Why Jim Denison Refuses to See “Oppenheimer”

Yesterday on the Denison Forum, this post appeared on his daily article: “Why I refuse to see “Oppenheimer”—and you should, too”.

I had heard about the Christopher Nolan  movie and its impressive weekend opening against “Barbie”, grossing $80.5 million dollars. It’s about the life of the brilliant scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer who helped create the first atomic bomb.

Although Norma Jean and I don’t attend movies as often as we once did, Denison’s post assured me that we won’t be seeing this one.

Jim said that he and his wife Janet had seen the previews and were excited about seeing the movie until they learned that it includes “scenes with explicit sex and nudity.”

I checked and indeed “Oppenheimer” received an R rating for its graphic “sex scenes, prolonged full nudity,” and “strong language.” One reviewer on Movie Web raved about the movie and opined that “the presence of explicit sex scenes, talks of sexuality, and forceful language gives Oppenheimer an impressive edge…” Well, such is the view of the world.

Denison’s post reminds Christians about the importance of keeping our minds pure and our hearts holy. Watching any movie with explicit sex scenes does nothing to help us think on things that are pure, lovely, honorable, and virtuous (Phil. 4:8). Furthermore, such scenes have the potential to violate Jesus’ warning, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt. 5:28).

Of course, warnings against lust in our permissive age are often laughed at and ridiculed as being outdated and old fashioned. I recall an account by Phillip Yancey, in his book “The Jesus I Never Knew,” about a Texas A&M professor, Virginia Owens, who assigned her students to write a short essay on the “Sermon on the Mount.” One student offered this critique.  “The things asked in this sermon are absurd, To look at a woman is adultery. That is the most extreme, stupid, unhuman statement that I have ever heard.”

To the worldly minded the moral message of the Bible is both “extreme” and “stupid.” I suppose both posts from the Denison Forum and ThePreachersWord on this issue might sound extreme to some as well. However, if we are to take seriously the Biblical admonitions to holiness, righteousness and godliness it must apply to our choices of entertainment, the music we listen to and the movies we watch.

For those of my generation, we’ve witnessed a gradual erosion of what is generally accepted by society and specifically by too many Christians. We’ve come a long way from the days of watching a little TV in black and white with only 3 channels, to our days of cable and satellite TV with hundreds of channels. Movies that are rated “R” today, would have once been once been considered XXX.

Our societal shift reminds me of a quote from the 18th century British poet Alexander Pope from “An Essay on Man.”

Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.

We see things that shock us. Immodesty, immorality, indecency, and infidelity. But as we repeatedly see them, and they become ingrained in our culture, they don’t shock us anymore. We not only become accustomed to them, but in some situations find ourselves indulging in that which we once opposed and pitied.

The children’s song we sang last week in VBS may well in its simplicity and innocence, serve as a warning to adults about our viewing choices in movies and TV shows.

O be careful little eyes what you see
O be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above
Is looking down in love
So, be careful little eyes what you see

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman