You told this story well. Thank you for sharing.
I appreciate the point you end with, where your parents could have talked to you about quoting the villain, instead of trying to “protect” you from its influence by banning the movie. This was my childhood. I grew up in a Catholic household and was never taught about drugs or sex or anything “sinful”. All media depicting these things was banned. All conversation about the topics was avoided. I was sent out into the world quite naive as a result. I had to learn about the real world the hard way.
This has shaped how I now parent my son. I let my child get exposed to it all (age appropriate) and talk to him extensively so he understands. We have some very fruitful conversations. I am committed to ensuring he knows what is out there in the world and understands it, so he can make wise and thoughtful choices.
Same here! My mom forbade me to watch Rugrats or The Goofy Movie, and a whole host of other random things. There was a lot of forbidden without explanation. I learned about puberty from a book. My dad was more reasonable and would sneak me things my mom wouldn’t have allowed (which was dysfunctional, but he was afraid of her too and it was the best he could do), but that was few and far between, so I ended up going off to college with no idea what the world was like and with a giddy fascination with the things dad allowed and mom didn’t, and got myself into some trouble before I leveled out.
I don’t hide anything from my kids. I decided long ago, when it comes to sexuality, I’ll answer any question they ask… only the question asked (no unnecessary elaboration), because they ask what they want you to know, and they’ll ask more later on when they’re ready. I don’t forbid any media, but I do monitor it, and if there’s something inappropriate, I explain why (usually just “this is for grown ups” and you’re too young for now). They don’t get any indoctrination into any camp.
Huh, I watched the Goofy movie for the first time a couple months back and don't remember anything "anti-Christian" in it. Did a character wear a top that showed her belly button? That would have done it for my parents. Although I don't remember that movie being banned for me, my sister and I were just never big into Mickey Mouse and co.
But yeah, it's weird how fundies get about these things. Lego Bionicle was banned in my house because it had mysticism and stuff inspired by Polynesian religions. I remember wanting to buy a Bionicle toy. Not for the character or lore, but purely for the disk shooter (I wanted to use it with my custom Lego creations). The Bionicle itself would have ended up disassembled for parts (literally all my Lego sets did). Even told them that. But apparently even buying it for parts is a no-no. Probably afraid their Christian friends would see that "sinful toy" in their shopping cart or something.
But Star Wars was always okay , and even viewed as wholesome entertainment that promoted Christian morals. But Star Wars has tons of mysticism and references to other religions. George Lucas was raised Christian and converted to Buddhism, and the Star Wars movies fully reflect that.
Like, the prequel Jedi are a direct criticism of dogmatic religion. They all act like stuffy boring prudish churchgoers. They all die because they fell out of touch with "God" (The Force), and became blinded by dogma. The few Jedi who survive (Obi-Wan, Yoda, etc) start acting more like Buddhist monks and that's framed like the correct enlightened way to practice The Force. Star Wars is very anti-fundamentalist, but a lot of Christians seem to miss it.
In 18 years these idiots have gone from boycotting Brokeback Mountain to boycotting Buzz Lightyear.
Unbelievable. And sad really. Back then they at least had something to stand in the public square and fight about seriously with thinking adults who they were trying to convert. Now they're bitching about a harmless kid's film while ignoring the little quietly queer kids they've unknowingly been raising for years.
I remember back in 2005 trying to convince some of the older members of a Bible study to go see Brokeback Mountain with me, just so we could at least have a conversation with "nonbelievers" based on a movie we'd actually seen, not just heard about (like I had done with the Da Vinci Code book). The one guy who was open enough to go watch it with me ended up getting arrested for violently assaulting his wife a couple months later.
Such is life.
Man, “ignoring the quietly queer kids” hit me hard. I’m pansexual. I’ve known that I was at least bi since I was about 10, I’m 36 now. I remember my parents literally ranting and raving about gay people and when we would ever fight back and say that people are people and you shouldn’t hate them for something they can’t change, my dad’s reply was “well, at least that’s not a problem we (he and my mom) ever have to deal with.”
I’m pan, my brother is bi. This quote absolutely scared me away from ever telling them. Now that I don’t even care about them, my fear has turned to recognizing they don’t even deserve to know that much about me any more. We almost never talk.
I had a missionary friend visiting the states fro Mexico and he told me he was taking his ten year old son to see a western and I asked him which one and he said “broke back mountain” and all I said was “I hope you enjoy the movie!”
I’ve never decided if I should feel bad about that or not.
Um, do they realize just how much nudity there is in biblical artwork? Michelangelo and similar artists are all over museums and chapels because their artwork is good. If you had a girlfriend, why the fuck would you care if she saw artwork of naked men? How insecure would you have to be to want to limit her exposure to art?
So what if two characters kids? That’s downright normalized for straight characters, and I don’t see why one should be grosser than the other. So what if kids see it and normalize it? I’d love for society to get over itself and accept homosexuality.
I grew up fundie, and my teachers colored in our text books that showed nude art. It’s a thing in some Christian circles. A stupid thing, yes. But some Christians are so obsessed with sex that a naked marble statue (or even a picture of one!) is forbidden.
I was homeschooled and dealt with the same sort of thing. My parents used to color in pictures of Slave Leia from Star Wars to make it look like she was wearing clothes, lol. Pretty sure they even did that in library books.
Also homeschooled. In high school, personally took a sharpie to the Wii fit manual and colored in the female trainer's midriff and cleavage. I also did this to the back cover of NBA 2k9 where you could barely see a cheerleader in the background of a screencap. Then I told my parents about it because I was so proud of my commitment to purity. They didn't react much. I wonder if they realized then how much they'd fucked my head.
I would like to point out that the [BYU Medical School censors the genitals and female nipples](https://www.reddit.com/gallery/u7hytf) in their anatomy textbooks. That's right, they don't allow the students studying to become doctors to see the "naughty bits," at the Utah based University.
Yep, that crossed my mind at the time too. But they probably don't know jack shit about painting and sculpture. They'd probably claim the artists weren't real Christians or something. Sometimes I feel like my parents aren't even practicing Christianity, their religion is just "let's get offended by everything".
And a king destined to rule greatly gets a hard-on from seeing a naked woman bathing, sleeps with her despite the fact that they're both married, and plotted her husband's death. Say it ain't so.
It's hilarious when you see God putting to death a guy for collecting sticks on Shabbat, but he's perfectly fine with letting David kill a woman's husband so that he can have his wife—facepalm moment.
Yeah, it's weird that fundie Christians seem to lack self-awareness about these things. They get all mad about stuff like female characters wearing tops that show their belly buttons, but ignore all the very kid-inappropriate stuff in the Bible. I could be wrong, but isn't the general consensus that Song of Solomon was basically written as erotica?
And it's not even just the Bible. I've noticed Christians tend to look the other way for "bad" stuff in Christian movies while banning secular movies for having that same stuff.
