The release of Watchmen is today. I am taking my wife and 16 year old son tonight. I pray the content is not to terribly bad, but I must admit I am quite excited to see it.

Is this bad?! OK Maybe I shouldn't open it up like that, I feel the conviction seeping in already...

Anyone else going to see it this weekend?

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Michael P Doyle
Waukesha WI
Member of http://www.cornerstone-pca.com/
Attending http://www.lampseminary.org/

I'm going to see it. I loved "300".

Burn me at the stake now.

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Andrew DeShazo
Husband of Kathryn
Father of Phillip-Giles B. DeShazo
Deacon
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Memphis, TN
"From out of the depth of unbroken Infinfity arose the Question, "Who am I?" And to that Question there is the answer, "I am God!" -Meher Baba, died 1969.

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Christ, died 33 AD, ressurected three days later.

It looks very interesting. I never read the graphic novel (but I read a spoiler a while back!), but the trailers on TV look VERY interesting. We are watching our dollars on movies, more or less, so I will probably wait until video or at least the cheapo theater. Could you let us know, after you see it, if it is worth seeing it in the theater? I've always thought lots of special effects don't translate well to the smaller screen.

-----Added 3/6/2009 at 09:15:29 EST-----

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Tim Phillips
Pastor, Midlane Park Presbyterian Church (ARP)
Louisville, KY
Husband of Scottish Lass
My Blog: Gairney Bridge
My Facebook/My Avatar

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

"Wherever the gospel is preached, it is as if God Himself came into the midst of us." ~ John Calvin

I will be sure to do that Pastor Tim. I suppose I should prepare for my death by incineration as well

But I will enjoy the movie and...

I wanna go see it... I didn't know that it was coming out tonight.... I might go see it. thanks for the heads up!

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Jessica Auner
Wife, Mother,
Garden City, Ga
Ephesus Church
(a Reformed Baptist church)

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

I may not be technically Scottish, but I am married to a Scottish Lass and she likes to carry my matches for me.

Brothers you may want to read this first.

Watchmen

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Brad
Deacon, SBC
RC, NC

I was considering watching it but blanched upon reading some of the reviews. All-out excess sounds like the name of the game.

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Scott - Dallas, Texas - Faith OPC

"It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do; but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do." - Edmund Burke

I was about to post the same thing.

Violence as bad as Saw. Severe gratuitous sexual nudity. Spiritual plot that blasphemes God.

"This isn't a movie as much as an assault."

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Kim G
Non-denom church (holds to the WCF)
Zion Community Church, Greenville, SC

Teach me Your way, O LORD;
I will walk in Your truth;
Unite my heart to fear Your name.
Psalm 86:11

Thanks.

And, No THANKS!

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For the Glory of our King,
Joe Johnson
Slave of Christ, husband, father, Preacherboy at Cornerstone Community Church, Escanaba, MI. and TMS graduate. Personal website - SoundLife.org

I do not know, and I do not say, that a person cannot believe in Revelation and in evolution, too, for a man may believe that which is infinitely wise and also that which is only asinine. ~ CHS

Buzzkiller!!!

...I already have my tickets...and, and, I, er um, promise to turn my head for the really bad parts...aww forget it.


We are gonna risk it and I will let you all know what this God fearing Irishman thinks.

The movie is so bad that Christian reviewers have walked out of it. Please don't allow this tripe to enter your minds.

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We shall not adjust our Bible to the age; but before we have done with it, by God's grace, we shall adjust the age to the Bible. - Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Lawrence Underwood, Jr.
Pastor - Providence Family Fellowship / Mobile, Alabama
1644/46 LBC
My Blog - Imprimis

Seriously though Brad, thanks for the post

Go if you must but don't pervert your 16-year-old son by letting him see such debauchery.

I'm sick to my stomach just thinking about filth like this movie.

We are considering everything Kim. I appreciate everyones concern about this.

I do feel I have been prepared for this type of onslaught in that...

I have seen MARK DRISCOLL preach!!!

