Our Guilty Pleasures:

We all have shows or other forms of entertainment that we consider to be guilty pleasures.  Many of these are what people will consider “trash television.”  These are not meant to be taken seriously.  They are meant for pure entertainment, even some very unholy entertainment.   Some of my absolute favorites are Dance moms, the bachelor/bachelorette, and Youtube commentary/gossip channels.  Why do I love these so much?  I don’t really know.  However, I just know that I find them incredibly entertaining.  I would not say that I am proud of myself for enjoying these shows so much.  I suppose the reason they are called guilty pleasures is because we are not necessarily proud of watching them and we know there are issues, but we still enjoy them for their pure entertainment value. 

Let’s look at Dance Moms.  If you have never seen it, it is a show that has young girls who take dance classes and are a part of dance competitions.  The big drama of the show, though, is that each dancer has a mom who fights with the dance teacher on a regular basis.  They also sometimes will fight with each other and lastly, they can fight with other dance studios.  This is very interesting and fascinating to watch.  Then I also love to watch the bachelor or bachelorette which includes a lot of drama between couples or women/men who are fighting for the same significant other.  There is always drama between the contestants and then there are some times when there is fighting amidst the couples.  

However, part of me wonders if I just love to watch these shows because I love to watch others with their struggles.  The same thing goes for drama.  I will be honest when I say that sometimes it is incredibly entertaining to hear about the drama that is happening within friends or at the workplace, within a couple in town, or a big-name celebrity.  I suppose I am not the only one, as there are people who make it their livelihood to capture celebrities’ and politician’s personal lives and demise in tabloids.  It can be easy to feel that way about these people because they are on a show, or they are famous, therefore their lives really don’t count.  Or maybe they are so disconnected from your life that you don’t have to care about what is happening to them.  They count, but they are not on the same level as I am.  I can watch their demise because they have put themselves out there.  However, I do not believe this is the start of a good habit to look at others who are also image bearers of the Lord.  Their lives do count, even if we are not directly connected with them.  

There are verses throughout the Bible that discuss the problems of gossip and taking pleasure in others’ demises.  We see this throughout the love chapter in 2 Corinthians 13 that love holds no record of wrongs.  The kind of love that we should possess as children of God does not look at another person and count all that they have done wrong as whether or not they are worthy of love.  Similarly, we should hold no record of wrong or be holding on to the different ways someone is less deserving of love.  Then another verse is from Proverbs about loving these dramatic problems.  Proverbs 17:19 says, “Whoever loves a quarrel loves sin; whoever builds a high gate invites destruction.”  Proverbs are incredibly direct.  The idea of loving those gossip stories to be the same as loving sin really upsets my heart and mind.  I don’t want to think of loving a sin, even if I want to argue that it seems small.    

There are definitely some takeaways from this.  The first is that we need to be aware of how we see conflict others are experiencing.  There are some questions that we can ask ourselves in the moment of seeing others’ rough situations.  Do I look at this gossip as something I can find as entertainment?  Am I looking at this situation and believing myself to be morally superior?  Will I laugh at other’s demises?  Again, I am not asking these questions with a form of moral high-standing because I have definitely fallen into the rabbit hole of being infatuated with other’s problems and drama for all the wrong reasons.  I just described the shows that I love to indulge in because of the fights and the drama associated with others in their lives, so I know how hard and difficult it can be to fight against the desire of these shows or dramatic pieces.  

I think another good idea is to find something in a show that is dramatic but in the form of mystery or fantasy.  Television and movies need to include a kind of plot that includes drama, but it doesn’t have to be the kind that makes us desire bad things to happen to people.  There are plenty of books, television shows, and movies that have drama filled plots that still can have a whole moral value.  There is usually conflict, but there are many where the villains or the antagonists are able to also complete some personal reflection.  We love a good story, good stories are great to be around, but when the piece of the show makes us idealize a sin, we should stop and reflect if we are giving this show too much power.  

Of course, then my challenge for all of you would be to think about the shows and the entertainment in your life.  What are the positives to those shows and what are the negatives? This is a challenge for me, obviously, as well.  I am not necessarily saying that it is something that you need to remove from your life.  I think that will come from your personal reflection and prayer.  I do wish you luck in any endeavors of getting rid of bad things in your life, even our “guilty pleasures.”