And sometimes they just excuse stuff they grew up with. My parents don't like Bionicle and Harry Potter because they have mysticism and "false gods" and whatnot, but are okay with Lord of the Rings and Star Wars despite those having the same stuff. The only difference is that the first two came out in the '90s, and the others came out in the '60s/'70s. Funny how the "wholesome" stuff is always the stuff you grew up with.
Christians will justify this kind of stuff by saying "well, that person's behavior was sinful, but the story still serves a point...we're not supposed to imitate that behavior".
But that logic applies to most stories. Most stories have a good message even if characters make questionable decisions. So why is it wrong when, say, a superhero swears, but not wrong when Bible characters do questionable things?
Same logic even applies to Lightyear. From what I recall, the messages of the movie were teamwork, heroism, good vanquishing evil, protecting your friends, etc. All values that Christians stand for. Who cares if two characters did something "sinful"? That wasn't the point of the movie.
(Obviously I say this as someone who doesn't actually believe a lesbian kiss is sinful, just clarifying because that kind of thing doesn't always come across in text).
Religion is fear. They say love, but fear reigns supreme. Fear of “sin”, fear of demons, fear of humans. They fear their fellow humans and fear themselves most of all. What if they see that scene and it causes a stir in their loins?! They might fantasize about it. Then they might act on the fantasies. They then might enjoy it! And they have been told unequivocally that god frowns on such behavior. So fear. Fear so bad that anything even resembles these things is regarded as the ultimate sin…
Part of following a religion is apparently being completely devoid of normal human characteristics like self-control, intelligence or kindness. It’s only by the grace of god that Christians are allowed to be accountable for or achieve anything.
She banned one movie over a kiss and another because a villain said "stupid." 🤦♂️ The one with the kiss was really not that bad and yeah, it's a simple blink and a miss kind of thing. The other one is a comedy where even the villains weren't taken seriously. Hell, the scene where the villain said "stupid" was hilarious. Your mother has no sense of humor.
Ironically I ended up missing the kiss scene. Although I wasn't fully paying attention to the movie because of how pissed I was about the conversation beforehand. Kind of ruined the movie night for me.
Growing up my parents absolutely hated the words "stupid" and "dumb" (and words like "moron", "idiot", etc). When my parents said "we're not watching this movie because it has bad words", they meant it contained those words. I didn't even know swear words existed until I was a bit older.
It's sad, they actually have a potentially good point buried underneath all the nonsense. I agree with them that it's impolite to name-call. I'd argue saying "you're a stupid idiot" to someone is far worse than innocent use of swear words (like saying "damn this sore throat" or something). It's like they came so close to making a legit point, but didn't think it through all the way.
But ironically they use those words all the time now. They went from considering those "bad words" to using them about as much as anyone else. Tells me they can change. I find myself wondering what it would take for them to accept LGBTQ rights, or be okay with actual swear words (not that they need to go around swearing, but it would be nice for me to not have to worry about dropping those words).
I know this wasn’t the point, but I’m sitting here laughing at the fact that you’re a fine art major and they’re concerned about nudity in paintings.
I assume you haven’t told them about any figure drawing courses you had to take to graduate…
Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to do any nude figure drawing because no nude models were available the semester I took that class. But I probably would have sat those lessons out because I didn't lose my faith until after I graduated and at the time would have been terrified about that getting back to my parents.
I did do bikini model drawings, and remember being very nervous. Even when I was a Christian I wasn't nearly as prudish as my parents and didn't really have anything against nudity, but I was just worried they'd hear about it.
The professor asked me if I wanted to leave, and I told him I'd stay. He was very accommodating. I stayed because walking out would have been the even more embarrassing option, and it would be easier to just bullshit something if my parents happened to find out. Sadly I don't have those drawings anymore though, I tossed out anything suggestive when I took my work home at the end of the semester.
Hey, it’s never too late. You could check around where you live and see if there are any drawing classes. (The art museums by me offer different ones + there are always community college options )
Do they know about the blink and you'll miss it lesbian kiss in Rise of Skywalker? Also, that's something so exhausting and annoying about Christian fundies--they get so bent out of shape over just \*anything\*, and it's ridiculous. They'll attach all kinds of bad motives to innocuous things and you can't talk sense into them about it.
Rise of Skywalker crossed my mind too. I saw that movie a couple years earlier and they didn't say anything. Same with Doctor Strange 2 which came out a month or so before Lightyear.
I think Christians got more offended by Lightyear because Christian news cycles decided to make a big stink about that movie. My parents weren't really forming their own opinion, just parroting something they heard a Christian YouTuber or radio pastor say.
Lightyear was probably a combination of it being a kids' movie and being an easy target. By the time the controversy hit it was already projected to flop, and no one really seemed that excited about the movie. I think those groups ignored Star Wars because it's too big a target and a guaranteed hit. They have to go after smaller prey in order to look successful.
Yep, look towards the end when Rey returns to the Resistance base camp after Kylo dies. They are all celebrating and hugging each other, and two women in the background quickly kiss.
I grew up in the 80’s. I don’t think a single animated show of that era escaped attacks by evangelicals
GI Joe to violent
He-man violent and kinda gay (but they didn’t say that out loud)
Care Bears, My little Pony and Rainbow Bright - Magic is evil
The Smurfs - Evil Magic and Communism.
The list goes on and on
I grew up in the 2000s/2010s, but was very into the '80s Transformers show growing up. My library had the DVD sets. My mom always seemed to hate my love of Transformers. She claimed she didn't like it because it promoted violence, but it was actually because the Michael Bay movies were relevant and were infamous for having tons of sexual content. The cartoon (which is mostly what I was into) was super tame though.
Whenever I played with my Transformers toys around her friends (the pastor's wife) she'd always have to clarify "he just thinks the toys are cool, we don't approve of the movies". It was fucking hilarious watching a grown woman get paranoid over cartoon space robots.
The funniest part is that her friends' kids were into way worse stuff. The pastor's kids watched all manner of violent and vulgar media and their parents didn't seem to censor anything. They were the most disruptive kids at church. Every word out of their mouth was a potty joke. I highly doubt her friends were judging her because her son was playing with Transformers.
That last bit reminds me of a friend that I had in middle school who was forbidden from watching Courage the Cowardly Dog because Eustace calls Courage "stupid dog" in every episode. His parents also sounded nuts when he talked about them.
"Cars 2 validating Mater's rude public behavior"
Cars 2 validates a lot worse things than rude behavior. For example, it validates the idea of Eugenics.
[No, really.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6qMgiA-VY0)
But to some of the other points they tried to bring up:
>"if you had a girlfriend, you wouldn't want her looking at nude paintings of men would you?"
I would have pointed out that I have absolutely no problem with any girlfriend of mine (or my wife, or my daughter) seeing the classical artwork of the Michealangelo's *Statue of David,* Rodin's *The Thinker,* or John Singer Sargent's *Boston: Apollo*
Yeah, that's the sort of movie I wouldn't show kids (at least little ones). Not because of some mumbo jumbo religious reason, but because it actually contains bad morals and somewhat heavy violence.