Thanks for the review. You just saved me the price of a ticket.

"I just saved a bunch of money by switching to the Puritan Board."

The answer to your question is in the joking.

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Michael J. Butterfield, M.Div. RTS Jackson, MS
Presently living in Pickens, MS
Attend Pickens and Tchula, MS PCA Churches

No man can know sin without knowing the law: and herein appears to me one of the prevailing defects of modern preaching: I mean the neglect of holding up this perfect mirror, in which the sinner shall see reflected his own moral image. (John Angell James)

We need a puritan gecko smiley. He should have a powdered wig.

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Heidi
Indianapolis, Indiana

Patience must dwell with Love, for Love and Sorrow
Have pitched their tent together here:
Love all alone will build a house tomorrow,
And sorrow not be near. -Christina Rossetti

ok I read the review... thanks ya'll... I guess I'll sit this one out... Micheal please tell me how it is.

Agreed! Absolutely! The Puritan Gecko with the powdered wig is a must! That's going in the suggestion box!

I don't think most of us understand how incipiently insidious these images are. They pry into the brain and wedge righteousness out of our thoughts. They brand our thoughts and, for whatever reason, are recalled much faster and more clearly than thoughts of righteousness. The idea of subjecting my own eyes gives an image of unremovable filth. I can't imagine going, let alone taking my wife and sons. If I had tickets I'd get a refund and see something else, go to dinner, rent something or, better yet, stay at home and read about David and his struggles with just a glimpse of a woman from afar. Better to be as Joseph, and flee...

Ouch...all very scathing and convicting.

Gentle my brothers and sisters, I said I was rethinking going, now can we all just take a deep breath.

Preach it, Joe!

Perhaps there's liberty on this...but I don't think so. There's something very powerful about sexual images. I think Joseph understood as much considering he ran from Potipher's wife yet was surrounded by other forms of idol worship. I would not be described as particularly "legalistic" when it comes to cursing and violence...but for my household, outright blasphemy and sexual content are deal-breakers for movies and t.v.

I have no more to say on this and please watch your implications toward my handling of my family.

We all laugh and joke on the board on many intense and touchy subjects and all of a sudden I`m lambasted with y`alls indignation. I was not aware of the movie content and jokingly carried on the conversation upon reading. I am pretty frustrated at moment.

Enough said.

This is bugging me. Suppose I had been saving for years to buy airline tickets to Hawaii. I've been there, and wanted to take my family. The only way I could afford it is to buy non-refundable tickets. Then, just before boarding, we find out that the pilot was just released from a psych ward and the co-pilot is drunk. We see the mechanics working on the plane, leaving panels open, throwing cigarette butts at one another and fluid leaking from the aircraft's undercarriage. I would bet that the plane would make it fine. But, I wouldn't bet with the lives of my family members. Even if I couldn't get a refund, I'd not risk my family on the chance that we'd make it and have a good time.
This movie has no such optimism to it. It is filled with vile filth. It will poison all who see it. The profanity will tweak ears and erode innocence. The sex scenes will fill eyes, young and old alike, with images not fit for man, especially those purified by the precious blood of Christ. And I know my wife would feel that I was more interested in entertainment than her purity. She would not feel protected, but rather subjected. There have been times when we've started a movie and she's later said that she was afraid I wouldn't shut it off.
I don't want to be legalistic on this. But I would be remiss if I didn't plea on behalf of the innocence and godliness of a family that professes Christ. I beg you, train them up in righteousness, not in the ways of the world.

-----Added 3/6/2009 at 11:43:43 EST-----

Michael, I posted without seeing your last post. I have no desire to lambast you. Yes, this is personal. And consider this a personal plea; in love.

Can this be said of all images of sex, or just the ones within this particular movie?

I couldn't disagree more. Brothels and movies are quite different.

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Daniel
PCA
Memphis, TN

As different as suicide by wrist slashing vs gun shot.

