One of my pet peeves is when people imply, with no qualifications, that chick flicks are female pornography.
This morning I came across a piece over on Relevant magazine that seems to promote this idea, “The Dangers of Emotional Pornography.” In the heat of the moment following my reading it, I wrote the following comment:
It seems to be the ‘in’ thing nowadays to compare the genre of ‘chick flicks’ or ‘chick lit’ with pornography. They are not the same, even in the sense that one may be visual and the other emotional. Pornography is about trivializing the sacred and lust and adultery — clearly things God hates. Chick flicks (as a genre) are about emotions and matters of the heart and a longing for love — things God clearly affirms.
It’s just sloppy thinking comparing the two, and ultimately diminishes the dangers of real pornography by comparing it with chick flicks.
Yes, ‘soul-matism’ is wrong, and pornographic imagery within chick flicks is wrong. But the genre itself is not wrong.
Maybe the truth is that the genre points to a Love that truly does exist. Maybe there is a Prince who will some day sweep us away in His arms, where we will live happily ever after. Maybe there is a Love that will never leave, and will remain full of fire for all eternity. That is not a ‘fake love,’ as Cole NeSmith writes, but a sacred and Very Real Love. We should practice grace toward those around us with whom we won’t any time soon experience pure love, but with an eye toward that time when we indeed will experience love undefiled.
Man, I cringe at this sophistry that belittles emotionally moving films and compares them with the very dangerous reality of pornography. Chick flicks are not ‘female porn’; female porn is the all-too-real problem of women looking at porn.
What is the purpose of this kind of article, this kind of comparison? Are we supposed to shun chick flicks with the same vigor that we shun pornography? Or perhaps we’re supposed to be as introspective about our porn as we are with our chick flicks.
Or maybe chick flicks are not in any way “pornography,” but simply provoke us to desire a love greater than any we’ve yet experienced. May we realize without disappointment that such love is not found in those around us, but in eternity.