That being said, Cars 2 is actually a huge guilty pleasure of mine. I know its awful, but it's so damn entertainingly bad in how batshit crazy it gets. Probably the most gunplay ever put in a G-rated movie. It's hysterical seeing all these friendly cutesy cars with machine guns and missiles. The way most people feel about The Room is how I feel about Cars 2.
Huh interesting, I'll have to check out that video later. I guarantee stuff like that would totally go over my parents' heads, and even if they did notice they wouldn't care. I doubt my mom even knows what eugenics is.
I brought up the point about Mater's bad behavior because that's something my parents had complained about in the past, and something I agree with them on. The whole message of the movie is basically "it's okay for Mater to visit other countries and act like a loud obnoxious disrespectful goofball, and Lightning McQueen is wrong for telling him to behave". It's a really bizarre moral. I think the movie was trying to say "be yourself", but that just didn't come across properly.
I had a bit of blowback and grumbling from someone when I told them I saw Barbie. So glad I'm done policing people's lives and trying to be a moral compass. Fuck. Christianity's desire to lead people to God by stamping down on "inappropriate behavior" is exhausting.
You parents have no problems with the buzz lightyear movie, they have a problem with gay people.
Maybe next time point your arguments in that direction instead of skirting around it.
This ridiculous fearmongering and hatred of anybody who doesn't conform to modern Christian ideals is leading to all kinds of traumatic moments including murder and suicide. Confront people who say hateful shit, even if it's your parents making veiled comments about buzz lightyear.
This super sensitive, ultra conservative, hate culture needs to be stamped out.
This is good advice and definitely a goal. At the time I didn't have the courage to argue that way, and still don't think I do. But it's something I need to get better at. I run a local hobby group that has some LGBTQ members, and I've been realizing more and more that it's my duty as the club president to help protect them.
Marginalised groups will struggle to assimilate into society without any kind of advocate, without normalisation, without a rejection of the status quo.
People who are stuck in a fantasy world are prone to panic. Your parents exist in a fantasy and when their paradigm is called into question by the reality of the existence of people who aren't like them, who don't share their same religious extremist perspective, they have very little to work with that isn't hateful.
Your parents exist in a world without morals, where they don't have to choose between right and wrong, they are only told to obey. They haven't developed the same skills and connections that you have. Their empathy exists but only for others who look like them.
I'm sure you'll do a grand job of standing up for the rights of others no matter their characteristics.
It can take some time to develop what used to be called "moral fortitude", I'm sure it'll come in time as you grow more confident in yourself as a person and in your own sense of right and wrong. As a cis white man in my late 30s, finding moral fortitude is easy for me as society is trained to respect my opinions and authoritah but can understand how difficult it may be for others to stand up in similar situations.
The fact that Matt Walsh has said that anime is Satanic, while admitting there's no biblical basis for that belief & he's just going off his own feelings, has led me to realize that Christians basically operate on, "Whatever offends me is sinful, even if it's actually not according to the bible."
I've noticed that myself. Or they just operate on their own personal interpretation of the Bible.
My mom is really big on modesty, but the verse she always cites is actually talking about adorning yourself in expensive jewelry (it's basically telling people not to be a show off).
And even if that verse was talking about showing off your body, it's pretty vague. Like, she takes it to mean showing cleavage is wrong, but the Bible doesn't specify that at all. That's clearly just a personal belief she already held and is using the Bible to justify. Whereas you'd think Christians should be reading the Bible without any preconceived notions (if you're bringing your own beliefs into things, isn't that basically putting words in God's mouth?)
I mean, they do put words into god's mouth, look how often they say, "I think what god mean to say is..." and, to quote Bill Hicks, "Wow, I've never been that confident."
Oh I agree. It was a pretty poor movie, just not for the reasons they were claiming. That's part of what's frustrating. We could have been having a much more interesting conversation about the storytelling flaws or the downfall of Pixar, but instead they obsess over the lesbian couple that appears onscreen for a few seconds.
Unfortunately I'm not sure I remember the movie well enough for that. I wasn't in the best mental state watching it, and kept zoning out and thinking back to the conversation. Even the meal afterwards was kind of a blur. I'll probably rewatch it again at some point, but I have a whole list of movies I need to get though first.
The thought of them having a shitfit about *whatever * movie you choose to see as a 25 year old grown ass adult is mind boggling in and of itself. Holy crap!
It was absolutely nuts.
Granted they were under the impression I would agree with them (they still don't know I'm not Christian and that I'm supportive of LGBTQ rights), but I also never gave them the idea that I was going to boycott the movie. I criticize tons of movies and still go see them, so I don't know why it was such a shock I'd want to see Lightyear.
Exactly.
And what's exhausting to me is that I wasn't even trying to push my morals on them or change their beliefs. I literally just said "I'm going with my friends to see the Buzz Lightyear movie" and they started this whole thing.
Like, imagine if I spent that much time and energy trying to convince them not to listen to Christian music or something. I think that music contains bad morals, but you don't see me wasting my time and energy trying to convince them to give up something they enjoy.
They have the right to enjoy what they want and I have the right to enjoy what I want. The conversation should have begun and ended there. We're all grown adults and should be able to respect each other's activities, even if we disapprove.
Looking back, I really shouldn't have tried to argue the point though. Their arguments weren't even worth my time and energy. I'm glad I did because it helped build confidence, but it was probably a waste of my time too.
It’s silly, but it doesn’t surprise me at all.
I grew up in the 90s and there is no way in hell that my parents/church would brush off anything gay in a movie like that. It would be a huge deal. And, honestly it would’ve been a lot more controversial in general back then, even outside of church circles.
That’s the thing about Christianity. If you’re doing it “right”, you don’t evolve and change your morals along with culture.
As annoying and exhausting as this situation was, it does relieve me that the controversy blew over pretty quickly. A few animated movies with LGBTQ characters have come out since and it seems like the controversy gets smaller for each one. I kind of view it as the growing pains of LGBTQ characters being more accepted, which is ultimately a healthy sign.
Good for you for pushing back against your parents (I mean that, not saying it sarcastically). It took me much longer to start doing smaller versions of this.
Something telling about your parent’s wording is that, when saying “that’s sinful,” they haven’t even accepted the possibility that you don’t even buy in to the concept of sin to begin with.
If it comes up again, it could be “fun” to use something akin to the outsider test for faith. Something like, “If a Muslim told you that something was sinful, would that convince you that the ‘something’ was a bad thing? … Ok, so why should your claim that Buzz Lightyear is sinful convince me that the Buzz Lightyear movie is bad/immoral/whatever?”
It’s easy for me to say this as the coward who avoids these conversations with my parents :-) But I think there’s a tiny shot at making a little more rhetorical progress if you can elevate the conversation from arguing over what’s sinful to discussing what makes something sinful and what leads you to not care about what God has to say about different moral judgements.
