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Where’s the Hidden Agenda in Movies and Books?

Why is it that there are some people who can’t just accept art for art’s sake? Why can’t they read a book, or watch a movie, or even look at a work of art and accept it for what it is? Why are they looking for a hidden meaning?

Recently an email list that I’m on had a thread about the new Nicole Kidman Movie the Golden Compass, and rather than just give opinions about a movie they’d seen the list members were complaining about the anti-Christian message it contained. Worse still, they weren’t even basing their opinions on the movie itself, but rather on what someone else had told them about it. It was the same with Narnia. Even Harry Potter has been bashed around in various pulpits as having deeper meanings. I just don’t get it.

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I haven’t seen the new movie yet, nor did I see Narnia, but I did read the books and I enjoyed them. I didn’t “see” any of these so-called religious references that are supposed to be there. I saw characters and situations of good and evil in a work of fiction. Does it matter whether or not the author of the book is pro or anti Christian? It’s just a work of fantasy fiction. Why can’t people enjoy it as such? If their church is preaching against the movie, or if they listen to what someone else says without seeing it and making their mind up themselves fine, but why then try to force that second-hand opinion on others? And then, why do other people listen?

When I read comments from these people about something they’ve never watched, or if they did then watch would do so with such a biased eye that they couldn’t fail to see what they had been “told” to see, I have to wonder if they approach their relationships in the same way. Do they always look for an ulterior or hidden motive behind what’s being said? I don’t have a hidden agenda or motive in my interaction with others, and I don’t see them in movies or other media formats either, but I have to wonder about those who do, are their social interactions tinged with hidden agendas, or are these just something they judge others on.