I See… The Nasty Movie that Wasn’t

The Mormon Third Eye prides itself as a judge and connoisseur of fine cinematic masterpieces that don’t offend the discriminating moral palette of the average LDS film aficionado. You can access the body of MTE commentary about movies here, here, here, here, here, and here. For the past several decades, the trend has been to pervert and mangle seemingly innocent yet inspirational events and plot lines into needlessly amoral, sinister, and oversexed bait drawing us ever closer to the evils that destroy souls, relationships, families and nations.  Hence, I am proud to announce that in-depth MTE research and analysis has detected a notable, positive trend reversal- seemingly simple movies magnified by unacceptable content are being replaced by refreshing film fables that consciously avoid immorality. It’s like some producers and directors, instead of almost nonchalantly, subconsciously promoting e-ville are intentionally pursuing pure clean fun. Why?

Before answering that question, here is the latest example of this new genre- “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” A key element of the movie’s plot line involves main character Walter spending an inordinate amount of inconvenient moments “zoning out” imagining involvement in unbelievably manly events- his secret life.  Given the moral gutter that most movies play in, this plot presented an easy temptation to include gratuitous amounts of imaginary and impossible filth and violence sprouting from Walter’s head. The predictably artsy Hollywood blockbuster designed to invoke the hidden hate and despicable desires that supposedly lurk inside all of us would have walked down that road.

But it didn’t. It was pure clean inspirational.  I left the theater not feeling emotionally poisoned or overwhelmed but encouraged to be a better person. All this was accomplished under creative pseudo-constraints of a PG rating. No offensive language, graphic violence, or sexual innuendo was needed to transform Walter into an unlikely hero that many us may be able to identify with.  

But I digress. I don’t want to spoil the movie for the legions of MTE readers who haven’t seen it. Back to “Why?” I wish the answer was wholly noble, but it’s not- it’s merely a measure of the crowd’s preference for the new and exciting, seasoned with a small dose of social rebound. The bottom line is that the masses have been conditioned over the past several decades by easy access to and promotion of shocking amounts of violence, swearing, and sex in their entertainment options, which have slowly morphed into the lowest denominational norm. Engaging and complex yet relatively clean plots are the next new thing the masses are reaching for.  Unfortunately, history dictates that sometime down the road, society’s pendulum of amusement preferences are bound to swing back to the dark side.

Sorry.