So due to some missunderstanding of my message caused by my terrible writing I would like to present this again.  This version is much the same but more clear in its intent and purpose.  Thanks!

So when you say porn most people think of sexually explicit romps viewed by college kids and creeps.  and I guess we could say yea that is pornography. but I have been having discussions with people about the media lately and what we decided is that there are more than one type of porn.  Let’s start with a definition to work with.  I’m going to state that porn is something designed to distort reality (read: Goodness Truth Beauty) intending to create a sudden and heightened physiological reaction in the viewer. This by definition should be a bad thing.  I think most people agree on this.The reason that it is wrong isn’t in the actual acts or events but in the representation of reality.  The reality of Pornography is damaging to the viewer if they begin to think the real world is like the porn world.

Sexual Pornography

The first type of porn is the obvious easy to avoid pornography. It is intended to arouse the viewer sexually and draw a compulsive audience.  It has that specific purpose and intent in its creation.  The reason that it is so powerful is that it has shadows of truth in it.  Sex is good, men and women should enjoy a sexual relationship.  But obviously we are no supposed to be marketing, selling or watching it. At the very least porn cheapens sex and makes it boring.  One of the bigger problems that sexual pornography is that with prolonged exposure the distortion of reality is inevitable. If sex becomes a performance or an instrument of personal pleasure instead of a relationship and a communication of love and a expression of Christ’s love for his church then we have lost the whole meaning of sex.

So what other kinds of porn are there? There are a few subjects that can stray into the porn arena that usually are not really considered porn but should be.

Violence Pornography

Movies have a history of dramatizing violent acts.  I don’t think there is anything wrong with this in and of itself.  Violence in films can have it’s use and serve a purpose. Heck the bible has some of the most incredible scenes ever of battle and carnage.  Though the current trend in films is rather disturbing.  We have taken the reality of violence and distorted it into something that audiences seek out for pleasure.  This is disturbing from this filmmakers perspective because this constant distortion of violence changes the  audiences perception of violence in standard films.  The thing is that films like Saw and Touristas, and Death Race distort reality, and to a culture of people immersed and saturated in violence pornography The Godfather turns out to be silly and ineffectual in its message. The most terrifying scenes are now Laughable to my students because they have been exposed to horribly graphic violent acts.  Violence pornography does not just ruin the current films on the market, they actually affect the classics when viewed by modern audiences and this is nearly intolerable to me personally.

Propaganda Pornography (news porn)

The news media has been in the business of propaganda for a long while now (like when it started…or before).  I will leave it at that for this one.  (as a note Colbert and Stewart get a free pass because they are satire not “news” although yes most people my age get their news from them).  Sadly most news suppliers are only thinly veiled propaganda machines with agendas reliant on creating sudden heightened reactions from their viewers.  At least The Daily Show and Colbert Report are honest about what they do.  Don’t tollerate being lied to or decieved, don’t let a talking head distory reality in your home.

Emotional Pornography

This type of porn is what I like to call the Hallmark channel porn.  This type of media is designed to represent a world that does not exist.  This type of media is purely created to infect you with constructed realities designed to withdrawl the highest possible phisiological response from the viewers as possible.  this cathartic emotional enema is nothing more than a cheap drug.  This is damaging because with prolonged exposure viewers will start to look at the world in the same way that the hallmark channel represents, and they will yearn for those carthic moments in real life.  When they dont get them they think there is somethign wrong with their reality so they go back to the media to fill that void.  This creates the same vicious cycle that all of the above create.

Christian Pornography

This is the one that bothers me the most.  You know the type media that I am talking about by now.  As a Christian it bothers me that this type of media has become the most recognizable part of christian culture.  these films represent a world that is only fractionally true.  It presents a picture of being a christian that is false.  It shows Christianity as a push button answer to all the worlds problems.  The scary part is people are acclimated to this type of Christian media and fall into the false reality the same as others fall into sexual or emotional pornography.  This one is the most terrible in my opinion becaus eit deals directly with our creator and redemer.  if our perception of him is manipulated by these films, and we are no longer able to see reality clearly then we could danm others by our actions and words.  we could lead others astray so easily with this type of media and exposure to this media.  my only comforting thought is that the bulk of this pornography is so poorly made that it should be obvious how false its reality is.  but when we make emotional christian pornography it can be like a drug for some people.

