It seems that, when people talk about Marriage and stuff, they always talk about the negative. Stand up comedians always make jokes about how marriage sucks, and Pastors and other Christians always focus on the 50% divorce rate. Pre-marital sex, abuse, dysunctional relationships also get a fair share of attention, which makes people come to the conclusion that marriage, and even relationships, are pointless and useless. But I feel that attitudes are changing. And in my opinion, the attitudes are changing more so from the secular side than the Christian side.
Recently, Kristi and I have enjoyed going to movies. Ok..we have always enjoyed going to movies, but the last few movies we have seen have really driven home the importance of positive relationships, and shows the good parts, as well as the difficult parts of marrige. First off, The Blindside. This was much more than a football movie. It was a movie about a family. Yes, the family had some issues, but it was a good family. There was nothing in the movie that would hint of a negative marriage experience. We left the movie feeling uplifted, and not just because the football was inspiring.
Next came the movie Couples Retreat. This had potential to be a raunchy, depressing movie in which marriage is shown to be a negative experience, but the oposite was actually true. Yes, there was sexual stuff in the movie, but coming from Hollywood, this movie was fantastic. Now, i have never seen the movie "Fireproof" (nor do I intend to...sorry mom and dad), but from what I have heard, Couples Retreat is pretty much a secular version of that...couples trying to work out their problems. Unfortunately, due to some sexual content, many Christians won't want to watch this movie...which is really too bad. Seriously Christians...are we so self-righteous that we refuse to watch anything that has something "bad"...I'm not saying watch anything and everything, but really...you have to realize that Hollywood has different standards than we do, and if we let a positive movie like this get away from us, who knows where they will go. So i encourage you...watch it. Yes, be prepared for a little language and sex stuff...but watch the themes in the movie, and I trust that in the end you will be encouraged and even challenged.
Finally, the last movie we saw in theatres was Date Night. This one is even more filled with sexual content (just a heads up)...but once again, the theme is that Marriage is sacred, and you need to work out your problems, and not just immediately get a divorce when things get tough.
Hollywood isn't the only secular place that is teaching the value of marriage. Theres a new show on ABC called Modern Family. Now, many Christians are likely upset that this show contains a homosexual couple...but once again, they are living off of different standards than we are, and we can't really fault them for that. The important thing is, that this show really deals with the positives of family. It's a tight nit group, they don't always get along, but they love eachtoher and try to work things out.
I really hope that these movies and shows truly are a turn for the better. I really hope that people see marriage as a great life choice, and not a prison cell. Yes, marriage is hard, but you need to work on it. Things don't immediately get better once you get married...you have to work at it, do things you dont enjoy..but the benefits are amazing. I find it very encouraging that there are people who still see marriage as a good thing...I just pray that soon, Christians will view it the same, as unfortunately, many Christians are falling into the "marriage is lame" trap too. Take a clue from hollywood people. Marriage is great, you just have to work at it! There is power in family!
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