Against My Better Judgment
Let me just start by saying that Woody Allen, like Roman Polanski, are little perverts.
However, lots of great artists have transcended their own perversity to create works that simply amaze.
I just watched Interiors again on TCM. What a good movie. The connection to Bergman doesn't bother me. The acting is so good, and the dialogue very real. I feel the same way about Crimes and Misdemeanors and Hannah and Her Sisters.
Christians want art and artists to be good people, moral people. Artists are just too complicated for that. Now, that's not to take the romantic version of the elitism of artists, that they are a special, above the law, untouchable group. They don't get to rape 13-year-olds because they make good movies. But the lines just aren't so easy to draw in determining what we should or should not watch as a Christian. Before I spend my money (rarely) or time (a little less rarely) on a movie, I find out about it.
I read the movie reviews on CT. They sometimes review movies that really go beyond the pale, such as Sex in the City--and usually get critical feedback for doing so. Seriously, what would one expect from that movie that would benefit spiritually or intellectually or artistically. Some things are just plain obvious. But after I watched Deconstructing Harry and realized how much Woody Allen really hated women (as human beings, not as something to have sex with), I refused to watch any more of his movies. So as I say, it's a hard line to draw. The Pianist was very good, but I went to that not knowing it was Polanski.
However, lots of great artists have transcended their own perversity to create works that simply amaze.
I just watched Interiors again on TCM. What a good movie. The connection to Bergman doesn't bother me. The acting is so good, and the dialogue very real. I feel the same way about Crimes and Misdemeanors and Hannah and Her Sisters.
Christians want art and artists to be good people, moral people. Artists are just too complicated for that. Now, that's not to take the romantic version of the elitism of artists, that they are a special, above the law, untouchable group. They don't get to rape 13-year-olds because they make good movies. But the lines just aren't so easy to draw in determining what we should or should not watch as a Christian. Before I spend my money (rarely) or time (a little less rarely) on a movie, I find out about it.
I read the movie reviews on CT. They sometimes review movies that really go beyond the pale, such as Sex in the City--and usually get critical feedback for doing so. Seriously, what would one expect from that movie that would benefit spiritually or intellectually or artistically. Some things are just plain obvious. But after I watched Deconstructing Harry and realized how much Woody Allen really hated women (as human beings, not as something to have sex with), I refused to watch any more of his movies. So as I say, it's a hard line to draw. The Pianist was very good, but I went to that not knowing it was Polanski.
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