Ever gone to see a movie, and walked away just hating it?  Well, I did that last night.

Harold wanted to go see the movie “Gone Girl”.  I checked its reviews, and it seems that everyone loves this movie.  So we went.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esGn-xKFZdU

I found myself mesmerized by the plot, the characters, the actors, even the fashions.  Then something happened.

It ended, and I hated the entire movie.

I told Harold as I left the theatre, “That movie is what is wrong with America today.”  He told me that I needed to come down off my high horse.

Well, I cannot help it.  Lately, I’ve been wondering about our ability as humankind to look at someone and determine if they have an unsavory character or if this is someone we can depend on.

We idolize movie stars, who live lives totally different from our own.  We place politicians on a pedestal that no one can remain upon, and then we tear them down until they are the lowest of the low.  And we place our faith in their hands, even before we get a chance to understand them.  How can we understand them, when our media gives us only what they want us to see.

We take a violent juvenile, and then we take their side even when our gut tells us otherwise.  Lines are crossed constantly, and our young people are always watching.

And now I sit through a movie that takes me on a ride and lines are crossed again until I watch something totally wrong, totally out of character, and I am expected to chuckle when it is over–to not take things or it too seriously.  I find myself slipping away, wondering if I will reach a time when I can no longer judge right from wrong for myself.

So I hated this movie, because I felt duped again.  I fell into the trap, and I could have easily shrugged it off and gone my way.  The problem, though, is that my better judgment says otherwise.   There is a bigger picture here, but we all tend to just sweep it under the rug–especially to be remain cool.

All the values that I gained from my parents, my childhood, my teachers and my extended family tell me that watching all this media that seeks to distort my mind is just not good for me.  I feel myself changing, and I do not like it.

Those values that I gained from my earlier days are what guide me to help others, to be patient, to be understanding, and to be kind.  I worry that we and our children are not getting enough of the these attributes and are getting too much of the distortions.

The movie was good, but I wish I had never seen it.