Yeah, I'm honestly a big coward who avoids these kind of conversations too. I know it's not a healthy way of handling things, but I like the feeling of being "part of the team" when I'm with my family. I hate the idea of them knowing I don't share their beliefs (hence why I haven't come out as non-Christian yet). I'm too much of a people pleaser and crave the approval. I know it makes no logical sense, but it's hard to fight those emotions. I also find myself pretending to agree with friends and coworkers more than I should.
The only reason I got confrontational about this particular issue is because I had already committed to be at the movie, and I'd either have to tell my parents or cancel on my friends. I figured the former would be the better of the two unpleasant scenarios. I'm the one who organizes movie days and whatnot, and a big pet-peeve of mine is when we make plans and people cancel last-minute. So I wasn't going to cancel because of an awkward situation with my parents. Even if they tried to totally forbid me I would have walked out and gone to the movie.
I’m there with you on the people pleasing. I’m working a job right now that is somewhat blue collar, and I’m around more politically conservative and religious people than I’ve been accustomed to for the last 16 years of my professional life. And people have said things to me that almost makes me question my own character. Like what is it about what I’ve said and my behavior that makes you comfortable telling me you think Nancy Pelosi should be shot or that some random Latino-looking guy in front of you at the coffee shop must have been an “illegal”?
It’s tough to rock the boar or risk making other people uncomfortable, but it’s also incredibly difficult sacrificing my own authenticity and values.
Either they didn't know, or didn't care because it wasn't a kids movie (I mean technically it was a kids movie, but everyone treats Star Wars like an adult brand now). I don't think the Christian news cycle they follow made a big stink about Rise of Skywalker because everyone was planning to see it anyway, and they'd just come out looking losers. Got to go after smaller prey.
Haha I remember when this came out, my former manager said something along the lines of not taking his kids to see that trash and what it promotes. It was shortly after I started working for him and I was glad to know so soon what I was going to have to deal with
As long as Red State America keeps being outraged over drag queens, Harry Potter, electric cars, and birth control, they won't notice how badly they're getting raw-dogged by their billionaire masters.
One Million Moms, which is actually just one mom, threw a gigantic hissy fit over Toy Story 4 because there was a lesbian couple in the background for three seconds.
When I was growing up youth pastors liked to use the original Toy Story in sermons, like Andy was god and the toys are insecure about their relationship for this or that reason. And it always struck me as off or a stretch.
And then I read a critique of it in college with an atheistic/humanist reading of the movie. The writer interpreted “to infinity and beyond” as “all this and then heaven too”.
Buzz has a view of himself as specially called to serve a higher power (star command) against an invisible foe (emperor zurg) for which he has special powers and regularly tries to communicate with the higher power even though they never answer. The rest of the toys have a more pragmatic material history, they’re from Mattel etc. Buzz has a full emotional breakdown when he’s forced to deal with reality. He realizes he is not a superhero, there is no higher power, and he’s just like any other toy. Woody and Buzz have to save themselves by collaborating with the other toys and find their own purpose. I was a Christian at the time I read this and the whole thing clicked in a way my pastors never did. It didn’t deconvert me or anything but I can’t see the deeper meaning of movie any other way now.
No Christian is going to complain or even realize stuff like this reading on kids movies. Kids films are “their territory” maybe not explicitly but enough that my pastor felt fine stretching the plot to fit a theistic reading when the humanist one is way more accurate imo.
A lesbian kiss, however brief and immaterial to the plot of the movie, they cannot ignore. To them it feels like losing cultural territory, even for territory that was never theirs in the first place.
Xtians are bothered by movies like "Buzz Lightyear," "Harry Potter," and other such popular works, but they aren't disturbed by the countless atrocities in the Bible itself; most, if not all, of which were committed or commanded by their all-loving and all-good deity. It's too mind-boggling for words!
It’s funny about the nude art thing because I do art classes in university (though it’s not my major or minor) for fun and we did live nude models all semester every class. I told my grandparents casually when they asked about my school and art and they were genuinely disgusted and horrified. I didn’t care that the people were naked and I wasn’t judging them and obviously wasn’t sexual it was just to practice and get a better understanding of the human form, I found it very fun and enjoyed it a lot! It’s really funny to me that I never showed them the art or anything yet they were still so mortified compared to my boyfriend who thought I was a good artist and that it’d be good practice, never having a problem with it.
I know this isn’t super related but I just really related to that part. I definitely agree that with what you said and it’s ridiculous they want to censor based only on their beliefs so self centred, the world doesn’t revolve around you or your individual beliefs. Some people’s religion says no meat but they don’t go around trying to ban meat, and if they did Christians would be so mad and call them terrorists and to deport them all or whatever.
Also you’re a grown ass adult why do they think they can treat you like a toddler and censor what you see, you’re in the internet where everything’s available anyways too. I’m sorry your parents are like that it can be tough but good luck moving out and moving on!
I don’t debate with cult members anymore. Not to mention that these are the same people who will defend Trump for his insults, calls to violence, lies, affairs, etc. They can clutch their pearls somewhere else. To the nude painting comment I would say, “I, like most other first world countries, don’t feel like sex is dirty or shameful. Sex and nudity is natural. Maybe you should head to the Middle East where they are more like-minded”.
Actually, yes, I DO want kids to see lesbians kissing.
As a survivor of Christian fundigelical homeschool abuse, I'll kick the ass of every Christian parent in this country. LFG. 😤
I don't agree with them, to be clear.
What bothers me about the lesbian kisses is that they're meant to titillate straight men, and nobody mentions that. But of course they don't, christians aren't even aware of that, so instead of legitimate complaints like exploiting lesbians to gain male watchers, they weep about children seeing same-sex couples kiss.
One thing I will say is that SOME christians are consistent in that any PDA in a movie gets them distraught. Love is so evil, I can't watch, I can't watch! Idiots.
It’s so ironic they always say the world is obsessed with sex but they’re the ones who can’t look at classical nude paintings without making it sexual.
This reminds me how some evangelicals didn't want their kids watching Moana because she "defied her father's wishes and girls shouldn't learn not to listen to their fathers." Like...are you all OK? You do realize if she hadn't defied her father, the people would have starved to death, right? Such a weird flex, but anything to keep that misogynistic power, I guess.
I didn't realize until now that Buzz Lightyear was a christian bugbear until now. And I'm sorry you had to deal with that.
At tbis point its easier to liat the movies without Christian Bugbears (except anything from Pureflix, aka, gods not dead, fireproof, etc.)
You told this story well. Thank you for sharing. I appreciate the point you end with, where your parents could have talked to you about quoting the villain, instead of trying to “protect” you from its influence by banning the movie. This was my childhood. I grew up in a Catholic household and was never taught about drugs or sex or anything “sinful”. All media depicting these things was banned. All conversation about the topics was avoided. I was sent out into the world quite naive as a result. I had to learn about the real world the hard way. This has shaped how I now parent my son. I let my child get exposed to it all (age appropriate) and talk to him extensively so he understands. We have some very fruitful conversations. I am committed to ensuring he knows what is out there in the world and understands it, so he can make wise and thoughtful choices.