I’m not sure what can be done to reduce the effects of these types of pornography besides education people about personal responsibility.  I think it is important to show people that there are some very dangerous types of pornography that are equally as damaging to society and to yourself as any other.  These should be avoided and spoken against.  We should not tolerate it in our community and if we see people consuming this type of media we should speak to them in love and do what we can to help them rehabilitate themselves to the truths of the world. Our goals should be to help those struggling to see the truth and have been led astray by harmful worldviews that can corrupt their life.

If you are finding yourself as a consistent viewer of one of these take some time to consider the way you view the world, and honestly evaluate your actions.  If you find that you are affected by this media in your everyday life you may have a problem.  I know it sounds silly and a little to serious but I believe that the last three forms of pornography mentioned are the most prevalent and dangerous because they are not commonly thought of as dangerous and have been accepted into society.

Be strong and call out porn when you see it and drive it from your life.  Refuse to be manipulated any longer.  Reality is not a construct it is tangible Truth! Don’t let something take that away from you.

Bring your thoughts to the table!

On with the diatribe.

***SPOILERS FOLLOW***

We are Gordon/Dent/Dawes

I propose we are Gordon, Dent, or Dawes.  These three are the only people besides Fox and Alfred that Batman can trust.  As we mentioned before Batman would ideally like to hand the city over to them.  These three are agents of good who all have framed their ideas of justice and have presented them to the world.  they have been attacked because of their ideas (literally).  Most of us have ideas about what Justice is and even more have strong opinions about what it is not.  Just because these three are attacked for their beliefs does not mean that they have the right idea.  For the most part they all believe that the law is justice.  But Joker tears this belief apart by using his own capture as a vehicle for chaos.  Joker uses the system that is supposed to work to show the Batman that they dot hold the answer.  and as a final blow he takes out the heads of these systems.  Even more drastically he “kills”  all three of these icons of what Batman believes in.  in the end all we have left is Gordon who was never part of the system in its current form.  At the end of the film Gordon actually has the harder job of reconstructing Gotham and “capturing” Batman.

I think this is a big cue to the audience that we have to look at ourselves as these three as well.  We need to be the greatest believers in Justice, whatever it may be, and we need to stand as a beacon to those who do not know what it is, who are trapped in a battle, or who are blind to it.  There have to be people willing to sacrifice themselves for Justice so that it will survive.  Some of us need to be the support to those who are lost (Dawes), some need to be the executor of the Justice and its hands (Gordon), and some need to be the beacon of hope and an ideal to look to.  I don’t think we get to choose which one we are.

We are Gotham

We are The City of Gotham.  Pathetic, helpless, dirty, cruel, antagonistic, easily manipulated, and represented only by the weakest and strongest among us.  We need help we are creatures that can be threatened by those in charge, good or bad, and we are mechanical predictable in our reactions.  Gotham is not innocent but regardless it needs to be protected because they are beautiful and good because they are people.  This is epically important.  because they are fellow humans they deserve respect and protection and gentle care.  and at all costs to be taken care of.  because they have only seen hate, malice, and manipulation they cannot understand the efforts of good men and women who sacrifice themselves for the city.  Just as the city does, we need to recognize grace given to us and seek out those who love us and want to protect our innocence and soul.  It is no surprise that children are ones who constantly see the good in Batman and desire to be like him in Gotham.

As a memer of the city we cant try to emulate those who are fighting the good fight.  without proper education, dicipline, and understanding we will get hurt and will be used against those who are prepared to be our knights.  There are obvious ||s that can be drawn from this in every arena.  Christians, Muslim, envrionmentalists, liberal, conservatives, etc. are cursed by their “gotham” population desperately trying to be Batmans, Gordons, Dawes, Dents, or worse Foxes and Alfreds.

We are NOT Fox/Alfred

We are not Fox or Alfred.  They have no flaws.  They are our compass and light.  They guide us at our darkest times.  We feel that we have to hide our inadequacies from them and we hide the moments that we step over our boundaries. we hide our sins until we are forced to reveal to them exactly how bad we really are.  and Their reaction is always precisely and perfectly appropriate.  These men our the saints we meet once or twice in our lives.  Chances are if you are reading this you are not this person, I am quite sure I am not.  These are the men we should look to be like but we cannot make the mistake and think we are like them.

What can we learn?

I’ll leave this for you to explore on your own.  There is much more than I have discussed here but please post any thoughts in the comments.