What shall I watch?

Raising an issue here that has been talked about by Christians forever, hoping that maybe someone can throw in their two cents!

I was watching a film last night, and I did something I have never done before. I switched it off because of the sexual content. Now, anyone who knows me knows of my unflinching addiction to films. I have collected around 300 DVDs which sit in my bedroom and I would head to the cinema about once a week (and that's not even getting into TV boxsets!). So I have reached the age of 22 and have seen thousands of films in my time, yet this is the one experience I have had where my viewing has been altered by the content to the point of me refusing to watch any further. At the other end of the spectrum, I have a close friend who walked out of the cinema when a group of us had gone to see a film on the grounds that it contained too much bad language. We both claim to be Christians, yet our view on what it is right to watch is radically different. Surely this is not okay, that the body of Christ is so divided in it's view of Christian living?

When it comes to sexual content in a film, many Christians refer to it as pornography. I have heard Christians in the past refer to the TV show Friends with the term, as well as various films which involve racy storylines or images. The secular world, on the other hand, have a somewhat different view on what constitutes pornography, one which would almost certainly not contain Friends. So what is pornography? What makes something pornographic? The World English Dictionary defines it as 'writings, pictures, filmes etc. designed to stimulate sexual excitement.' If this is true then not only are the seedy films in the top corner of HMV porn but so are many other things, including about 75% of the adverts on television! By that logic Christians should be avoiding the vast majority of films and TV shows that exist nowadays.

In the Bible we are told by Christ, "What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.'" (Matt 15:11). Now if we take this to be Jesus talking about more than simply the Kosher laws, then we understand that it is a Christians deeds that set him or her apart. I am not implying that nothing we take in has any value or importance of course, but I can't help thinking that if I can watch a film with questionable content without feeling the need to go out and repeat them or let them have a direct influence on my lifestyle then there is no danger.

Take a standard pornographic film, the kind that comes taped to the magazine on the top shelf. If I am to buy it, watch it and become sexually stimulated by it then we can all agree (I would hope!) that this is a sinful and wrong situation. Now, the DVD in my player is not some kind of evil DVD. The camera that shot the acts in question is not an evil camera. The people involved aren't even evil people, they are simply lost prodigal children of God. What is evil is the lust and desire that the film brings up in human people. It influences their life in a negative way, and if that is true then the film is to be avoided. By that same logic, if someone finds themselves watching X Factor purely because they lust after Cheryl Cole, then they should avoid that show for the very same reason! I like to think that if I found myself watching certain things for that particular reason that I would have the sense and the strength to stop. Likewise if I found that watching certain things led to me using bad language or acting in any way unbefitting to a child of God that I could put a stop to it.Surely the only reason for not putting yourself through something is because it will have a negative effect on who you are and how you live?

But maybe I have it completely wrong, feel free to leave an opinion whether you agree, disagree or just aren't sure!