Most of us are familiar with the discussions Evangelicals have about whether Christians should watch particular kinds of movies with sexual content or nudity. Another, slightly less common discussion topic would be whether Christians should look at artwork that includes nudity. But almost never asked would be whether the artist might be doing something very good in including that nudity in the art or movie to begin with. This is pretty universally assumed to be wrong. But is it? Is there any legitimate, God-glorifying purpose to nudity in art or movies? Moreover, perhaps the most challenging question to consider, can a Christian man or woman appear naked in a movie or pose for art without engaging in sin? I’m of course taking for granted in this discussion that pornography is a huge no-no. But what exactly distinguishes legitimate nudity in art (if there is any) from pornography?
Monday, March 28, 2011
Ethics: Should Art/Movies Have Nudity?
Most of us are familiar with the discussions Evangelicals have about whether Christians should watch particular kinds of movies with sexual content or nudity. Another, slightly less common discussion topic would be whether Christians should look at artwork that includes nudity. But almost never asked would be whether the artist might be doing something very good in including that nudity in the art or movie to begin with. This is pretty universally assumed to be wrong. But is it? Is there any legitimate, God-glorifying purpose to nudity in art or movies? Moreover, perhaps the most challenging question to consider, can a Christian man or woman appear naked in a movie or pose for art without engaging in sin? I’m of course taking for granted in this discussion that pornography is a huge no-no. But what exactly distinguishes legitimate nudity in art (if there is any) from pornography?
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2 comments:
I read a commentary by John Piper on this subject. He said that he had a fairly high tolerance for violence in movies because he knows it's fake. But when you see a naked women in a movie, that's a real woman, someone's daughter and possibly someone's wife.
I'm sympathetic to that viewpoint, but the idea that the only use of a body is as an object of lust is too reductionist for the beauty and majesty of this particular way God chose to reveal Himself to us. In a culture that hates God and the bodies He gave us (why else would bodies always only be presented as objects of lust), I think Christian artists would do the world quite a service if they could find ways to reorient the reaction to nudes as a way of raising respect rather than as raising erotic interest. I don't think there's a do/don't kind of rule here. It's really a matter of how it's done and taking careful consideration that the audience will (in America) tend to skew the viewing toward lust, so that you as an artist have to work against that tendency. Would I want my daughter...I don't have one yet. But whoever posed for Michelangelo's David or the Venus de Milo did the world a service by presenting a majestic and profound image of God's image in us.
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