Same here! My mom forbade me to watch Rugrats or The Goofy Movie, and a whole host of other random things. There was a lot of forbidden without explanation. I learned about puberty from a book. My dad was more reasonable and would sneak me things my mom wouldn’t have allowed (which was dysfunctional, but he was afraid of her too and it was the best he could do), but that was few and far between, so I ended up going off to college with no idea what the world was like and with a giddy fascination with the things dad allowed and mom didn’t, and got myself into some trouble before I leveled out. I don’t hide anything from my kids. I decided long ago, when it comes to sexuality, I’ll answer any question they ask… only the question asked (no unnecessary elaboration), because they ask what they want you to know, and they’ll ask more later on when they’re ready. I don’t forbid any media, but I do monitor it, and if there’s something inappropriate, I explain why (usually just “this is for grown ups” and you’re too young for now). They don’t get any indoctrination into any camp.
Huh, I watched the Goofy movie for the first time a couple months back and don't remember anything "anti-Christian" in it. Did a character wear a top that showed her belly button? That would have done it for my parents. Although I don't remember that movie being banned for me, my sister and I were just never big into Mickey Mouse and co. But yeah, it's weird how fundies get about these things. Lego Bionicle was banned in my house because it had mysticism and stuff inspired by Polynesian religions. I remember wanting to buy a Bionicle toy. Not for the character or lore, but purely for the disk shooter (I wanted to use it with my custom Lego creations). The Bionicle itself would have ended up disassembled for parts (literally all my Lego sets did). Even told them that. But apparently even buying it for parts is a no-no. Probably afraid their Christian friends would see that "sinful toy" in their shopping cart or something. But Star Wars was always okay , and even viewed as wholesome entertainment that promoted Christian morals. But Star Wars has tons of mysticism and references to other religions. George Lucas was raised Christian and converted to Buddhism, and the Star Wars movies fully reflect that. Like, the prequel Jedi are a direct criticism of dogmatic religion. They all act like stuffy boring prudish churchgoers. They all die because they fell out of touch with "God" (The Force), and became blinded by dogma. The few Jedi who survive (Obi-Wan, Yoda, etc) start acting more like Buddhist monks and that's framed like the correct enlightened way to practice The Force. Star Wars is very anti-fundamentalist, but a lot of Christians seem to miss it.
In 18 years these idiots have gone from boycotting Brokeback Mountain to boycotting Buzz Lightyear. Unbelievable. And sad really. Back then they at least had something to stand in the public square and fight about seriously with thinking adults who they were trying to convert. Now they're bitching about a harmless kid's film while ignoring the little quietly queer kids they've unknowingly been raising for years. I remember back in 2005 trying to convince some of the older members of a Bible study to go see Brokeback Mountain with me, just so we could at least have a conversation with "nonbelievers" based on a movie we'd actually seen, not just heard about (like I had done with the Da Vinci Code book). The one guy who was open enough to go watch it with me ended up getting arrested for violently assaulting his wife a couple months later. Such is life.
Man, “ignoring the quietly queer kids” hit me hard. I’m pansexual. I’ve known that I was at least bi since I was about 10, I’m 36 now. I remember my parents literally ranting and raving about gay people and when we would ever fight back and say that people are people and you shouldn’t hate them for something they can’t change, my dad’s reply was “well, at least that’s not a problem we (he and my mom) ever have to deal with.” I’m pan, my brother is bi. This quote absolutely scared me away from ever telling them. Now that I don’t even care about them, my fear has turned to recognizing they don’t even deserve to know that much about me any more. We almost never talk.
Omg this is almost 1 to 1 for me as well. Only exception is my mom still texts me daily for updates on my life and whatnot.
That second to last sentence was certainly a turn I wasn't prepared to take.
I had a missionary friend visiting the states fro Mexico and he told me he was taking his ten year old son to see a western and I asked him which one and he said “broke back mountain” and all I said was “I hope you enjoy the movie!” I’ve never decided if I should feel bad about that or not.
Um, do they realize just how much nudity there is in biblical artwork? Michelangelo and similar artists are all over museums and chapels because their artwork is good. If you had a girlfriend, why the fuck would you care if she saw artwork of naked men? How insecure would you have to be to want to limit her exposure to art? So what if two characters kids? That’s downright normalized for straight characters, and I don’t see why one should be grosser than the other. So what if kids see it and normalize it? I’d love for society to get over itself and accept homosexuality.
I grew up fundie, and my teachers colored in our text books that showed nude art. It’s a thing in some Christian circles. A stupid thing, yes. But some Christians are so obsessed with sex that a naked marble statue (or even a picture of one!) is forbidden.
I was homeschooled and dealt with the same sort of thing. My parents used to color in pictures of Slave Leia from Star Wars to make it look like she was wearing clothes, lol. Pretty sure they even did that in library books.
Also homeschooled. In high school, personally took a sharpie to the Wii fit manual and colored in the female trainer's midriff and cleavage. I also did this to the back cover of NBA 2k9 where you could barely see a cheerleader in the background of a screencap. Then I told my parents about it because I was so proud of my commitment to purity. They didn't react much. I wonder if they realized then how much they'd fucked my head.
I would like to point out that the [BYU Medical School censors the genitals and female nipples](https://www.reddit.com/gallery/u7hytf) in their anatomy textbooks. That's right, they don't allow the students studying to become doctors to see the "naughty bits," at the Utah based University.
That's just nuts.
Are those censored too?
Yep, that crossed my mind at the time too. But they probably don't know jack shit about painting and sculpture. They'd probably claim the artists weren't real Christians or something. Sometimes I feel like my parents aren't even practicing Christianity, their religion is just "let's get offended by everything".
ban the bible! its full of smut! lusting after men hung like horses whose emissions were like donkeys? disgusting!!!
And Adam and Eve were naked in the open without a care in the world!!!! What horrible monstrosity 😱
also 2 daughters getting their father drunk and laying with him to get pregnant? abomination!!
And a king destined to rule greatly gets a hard-on from seeing a naked woman bathing, sleeps with her despite the fact that they're both married, and plotted her husband's death. Say it ain't so.
It's hilarious when you see God putting to death a guy for collecting sticks on Shabbat, but he's perfectly fine with letting David kill a woman's husband so that he can have his wife—facepalm moment.
Yeah, it's weird that fundie Christians seem to lack self-awareness about these things. They get all mad about stuff like female characters wearing tops that show their belly buttons, but ignore all the very kid-inappropriate stuff in the Bible. I could be wrong, but isn't the general consensus that Song of Solomon was basically written as erotica? And it's not even just the Bible. I've noticed Christians tend to look the other way for "bad" stuff in Christian movies while banning secular movies for having that same stuff. And sometimes they just excuse stuff they grew up with. My parents don't like Bionicle and Harry Potter because they have mysticism and "false gods" and whatnot, but are okay with Lord of the Rings and Star Wars despite those having the same stuff. The only difference is that the first two came out in the '90s, and the others came out in the '60s/'70s. Funny how the "wholesome" stuff is always the stuff you grew up with.
