As a 10-year-old, my daughter loved the Disney animated movie Beauty and the Beast. Last weekend the much anticipated, hyped, and controversial Disney live-action version came out. It is amazing to note the cultural changes that have come about in the intervening 26 years between the two movies. Would I bring a 10-year-old daughter to this new version?
Before making a decision, I would want to read Jasmine Holmes’ very helpful article for parents, “Do You Trust Disney with Your Kids?” Here is a really important point she makes:
My parents never took me to see a movie without looking into it first. When I got older, it was my job to do some research to see what we were getting into before we went. The fact that we need to exercise care with the agenda mass media puts forth should not be new to us as Christians. If this is our awakening that we can’t trust anything Disney to go directly to our kids, has not our awakening been long overdue? How naïve would we have been to assume we could trust Disney until now?
She concludes the article with this wise advice:
Whether it is a message in a movie, a conversation at school, or the outpourings of their own wicked hearts (Jeremiah 17:9), we are responsible for teaching and guiding our little ones.
Maybe for your family that means making an informed decision to watch a movie now and have a pointed conversation about Hollywood’s agenda before or afterwards, or both. For another family, it may mean helping their child navigate a tough conversation with classmates about why they didn’t see the new movie. Either way, this is a valuable opportunity we must not miss.
No matter how innocuous or graphic this “exclusively gay” moment turns out to be, this movie isn’t pushing a new idea on us—but reflecting the ideologies of our neighbors. And the remedy for this ideology isn’t blind anger, but purposeful proclamation of the gospel of Christ, beginning with our own children, whether we see the movie or not.
(found at www.desiringgod.org)
You may also want to listen to Dr. Albert Mohler’s podcast, "What signal is being sent? Disney to have first 'exclusively gay moment' in 'Beauty and the Beast'" here (at the 6:40 minute mark).
Finally, here is a guide to use with your children based on Philippians 4:8. Even if you decide not to allow your own children to see the movie, these questions can be used to help guide and explain your decision to your children and others. The questions posed are applicable not just to movies but to books and music as well. (The guide is from the Teacher's Guide for the Your Word is Truth curriculum.)
