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When my girls were in their early teens, I struggled to find family-friendly movies worth watching. Maybe (likely) I was just out-of-the-loop! But I do think it takes extra effort to find movies with good content. This is one of the reasons we generally don’t watch many flicks. But I have recently come across some gems! With some fresh enthusiasm, I am sharing a few thoughts on why we are finicky about our flicks and how we find good flicks. I also list some family-friendly favorites.
Why We Are Finicky About Our Flicks
Even after twenty years, I can still recall when our first-born was negatively influenced by something she saw on television. My sweetie was about two years old then. We didn’t pay for cable television, so she only watched the children’s programs offered by our local public station.
Our dear daughter was watching a show about a sweet clown who sat on a big, comfy couch. The episode was all about hitting. There is an idea in our culture that an effective way to teach our little ones what is right—is by first teaching them what is wrong. It is a bad idea.
We watched that clown hit her doll and then we watched that doll hit the clown back. Then her cat, and many other characters, started hitting too. My precious daughter observed that. And then she promptly hit our cat, Tiger. She loved our cat. Her first word was “kitty.” But she was modeling what she had just been taught—which was how to hit!
This was early in my parenting years, but it had a big impact on me. From then on, I carefully guarded our kids’ exposure to media. As the years went by, my husband and I grew in our faith; and our convictions regarding entertainment also grew. But these principles were now informed by our understanding of Scripture.
What is “Good”
Entertainment is an area where we can honor the Lord, but we are often tempted to be lackadaisical. When our children were younger, it was so easy to put them in front of a screen. Anything to get just a few minutes of rest. I remember those long, long days! Then, when our children were older, it was hard to say “no” to movies their friends were allowed to watch. It was awkward to be that parent.
I don’t share these thoughts with you because I want you to embrace our convictions. Rather, I hope we can encourage one another to embrace the wisdom of God in all the areas of our lives. To be confident that His way is best for our families.
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Philippians 4:8-9 (ESV)
It is so important to pause and consider the content of all media—in light of Scripture. What our eyes see, our minds and hearts often dwell upon. Let’s not be at rest while our children become desensitized to the crude behavior, raw violence, and flagrant sexuality so common in entertainment today.
Most of us are granted just eighteen years to fully impress upon our children what is good. Eighteen years to teach our children Truth. Our culture will not often validate this. It is heartbreaking to see that our society embraces, and even celebrates, the sexualizing of our children. It is disheartening to see that our children frequently view the twisted mores of entertainment, but they are not alarmed. Their minds, and then their hearts, become desensitized. We must be vigilant to impress upon our children what is good.
The Spectrum: What Favors God’s Standards | What Opposes God’s Standards
As parents, we probably know where we want to land on the spectrum of entertainment options. But at times we might be overwhelmed—trying to filter all the media put in front of our children. And by our negligence, we may allow the pendulum to swing too far; with our children exposed to ideas that oppose God’s standards.
Or, we are so keenly aware that everything falls short of God’s standards that the pendulum swings too far the other direction. Then we lose opportunities to build up our children with entertainment that (while not meeting the standard of God’s perfect righteousness) can still impress upon our children what is good. It can be a challenge to land where we want to on the spectrum of entertainment.
Even with a good goal in mind, it is still a difficult task to avoid the media that opposes God’s standards. We continue to train our son to “look away” from the provocative images we stumble upon (eek!). I am so very, very grateful for a husband who desires integrity in this area. It is only by the convicting of the Holy Spirit, and because he has submitted himself to God’s standards. Does he do this perfectly? Nope—of course not. But he is persevering by God’s grace. And he is modeling this for our son—our son who may someday have a wife and daughters of his own.
Let’s not be neglectful in teaching our children a love for God and His standards. I have to preach this to myself when I am tempted to become apathetic. When we remember who God is and what He has done for us, it is not a burden to live as our Father has called us to. We can delight in the knowledge that we are seeking to please Him. We can delight in building up our children so that they might follow Paul’s instructions in Philippians: think on what is honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, and worthy of praise. And the God of peace will be with them as well. What a treasure we pass on to our children when we lead them in this way.
How We Find Good Flicks
For movie reviews, we often use these websites:
Or we just google “Christian reviews” for any movie and see what we can find. Maybe you know of other sites that offer valuable Christian reviews? Please let me know!
Many of the movies we’ve enjoyed have been produced by Pure Flix.
Favorite Family-Friendly Flicks
- Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy
- Charlotte’s Web
- March of the Penguins
- The Chronicles of Narnia Trilogy
- Disney’s Christopher Robin
- Woodlawn
- The Case for Christ
- I Can Only Imagine
- God’s Not Dead (3 movie series)
- War Room
- Facing the Giants
- Mr. Holland’s Opus (an oldie, but goodie!)
- The Chosen (This is actually a TV series—the first-ever multi-season show about the life of Christ. We watched this around Easter time, and we enjoyed it so much I had to include it! At the time of this post, eight episodes are available for free on Youtube and streamed for free on The Chosen app.)
I’ll keep adding to this list. I would love to hear about some of your favorites (please and thank you)!
As we contemplate what is good entertainment, let’s measure movies in light of Scripture. Let’s nurture our children’s hearts and minds, and not grow weary as we consider what to allow and what to prohibit. With a little extra effort, we can find some family-friendly flicks that favor a love for God and His standards!