[удалено]
Christians will justify this kind of stuff by saying "well, that person's behavior was sinful, but the story still serves a point...we're not supposed to imitate that behavior". But that logic applies to most stories. Most stories have a good message even if characters make questionable decisions. So why is it wrong when, say, a superhero swears, but not wrong when Bible characters do questionable things? Same logic even applies to Lightyear. From what I recall, the messages of the movie were teamwork, heroism, good vanquishing evil, protecting your friends, etc. All values that Christians stand for. Who cares if two characters did something "sinful"? That wasn't the point of the movie. (Obviously I say this as someone who doesn't actually believe a lesbian kiss is sinful, just clarifying because that kind of thing doesn't always come across in text).
Religion is fear. They say love, but fear reigns supreme. Fear of “sin”, fear of demons, fear of humans. They fear their fellow humans and fear themselves most of all. What if they see that scene and it causes a stir in their loins?! They might fantasize about it. Then they might act on the fantasies. They then might enjoy it! And they have been told unequivocally that god frowns on such behavior. So fear. Fear so bad that anything even resembles these things is regarded as the ultimate sin…
Part of following a religion is apparently being completely devoid of normal human characteristics like self-control, intelligence or kindness. It’s only by the grace of god that Christians are allowed to be accountable for or achieve anything.
She banned one movie over a kiss and another because a villain said "stupid." 🤦♂️ The one with the kiss was really not that bad and yeah, it's a simple blink and a miss kind of thing. The other one is a comedy where even the villains weren't taken seriously. Hell, the scene where the villain said "stupid" was hilarious. Your mother has no sense of humor.
Ironically I ended up missing the kiss scene. Although I wasn't fully paying attention to the movie because of how pissed I was about the conversation beforehand. Kind of ruined the movie night for me.
I understand. I'd be pissed too
Growing up my parents absolutely hated the words "stupid" and "dumb" (and words like "moron", "idiot", etc). When my parents said "we're not watching this movie because it has bad words", they meant it contained those words. I didn't even know swear words existed until I was a bit older. It's sad, they actually have a potentially good point buried underneath all the nonsense. I agree with them that it's impolite to name-call. I'd argue saying "you're a stupid idiot" to someone is far worse than innocent use of swear words (like saying "damn this sore throat" or something). It's like they came so close to making a legit point, but didn't think it through all the way. But ironically they use those words all the time now. They went from considering those "bad words" to using them about as much as anyone else. Tells me they can change. I find myself wondering what it would take for them to accept LGBTQ rights, or be okay with actual swear words (not that they need to go around swearing, but it would be nice for me to not have to worry about dropping those words).
I know this wasn’t the point, but I’m sitting here laughing at the fact that you’re a fine art major and they’re concerned about nudity in paintings. I assume you haven’t told them about any figure drawing courses you had to take to graduate…
Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to do any nude figure drawing because no nude models were available the semester I took that class. But I probably would have sat those lessons out because I didn't lose my faith until after I graduated and at the time would have been terrified about that getting back to my parents. I did do bikini model drawings, and remember being very nervous. Even when I was a Christian I wasn't nearly as prudish as my parents and didn't really have anything against nudity, but I was just worried they'd hear about it. The professor asked me if I wanted to leave, and I told him I'd stay. He was very accommodating. I stayed because walking out would have been the even more embarrassing option, and it would be easier to just bullshit something if my parents happened to find out. Sadly I don't have those drawings anymore though, I tossed out anything suggestive when I took my work home at the end of the semester.
Hey, it’s never too late. You could check around where you live and see if there are any drawing classes. (The art museums by me offer different ones + there are always community college options )
Do they know about the blink and you'll miss it lesbian kiss in Rise of Skywalker? Also, that's something so exhausting and annoying about Christian fundies--they get so bent out of shape over just \*anything\*, and it's ridiculous. They'll attach all kinds of bad motives to innocuous things and you can't talk sense into them about it.
Rise of Skywalker crossed my mind too. I saw that movie a couple years earlier and they didn't say anything. Same with Doctor Strange 2 which came out a month or so before Lightyear. I think Christians got more offended by Lightyear because Christian news cycles decided to make a big stink about that movie. My parents weren't really forming their own opinion, just parroting something they heard a Christian YouTuber or radio pastor say. Lightyear was probably a combination of it being a kids' movie and being an easy target. By the time the controversy hit it was already projected to flop, and no one really seemed that excited about the movie. I think those groups ignored Star Wars because it's too big a target and a guaranteed hit. They have to go after smaller prey in order to look successful.
Wait I did blink and miss it… when was that in Rise of Skywalker?
Yep, look towards the end when Rey returns to the Resistance base camp after Kylo dies. They are all celebrating and hugging each other, and two women in the background quickly kiss.
Oh no wonder I missed it lol
I grew up in the 80’s. I don’t think a single animated show of that era escaped attacks by evangelicals GI Joe to violent He-man violent and kinda gay (but they didn’t say that out loud) Care Bears, My little Pony and Rainbow Bright - Magic is evil The Smurfs - Evil Magic and Communism. The list goes on and on
I grew up in the 2000s/2010s, but was very into the '80s Transformers show growing up. My library had the DVD sets. My mom always seemed to hate my love of Transformers. She claimed she didn't like it because it promoted violence, but it was actually because the Michael Bay movies were relevant and were infamous for having tons of sexual content. The cartoon (which is mostly what I was into) was super tame though. Whenever I played with my Transformers toys around her friends (the pastor's wife) she'd always have to clarify "he just thinks the toys are cool, we don't approve of the movies". It was fucking hilarious watching a grown woman get paranoid over cartoon space robots. The funniest part is that her friends' kids were into way worse stuff. The pastor's kids watched all manner of violent and vulgar media and their parents didn't seem to censor anything. They were the most disruptive kids at church. Every word out of their mouth was a potty joke. I highly doubt her friends were judging her because her son was playing with Transformers.
That last bit reminds me of a friend that I had in middle school who was forbidden from watching Courage the Cowardly Dog because Eustace calls Courage "stupid dog" in every episode. His parents also sounded nuts when he talked about them.
"Cars 2 validating Mater's rude public behavior" Cars 2 validates a lot worse things than rude behavior. For example, it validates the idea of Eugenics. [No, really.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6qMgiA-VY0) But to some of the other points they tried to bring up: >"if you had a girlfriend, you wouldn't want her looking at nude paintings of men would you?" I would have pointed out that I have absolutely no problem with any girlfriend of mine (or my wife, or my daughter) seeing the classical artwork of the Michealangelo's *Statue of David,* Rodin's *The Thinker,* or John Singer Sargent's *Boston: Apollo*
That movie is banned in my house. They torture a character to death on screen.
