As a kid, I envied my friends who had the opportunity to be corrupted by MTV...

Even though my cousin was a month older than me, her mother allowed her to watch MTV, whereas my mother believed it to be "inappropriate." She was virtually the same age as me, but may as well have been ten years older than me for all the privileges I thought her to have. Most importantly, though, she knew Michael Jackson was not a girl.

I remember watching Free Willy with my cousin and aunt when it first came out on video, and naively asking in regards to the effeminate musician that I saw singing on-screen before the movie began, "Who is she?" I'm sure it greatly amused my aunt and cousin, as evidenced by my aunt's laughter-choked response, "That's a he, honey." At that moment, I think my scorn for my family's television regulations was at an all-time high. Now that I'm an adult, though, I look back and believe I could have been perfectly content with the world without knowing that such disturbing people existed.

In later years, while visiting my cousin, I recall her flipping around stations and pausing on MTV. A rather boring, quite tame music video was playing. Cue the confusion. Why did my mother have such an aversion to MTV? Obviously, not all music videos were as tame as the one we happened to land on. However, after reading I Screen, You Screen: The New Age of the Music Video, I can begin to understand why MTV was so off-limits in my mother's mind when I was a child. It was around the time that I was starting to become old enough to watch shows other than Sesame Street and the Polka-Dot Door that MTV began phasing in such mindless shows as Beavis and Butthead. My mother wouldn't have needed to see much of shows like that before deeming MTV at the very least a waste of time.

Looking at some of the old music videos that aired when I was a kid and comparing them to some of today's television music videos, the old videos don't really seem all that bad. That isn't to say that my mother should have let me watch them. That is saying that it's a scary thought that when my little brother finishes saving up for his long-desired PSP, such garbage will be at his fingertips. My little brother is a virtuous kid (way better than his big sis here), but not all kids are so good at listening to their conscience.

We need to get more good stuff out there. Let's make the choice easier for them. It's so impressive how wired society has become. If you want a song, it's on your iPod in a snap (assuming you use a Mac, but let's not go there). Want a movie? Order it on your television and there you go. Now with the advancement in wireless and handheld technology actually allowing such devices as the PSP and the iPod to become legitimate players in more than one aspect of media, and forcing old standbys like MTV to regroup, this is our chance to change the industry.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is...

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. --2 Corinthians 3:12-18 (NIV)


They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With lustful desire as their bait, they lure back into sin those who have just escaped from such wicked living. They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves to sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.And when people escape from the wicked ways of the world by learning about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up with sin and become its slave again, they are worse off than before. --2 Peter 2:18-20 (NLT)

Hans Rookmaaker talks about the "modern" Christian's role in his essay, The Christian in the Changing World. He talks about the freedom that Christians have as being different from the "freedom" touted as allowing all things to be permissible, regardless of morality. He says Christians should push for their right to freedom in Christ instead of conforming to the world's definition of freedom.

Rookmaaker makes reference to 2 Peter 2:19, which is quoted above, in context. Although Rookmaaker's essay was at times difficult to understand, the verse he referenced offers a key insight into freedom: "You are a slave to whatever controls you." Thus, those who are in the world are a slave to the world, and those who are in Christ are a slave to Christ. The difference is that Christ grants us freedoms that the world does not. Certainly, we are tying ourselves to Him, whereas the world is tied only as each individual to his or her own notions. However, when the world falls away or even simply disappoints, as it does on a regular basis, those tied to it are pulled down as well.

Since Christ is leading the way for us, we are free to enjoy the beauty of life that He meant for us to enjoy. It's not a freedom to run wherever our whims may take us. It's a freedom not to be oppressed by sin, or to even worry about it. There's so much in life that God wants us to experience, and it's our job as Christians to share this beauty with others who are too weighted down with sin to experience it.

Hedgehog in the Fog

Hedgehog in the Fog is a movie I'd like to see again. Actually, I would like for my little siblings to see it, as well. I think it's a beautiful film, taken even just at face value. However, I'd like to go back through to try and take my interpretation of meaning from it. There is nothing wrong with simply watching it and enjoying it, but I sensed that there was more to it than I grasped the first time. I thought the animation was simply beautiful. I'd really like to know how they came to the fog effect. What was the most important judgement to me about this film, however, was the fact that after I saw it, I really wanted for my little sisters to see the movie. They would be delighted at the film. That, I think, is the most important measure of the value of a children's film.