Not exactly. What is the purpose of a brothel? To arouse and gratify sexual desires. The same can't be said for any movie (or other piece of art) containing sexual content. If it is to arouse and gratify the audience or it has that affect, then I agree that it is dangerous.
I don't know enough about this movie to say one way or the other, but I disagree with the blanket statements about sexual content in art.

Perhaps this is particularly fresh for me as I study today. Consider the passage:
Ephesians 5:25-33
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

"Nourish" in verse 29 is the same as "bring them up" in 6:4, in regard to fathers. Bottom line, would Christ take His bride to this movie? Furthermore, if a Christian goes, then is the bride not dragging Christ through the same filth?

I'm not trashing anyone here, but how on earth could any Christian defend any image of sexuality or nudity in entertainment? God's word is very clear on the sin of uncovering a person's nakedness. It is condemned rather strongly.

Would Christ take His bride to see ANY movie? I generally don't care for the WWJD hypotheticals because we don't know the answers.

Would Christ take His bride bowling? Would Christ take His bride to a poetry reading? Would Christ take His bride to the opera? Would Christ take his bride to KFC?

I don't see the point in trying to draw a sacred/secular line and debating about what Christ would do.

-----Added 3/6/2009 at 12:10:03 EST-----

Lawrence, If the sexual images are for entertainment, then I whole-heartedly agree. I just don't think it's quite so simple as assuming that movies are sheer entertainment. Some are, some are not.

Michael I'm glad you posted about this so that we could all be made more aware of the content (I wasn't aware of it, previous to this post either). I was relieved to read that you weren't aware of it either.

I guess an upside even to losing money already spent is that you have a great opportunity to explain to your wife and son how much you love them :-)

In matters of righteousness it's absolutely appropriate (bowling is not a matter of righteousness - profanity and blatant nudity and sex is). What do you think is one of the points of the passage in Ephesians? It is precisely comparing the way a man treats, nurtures, cherishes and serves his wife to the way Jesus does His church. It's the only passage that says that Christ loves the church, explicitly. And it shows us much about how love is expressed. She is presented without spot or wrinkle. Regardless of how much it makes us squirm (and I squirm a lot as I study the implications and realize how much I fail in this regard), this has to be dealt with. Simply put, men, in general, have lost this perspective and it's a very real question, regardless of whether or not one wears a WWJD wrist band.

I guess I just don't see how bowling is not a matter of righteousness, but a movie is. If I go to the bowling alley, it's quite likely I will be exposed to profanity and maybe even some inappropriate attire on some women. I realize that's a bit different than a movie, but my point is that exposure to something is not the real issue--it's what you do with that exposure. Does it cause you to sin? The answer is not the same for every person in every situation.

Question: Was it sinful for the movie critic (who wrote the linked to review above) to watch this movie?

Question for consideration: Is it certainly a sinful exercise to partake or participate in an activity if one's passion is not stirred or the flesh is not gratified by the exposure to objectionable content integrated into otherwise entertaining media?

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-JD

I'd say no. I listen to some music that includes language that many would say is objectionable. In no way does it gratify the flesh.
Sexual content in movies is different in that we (men) are visually stimulated--if the sexual content is displayed in a way that encourages such stimulation, then there's a problem.

I'll also add that I don't believe a short scene containing sexually explicit content necessarily condemns the movie as a whole. I've seen some that are excellent movies, but contain a 15 second unfortunate clip. That's why we have fast forward (or just look away if you're in a theater).

Daniel,

If your mother/sister/wife/daughter was offered a role where they'd act out a tasteful sex scene on camera (not designed to arouse anyone, of course), would you be okay with that?

At what point is an untouched conscience a matter of a hardened heart and stiff neck?

Jeremiah 6:15
15Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
No! They were not at all ashamed;
Nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time I punish them,
They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah 8:12
12Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
No! They were not at all ashamed,
Nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
In the time of their punishment
They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.

Thanks for the link to the movie review.

__________________
Eric
OPC
Long Island, New York

http://www.sensusdivinitatis.com/
http://twitter.com/sdpub