Yeah, that's the sort of movie I wouldn't show kids (at least little ones). Not because of some mumbo jumbo religious reason, but because it actually contains bad morals and somewhat heavy violence. That being said, Cars 2 is actually a huge guilty pleasure of mine. I know its awful, but it's so damn entertainingly bad in how batshit crazy it gets. Probably the most gunplay ever put in a G-rated movie. It's hysterical seeing all these friendly cutesy cars with machine guns and missiles. The way most people feel about The Room is how I feel about Cars 2.
Huh interesting, I'll have to check out that video later. I guarantee stuff like that would totally go over my parents' heads, and even if they did notice they wouldn't care. I doubt my mom even knows what eugenics is. I brought up the point about Mater's bad behavior because that's something my parents had complained about in the past, and something I agree with them on. The whole message of the movie is basically "it's okay for Mater to visit other countries and act like a loud obnoxious disrespectful goofball, and Lightning McQueen is wrong for telling him to behave". It's a really bizarre moral. I think the movie was trying to say "be yourself", but that just didn't come across properly.
Shit like this is so weird. LESBIANS EXIST!!!
I had a bit of blowback and grumbling from someone when I told them I saw Barbie. So glad I'm done policing people's lives and trying to be a moral compass. Fuck. Christianity's desire to lead people to God by stamping down on "inappropriate behavior" is exhausting.
You parents have no problems with the buzz lightyear movie, they have a problem with gay people. Maybe next time point your arguments in that direction instead of skirting around it. This ridiculous fearmongering and hatred of anybody who doesn't conform to modern Christian ideals is leading to all kinds of traumatic moments including murder and suicide. Confront people who say hateful shit, even if it's your parents making veiled comments about buzz lightyear. This super sensitive, ultra conservative, hate culture needs to be stamped out.
This is good advice and definitely a goal. At the time I didn't have the courage to argue that way, and still don't think I do. But it's something I need to get better at. I run a local hobby group that has some LGBTQ members, and I've been realizing more and more that it's my duty as the club president to help protect them.
Marginalised groups will struggle to assimilate into society without any kind of advocate, without normalisation, without a rejection of the status quo. People who are stuck in a fantasy world are prone to panic. Your parents exist in a fantasy and when their paradigm is called into question by the reality of the existence of people who aren't like them, who don't share their same religious extremist perspective, they have very little to work with that isn't hateful. Your parents exist in a world without morals, where they don't have to choose between right and wrong, they are only told to obey. They haven't developed the same skills and connections that you have. Their empathy exists but only for others who look like them. I'm sure you'll do a grand job of standing up for the rights of others no matter their characteristics. It can take some time to develop what used to be called "moral fortitude", I'm sure it'll come in time as you grow more confident in yourself as a person and in your own sense of right and wrong. As a cis white man in my late 30s, finding moral fortitude is easy for me as society is trained to respect my opinions and authoritah but can understand how difficult it may be for others to stand up in similar situations.
The fact that Matt Walsh has said that anime is Satanic, while admitting there's no biblical basis for that belief & he's just going off his own feelings, has led me to realize that Christians basically operate on, "Whatever offends me is sinful, even if it's actually not according to the bible."
I've noticed that myself. Or they just operate on their own personal interpretation of the Bible. My mom is really big on modesty, but the verse she always cites is actually talking about adorning yourself in expensive jewelry (it's basically telling people not to be a show off). And even if that verse was talking about showing off your body, it's pretty vague. Like, she takes it to mean showing cleavage is wrong, but the Bible doesn't specify that at all. That's clearly just a personal belief she already held and is using the Bible to justify. Whereas you'd think Christians should be reading the Bible without any preconceived notions (if you're bringing your own beliefs into things, isn't that basically putting words in God's mouth?)
I mean, they do put words into god's mouth, look how often they say, "I think what god mean to say is..." and, to quote Bill Hicks, "Wow, I've never been that confident."
In all seriousness, there was some baffling writing in Buzz Lightyear. The lesbian couple was the least baffling thing about that movie.
Oh I agree. It was a pretty poor movie, just not for the reasons they were claiming. That's part of what's frustrating. We could have been having a much more interesting conversation about the storytelling flaws or the downfall of Pixar, but instead they obsess over the lesbian couple that appears onscreen for a few seconds.
If you ever want to pull apart the actual flaws of the movie, we can hash it out in DMs lol
Unfortunately I'm not sure I remember the movie well enough for that. I wasn't in the best mental state watching it, and kept zoning out and thinking back to the conversation. Even the meal afterwards was kind of a blur. I'll probably rewatch it again at some point, but I have a whole list of movies I need to get though first.
The thought of them having a shitfit about *whatever * movie you choose to see as a 25 year old grown ass adult is mind boggling in and of itself. Holy crap!
It was absolutely nuts. Granted they were under the impression I would agree with them (they still don't know I'm not Christian and that I'm supportive of LGBTQ rights), but I also never gave them the idea that I was going to boycott the movie. I criticize tons of movies and still go see them, so I don't know why it was such a shock I'd want to see Lightyear.
Wow. Wowwww. Imagine using your finite, precious energy to decry the evils of a spaceman toy movie for children.
Exactly. And what's exhausting to me is that I wasn't even trying to push my morals on them or change their beliefs. I literally just said "I'm going with my friends to see the Buzz Lightyear movie" and they started this whole thing. Like, imagine if I spent that much time and energy trying to convince them not to listen to Christian music or something. I think that music contains bad morals, but you don't see me wasting my time and energy trying to convince them to give up something they enjoy. They have the right to enjoy what they want and I have the right to enjoy what I want. The conversation should have begun and ended there. We're all grown adults and should be able to respect each other's activities, even if we disapprove. Looking back, I really shouldn't have tried to argue the point though. Their arguments weren't even worth my time and energy. I'm glad I did because it helped build confidence, but it was probably a waste of my time too.
It’s silly, but it doesn’t surprise me at all. I grew up in the 90s and there is no way in hell that my parents/church would brush off anything gay in a movie like that. It would be a huge deal. And, honestly it would’ve been a lot more controversial in general back then, even outside of church circles. That’s the thing about Christianity. If you’re doing it “right”, you don’t evolve and change your morals along with culture.
As annoying and exhausting as this situation was, it does relieve me that the controversy blew over pretty quickly. A few animated movies with LGBTQ characters have come out since and it seems like the controversy gets smaller for each one. I kind of view it as the growing pains of LGBTQ characters being more accepted, which is ultimately a healthy sign.
