LOL at the Movies

I was hurriedly flipping through a copy of Entertainment Weekly this weekend, when one particular caption reached out and grabbed me! In his column, “The Final Cut,” Mark Harris had written, “Hollywood loves weddings, but ignores marriage.”

“Wow!” I thought, “I couldn’t agree more. Wouldn't it be refreshing and satisfying to catch a movie that treats marriage with respect and admiration?” So I continued to read, and found nuggets like these:

“I couldn’t remember the last time I saw such a good film about being married- a condition that 110 million Americans experience firsthand every day, but almost never at the movies.”

“As I tried to recall films about marriage, I was startled to realize that the best ones that occurred to me... were all about divorce and at least 30 years old.”

I had begun to speculate that Mr. Harris might be some kind of closet Hollywood conservative. I was eager to learn more about this revolutionary movie so pro-marriage in tone that the writer calls it a godsend. Then I came to this confession: “The breakthrough here isn’t simply that the couple in question is gay...”

Sometimes there’s nothing to do but laugh! In Hollywood, only gay marriages or dying ones are interesting.

For most of us, traditional marriage is one of the most practical, beneficial elements of life. It is an endless source of affirmation, partnership, community, joy, and- yes- stability. Most of us don’t really desire that our lives be more theatrical or dramatic. But if you’ve ever been a parent, you know how welcome a little stability can be.

Marriage is so fascinating to God that he opens the Bible with it. Okay, the first chapter is actually about creation, but it builds toward the second chapter which is about marriage. Matrimony is the first institution ordained by God because it is so central to life and so essential for healthy communities and nations. Every child needs the diversity and the personal buy-in of a father who affords wings and a mother who nurtures roots.

Our popular culture insists that money and sex appeal can acquire anything a person really needs. The fact that Hollywood has been unable to describe the blessings and the magic of healthy marriage for more than three decades now only shows you what they’re missing.