This has been clanking around upstairs for weeks. “Taken” is a story of an ex-CIA agent whose daughter is kidnapped by an Albanian gang engaged in human trafficking. They drug, prostitute and auction off young women. I dismiss the probabilities of the predicable storyline. I cheer him on through the mayhem and destruction right to the Disney finish. His daughter is saved!
I watched the movie in the attic. A dark room dripping with evil. I finished watching the movie and headed outside, I needed to get to the Sun.
I have a daughter.
It’s just a movie.
This evil actually exists.
It’s just entertainment.
Getting the bad guys felt so good.
Then why do you feel so dark now?
And why do you watch these things?
I came across this op-ed essay by Arthur C. Brooks titled The Trick to Being More Virtuous and asked myself:
- Demand outstrips supply for this “poison.” Am I further poisoning the well with my spend and my attention?
- What does my next “click” say about my desires?
- Will the next movie or book or article that I read, “elevate” me?
- Like that third donut, can I pass it by and “seek personal moral improvement?”
Here’s a few excerpts from Brooks’ essay:
Live & Learn 