Sexually "Mature" Content is Often Anything But
Immaturity by any other name is just a sweet-smelling euphemism
While growing up, I accompanied my family on countless occasions to the local Christian mega bookstore. On each trip, we could easily—and often did—spend hours perusing the various departments, my two favorites being the CCM music and Christian fiction sections. One small set of bookshelves I always got a kick out of was the “Adult” section; it reminded me of the curtained-off alcove of video rental stores in which X-rated movies were showcased.1
This idea that visual portrayals of sexual immorality are somehow “adult” permeates not just the hardcore porn industry, but also the realm of mainstream entertainment. Inherent in the film and television rating systems is this idea that, while children are susceptible to potentially negative visual stimuli, adults are basically immune to such content. The more depraved the portrayals, the more adult or mature they become. This is expressed explicitly in the TV Parental Guidelines, which defines its rating of TV-MA as follows:
Programming that is crude, indecent, sexually explicit, and graphically violent is “specifically designed” for “mature” and “adult” audiences.
To be sure, there are certain topics and materials that are appropriate only for adults, including the movies we watch, the books we read, and even portions of Scripture itself. The element I am highlighting here, however, is “explicit sexual activity” in visual form, performed by embodied humans for the public consumption of audiences. And all “explicit sexual activity” outside the marriage bed is labeled by Scripture as immoral and unloving. So, Scripturally speaking, such activity is incredibly immature.
“Mature” Art, (Im)mature Arguments
When it comes to visual stories, works of art are sometimes tainted by the inclusion of sexually “mature” content, typically in the form of what is euphemistically called “simulated sex.” The immature, sexually immoral nature of these scenes can be downplayed by some audiences—including Christian patrons—because of the quality and artistry of the movie as a whole.
I address this issue in my latest piece for The Gospel Coalition:
A recent example is the Christopher Nolan biopic Oppenheimer. Based on online chatter, Christians—among many others—generally agree that the sex scenes in the film are gratuitous. The disagreement seems to be in how to respond to such material.
On the one hand, some outright reject films with hypersexualized scenes. Hot takes include, “That film is nothing but a piece of trash.” While a revulsion towards sexual immorality is commendable, such generalizations miss the complex reality that a given film might be a stellar work of art (with some very true and morally good themes), and at the same time morally compromised. It need not be just one or the other.
However, an equal and opposite error exists: downplaying the immoral nature of a porn aesthetic to justify the “greater good” of the overall work. Those who take this posture typically utilize at least one of the following five arguments. As such, each deserves to be addressed directly and reasonably.
I continue by labeling and critiquing these arguments:
The Percentage Argument
The Art Argument
The Category Argument
The Sliding Scale Argument
The Effect Argument
Over the years, these are the five arguments I have seen used most to push back against my critique of hypersexualized entertainment. So, in the interest of furthering the conversation, and helping me strengthen and develop my arguments, I offer this newest article for your review. If I am overlooking something, or if you think there are wholes in my rhetoric, I would love to hear from you. The only way the Christian community can increase its wisdom through patronage of the visual arts is if we wrestle with these issues together, genuinely listen to those who disagree with us, seek the counsel of Scripture, and engage in charitable debate.
You can click here to read the entire article.
Yes, I grew up in an age where movie rental stores were a big deal. And as with the local Christian bookstore, our family could spend hours perusing the video rentals to determine which VHS tape we would take home with us to watch that evening. (Making quick decisions wasn’t exactly one of our strong suits.)