A Commentary on the Modern World

Does the culture of entertainment provide anything of value to mankind? Commonly, those who feel that they know more about the world, God, and such will commonly reiterate how valueless and evil the culture is. I have begun to have a bone to pick with that, not because I don’t believe there is some pointless garbage forced through the entertainment pipeline for us to watch when it should be flushed down the toilet instead. Rather, I believe that people, particularly Christians who embrace their own understanding of holiness, find themselves completely making themselves irrelevant to a culture they believe is evil. So in shunning popular culture and her movies, games, and shows, they also shun the best expressions of the state of where America’s morals, values, and relationships stand.

What seems to be ignored by those who seek to completely deny the culture is that there is a message being portrayed in every game, every film, every song, and every commercial. It is illogical to presume that you can understand the values, morals, and relationships of a culture when you ignore their most obvious ways of expressing them. Even when the message of a film, game, song, or commercial is bad, how can you discuss the value of the message when you seek to absolutely ignore it? It is only the severely prideful who believes they can judge someone or something without even seeing how they choose to express themselves and the message they are choosing to express.

What I am trying to say is that what is entertaining America and selling in America only succeeds if America is watching it, listening to it, playing it, and most importantly, buying it. These forms of entertainment are an expression and reflection of what the people of the culture desire. And yes, this includes even those who believe in God and moral absolutes. Truly, the modern means of divulging the culture provides a far better way to understand and interact with the culture in a relevant way. The message of games, movies, songs, and the like should always be willingly examined, just as the effectiveness of the manner in which it is portrayed is.
So I must conclude this thought by affirming that all that we do has a meaning, even when it is entertainment. To be so ignorant to dismiss a form of entertainment because it takes longer to engage and understand it is a childish response. Surely, an individual can waste their life in any form of entertainment, but if we fail to recognize what is desirable in the entertainment and what is being taught by tapping into those desires, then we miss the fact that we are a part of the culture so that we can learn about the people of the culture to better serve the people of the culture. If there is something evil about entertainment, it shall only be found in how people use it for their own evil deeds for it can illustrate what to do and not to do with one’s life. The case is made not on the form of entertainment but on the one who desires to be entertained. American entertainment teaches the American culture. The key is to learn why it is worth reading, understanding, and interacting with. For the good can be taught as an example, while the bad can be taught as a warning.  Then what your entertainment serves a purpose, for it can be used to teach others how the culture can be bettered as it delivers its entertainment through these various mediums.  Whatever way the knowledge of the culture is delivered is specific to the taste of the individual, be it a film, game, or book.  Like with everything else in life, the value of this industry hinges upon this:  what you do with what you know.  Thus, Engage. Examine. Equip.