This is a hard post to write. Because I know that everyone has wildly different ideas about entertainment. Mostly based on generation. And I'm sure to offend someone no matter what I say. But I'm not writing to please anyone except the Lord, so I write.
There is part of me that would like to either skip this topic completely or dance around it a little bit. Because there are some people in my circles who think they have this all figured out, and tend to judge others based on everything they don't know. I'm talking about people who judge something without ever reading/watching/listening to it. With some things, of course, this is appropriate. When something is filled with objectionable content or has a message that does not line up with the Bible, it's pretty obvious from the description or the commercial. But there's plenty of entertainment that has really inspired me over the years that I could have judged from the outside and missed out.
I'm going to take a deep breath now and give my top ten most inspiring ever in the area of entertainment. These are things that have made me think more deeply, have inspired my own creative process by either the subject matter or the characters (usually the latter) and yes, all of these have helped me become closer to Christ in one way or another. If you don't like this list and want to judge me, go ahead. You can even comment your judgment. But you have to give your top ten first. And even if you don't want to judge me you can also leave your top ten. I'd really like you to. And we're all going to be completely and totally honest and not say anything fake just to keep others from judging us. All right. Here goes. In no particular order. (It's a given that the Bible is number one.)
The Passion of the Christ (movie)
Fringe (television)
The X-Files (television)
Harry Potter (secular book series)
Twilight Saga (secular book series)
Mark of the Lion (Christian book series)
Lost (television)
Wicked (musical)
The Sound of Music (musical/movie)
Anne of Green Gables (classic book/movie)
Pride and Prejudice (classic book/movie)
About now you're saying "Wow. She makes a whole lot more sense now." Or "She makes no sense whatsoever." My sisters are just thinking about all the things I left out. I will too. Later.
These are the things that first come to mind. Some are recent, some go back to my childhood. You may notice that the list is heavy on the secular. There is a reason for that. I have a problem with stories that don't really present problems. So far, Christian literature, television and movies don't have the kind of depth that inspires me. There are exceptions in literature, especially in the past few years. I'm still waiting for Christian movies to loose that cheesy twinge and be believable. "Fireproof" came closer. That might have made my top twenty.
Anyway, it's not my point today to nitpick. I should really get to bed. I think we'll have to continue this discussion tomorrow.
So until then, leave your top ten most inspiring.
