Art Is Not Necessarily Entertainment

I remember the first time I heard of performing arts. It was in the movie Legal Eagles starring Robert Redford. I thought hmm...people really pay to see stuff like this?

My version of performing arts is plays or theater, concerts, and movies.

I especially love movies. I think movies are amazing with what they can do with computer generation and cinematography -- this in itself is an art form. We are big on collecting movies to watch as a family. We don't watch television and don't have cable -- we watch DVDs.

Last week, though, we decided we'd had enough. It was either ferret out the movies that were iffy, or choose another option. Not that we had that many PG13 or even R movies -- (the Patriot, Saving Private Ryan) but we decided it was time to be more selective in what we allowed in our home.

Taking that to heart -- and the knowledge that a lot of PG13 movies are only rated that way because of language or a select scene or two, we opted, instead, for the Clear Play. We've had a TV Guardian for several years, and have really loved it. It's amazing what a shock it is to be watching a movie at someone elses house or on vacation without the guardian on and remembering it had those words in it!!

But a draw back of the TV Guardian is that it works with the closed captioning function of a movie. If the movie didn't have that, we couldn't get the guardian to work. Also -- it would print up stupid words for some of the blocked language. It got to where the kids pretty much knew what they were saying, even though it didn't come through on the speakers. UGH.

Enter the Clear Play. Now -- I didn't start this blog with the intention of this being a commercial, but I have to say it's been wonderful! For example, the movie Transformers? It's a great movie, and we've watched it over and over since it came out on DVD. But there are a couple of scenes that we'd like to not have to skip and there is a couple of spots where taking the Lord's name in vain is the only thing being said.

The Clear Play blocked it all out. I mean the two scenes we didn't like, and the language -- without messing up the movie. I'm dying to see what it did for Titanic, but we don't have it on DVD.

What brought this subject to mind, is the movie Dark Knight. I do mystery shops, and one of the things I get to do a lot of is do trailer checks and theater counts for new releases. A side benefit to this is I usually get to see the movie (unless it's something I didn't want to see in the first place).

I have two shops to do for it this weekend, and I'm figuring I'll probably get to watch it at least once. It looks to be kind of dark -- Heath Ledger appears to have done an amazing job in his last movie in reprising the role I didn't think anyone else could do better than Jack Nicholson. (I think Jacks face was just made for the role -- an incidently, I can't believe Heath was born the year I graduated from high school!! Man does that make me feel old...)

But I was also reading about how they won't be nominating him for any awards, because they tend to shy away from doing so for dead people. I think Hollywood is the only art medium that refuses to grant awards to those who have died -- unlike the rest of the art community. How many painters didn't make it big until they died? Too many to count.

I just thought it was interesting -- and I got carried away. Sorry! ;)

Anyway, I just think the way society views art and all it's mediums is sometimes contradictory to reality. I think it goes along with the "good is bad and bad is good" theory that Satan loves to encourage. Just because one person thinks something is "art" the rest of us are supposed to agree or be classed as judgmental.

While we try not to judge other people, we do have to judge what we want in our brains and in our homes. This involves our spirituality and eternal salvation, does it not? Then it is up to us to decide what we want around us. It is up to us to decide what is art and what is uplifting. We are guided in many ways -- we know how somethings make us feel -- and if the spirit is with us.

If you haven't already done so, I would recommend looking through your movies and analyzing your watching habits. What is the message you are sending your children about how you want your home? And what are you teaching them is art?

And I feel the need to say this: Just because it's on a public television channel (such as PBS) doesn't mean it's art either. They have their sponsors to appease as well as other television stations have advertisers.

However -- I do want to point out that there is a great television opportunity coming up this month...a definite want to watch item that only comes around once a year. The Days of 47 Parade! grin. A definite highlight of the summer.

In looking through the LDSNeighborhood, I noticed that the title of my little corner of the world is Arts and Entertainment. I'm thrilled! That means that we have a larger subject to cover, and I'm proud to be part of this whole thing -- have I mentioned that before?

The LDSNeighborhood is a one of a kind. I hope you are finding all the wonderful articles and stores helpful. I know I love the newsletter. If you haven't subscribed yet...

Join the Neighborhood Newsletter . . . Subscriptions are free and joining is easy. Just by signing up and maintaining your subscription to receive the yourLDSneighborhood.com newsletter, you become eligible for our "Thank You" prizes. Our dozens of giveaways range from a trip for two to China, to iPods® (each with a $50 gift certificate for LDS music), cruises, and more. Learn about our amazing monthly, quarterly, and annual giveaways by clicking here.

Return to the Neighborhood.