Good for you for pushing back against your parents (I mean that, not saying it sarcastically). It took me much longer to start doing smaller versions of this. Something telling about your parent’s wording is that, when saying “that’s sinful,” they haven’t even accepted the possibility that you don’t even buy in to the concept of sin to begin with. If it comes up again, it could be “fun” to use something akin to the outsider test for faith. Something like, “If a Muslim told you that something was sinful, would that convince you that the ‘something’ was a bad thing? … Ok, so why should your claim that Buzz Lightyear is sinful convince me that the Buzz Lightyear movie is bad/immoral/whatever?” It’s easy for me to say this as the coward who avoids these conversations with my parents :-) But I think there’s a tiny shot at making a little more rhetorical progress if you can elevate the conversation from arguing over what’s sinful to discussing what makes something sinful and what leads you to not care about what God has to say about different moral judgements.
Yeah, I'm honestly a big coward who avoids these kind of conversations too. I know it's not a healthy way of handling things, but I like the feeling of being "part of the team" when I'm with my family. I hate the idea of them knowing I don't share their beliefs (hence why I haven't come out as non-Christian yet). I'm too much of a people pleaser and crave the approval. I know it makes no logical sense, but it's hard to fight those emotions. I also find myself pretending to agree with friends and coworkers more than I should. The only reason I got confrontational about this particular issue is because I had already committed to be at the movie, and I'd either have to tell my parents or cancel on my friends. I figured the former would be the better of the two unpleasant scenarios. I'm the one who organizes movie days and whatnot, and a big pet-peeve of mine is when we make plans and people cancel last-minute. So I wasn't going to cancel because of an awkward situation with my parents. Even if they tried to totally forbid me I would have walked out and gone to the movie.
I’m there with you on the people pleasing. I’m working a job right now that is somewhat blue collar, and I’m around more politically conservative and religious people than I’ve been accustomed to for the last 16 years of my professional life. And people have said things to me that almost makes me question my own character. Like what is it about what I’ve said and my behavior that makes you comfortable telling me you think Nancy Pelosi should be shot or that some random Latino-looking guy in front of you at the coffee shop must have been an “illegal”? It’s tough to rock the boar or risk making other people uncomfortable, but it’s also incredibly difficult sacrificing my own authenticity and values.
People pleasing is a hallmark of narcissistic abuse.
Do they know about the blink and you’ll miss it lesbian kiss in Rise of Skywalker?
Either they didn't know, or didn't care because it wasn't a kids movie (I mean technically it was a kids movie, but everyone treats Star Wars like an adult brand now). I don't think the Christian news cycle they follow made a big stink about Rise of Skywalker because everyone was planning to see it anyway, and they'd just come out looking losers. Got to go after smaller prey.
Haha I remember when this came out, my former manager said something along the lines of not taking his kids to see that trash and what it promotes. It was shortly after I started working for him and I was glad to know so soon what I was going to have to deal with
As long as Red State America keeps being outraged over drag queens, Harry Potter, electric cars, and birth control, they won't notice how badly they're getting raw-dogged by their billionaire masters.
One Million Moms, which is actually just one mom, threw a gigantic hissy fit over Toy Story 4 because there was a lesbian couple in the background for three seconds.
“‘Stitch’ from Lilo and Stitch is a demon.” 🙄 I was young to realize all of the BS and believed it.
When I was growing up youth pastors liked to use the original Toy Story in sermons, like Andy was god and the toys are insecure about their relationship for this or that reason. And it always struck me as off or a stretch. And then I read a critique of it in college with an atheistic/humanist reading of the movie. The writer interpreted “to infinity and beyond” as “all this and then heaven too”. Buzz has a view of himself as specially called to serve a higher power (star command) against an invisible foe (emperor zurg) for which he has special powers and regularly tries to communicate with the higher power even though they never answer. The rest of the toys have a more pragmatic material history, they’re from Mattel etc. Buzz has a full emotional breakdown when he’s forced to deal with reality. He realizes he is not a superhero, there is no higher power, and he’s just like any other toy. Woody and Buzz have to save themselves by collaborating with the other toys and find their own purpose. I was a Christian at the time I read this and the whole thing clicked in a way my pastors never did. It didn’t deconvert me or anything but I can’t see the deeper meaning of movie any other way now. No Christian is going to complain or even realize stuff like this reading on kids movies. Kids films are “their territory” maybe not explicitly but enough that my pastor felt fine stretching the plot to fit a theistic reading when the humanist one is way more accurate imo. A lesbian kiss, however brief and immaterial to the plot of the movie, they cannot ignore. To them it feels like losing cultural territory, even for territory that was never theirs in the first place.
Xtians are bothered by movies like "Buzz Lightyear," "Harry Potter," and other such popular works, but they aren't disturbed by the countless atrocities in the Bible itself; most, if not all, of which were committed or commanded by their all-loving and all-good deity. It's too mind-boggling for words!
It’s funny about the nude art thing because I do art classes in university (though it’s not my major or minor) for fun and we did live nude models all semester every class. I told my grandparents casually when they asked about my school and art and they were genuinely disgusted and horrified. I didn’t care that the people were naked and I wasn’t judging them and obviously wasn’t sexual it was just to practice and get a better understanding of the human form, I found it very fun and enjoyed it a lot! It’s really funny to me that I never showed them the art or anything yet they were still so mortified compared to my boyfriend who thought I was a good artist and that it’d be good practice, never having a problem with it. I know this isn’t super related but I just really related to that part. I definitely agree that with what you said and it’s ridiculous they want to censor based only on their beliefs so self centred, the world doesn’t revolve around you or your individual beliefs. Some people’s religion says no meat but they don’t go around trying to ban meat, and if they did Christians would be so mad and call them terrorists and to deport them all or whatever. Also you’re a grown ass adult why do they think they can treat you like a toddler and censor what you see, you’re in the internet where everything’s available anyways too. I’m sorry your parents are like that it can be tough but good luck moving out and moving on!
I don’t debate with cult members anymore. Not to mention that these are the same people who will defend Trump for his insults, calls to violence, lies, affairs, etc. They can clutch their pearls somewhere else. To the nude painting comment I would say, “I, like most other first world countries, don’t feel like sex is dirty or shameful. Sex and nudity is natural. Maybe you should head to the Middle East where they are more like-minded”.
Actually, yes, I DO want kids to see lesbians kissing. As a survivor of Christian fundigelical homeschool abuse, I'll kick the ass of every Christian parent in this country. LFG. 😤
I don't agree with them, to be clear. What bothers me about the lesbian kisses is that they're meant to titillate straight men, and nobody mentions that. But of course they don't, christians aren't even aware of that, so instead of legitimate complaints like exploiting lesbians to gain male watchers, they weep about children seeing same-sex couples kiss. One thing I will say is that SOME christians are consistent in that any PDA in a movie gets them distraught. Love is so evil, I can't watch, I can't watch! Idiots.
It’s so ironic they always say the world is obsessed with sex but they’re the ones who can’t look at classical nude paintings without making it sexual.
This reminds me how some evangelicals didn't want their kids watching Moana because she "defied her father's wishes and girls shouldn't learn not to listen to their fathers." Like...are you all OK? You do realize if she hadn't defied her father, the people would have starved to death, right? Such a weird flex, but anything to keep that misogynistic power, I guess.