't look it up, don't watch a clip of the mini-series on youtube and don't go see the movie. Trust me. Part of me wants to say more to explain why, but I feel a check in my spirit not to do so; yes, it's that bad. The director of this new version has stated that he was intentionally going for a "hard" R rating, and that the opening scene was incredibly gory and terrifying.

If you've seen the mini-series, let me assure you it won't hold a candle to this blowtorch of demonic entertainment.

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Oh but I did!! But You misunderstand my comparison.

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I've always wondered why some people find clowns horrifying. I think they're silly. Anyone have any insight on why some people find clowns scary?

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My mother had clown figurines around the house. One day my sister who was 2 yrs old at the time suddenly became afraid of them. She communicated to me that the clowns were making mean faces and talking to her.

When I told my mother what had happened she threw all of the clown figurines into the garbage bin.

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Who gets scared by a movie?

Anyway, looks like a waste of time and money. Not to mention the thoughts that will intrude when you try to pray...

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JWG.

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..?

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just a wild guess?

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John Wayne Gacy.

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Eww

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