Movies could be one of the strongest influences on young minds in the 21st century, if not the most. With movie titles like 10 Rules for Sleeping Around, Three Night Stand and Knocked Up, it’s no surprise our world is falling deeper and deeper into self-destruction. Young women are a huge target audience that studios want to hit, and the amount of deception that they feed growing girls is absolutely shocking. Here are five common, false messages that young girls are falling prey to and need to fight against.
1. Outward Beauty is What Matters
Beauty is something that little girls are taught at such a young age, and it sticks with them throughout their teenage and adult years. Watching any beauty product commercial between TV shows, pushing a beauty standard few can actually hold up to impacts young women more than we like to admit.
When thinking about how beauty is portrayed in movies, a movie that quickly comes to mind is The Devil Wears Prada. Even the name itself speaks volumes. This movie is centered around two women who play this tug-of-war with each other in the fashion world. One is the symbol of all things beauty, glamor, fame and riches. The other portrays a more down-to-Earth, natural beauty—one which comes from the heart and shines from the inside out. Although the second character falls victim to the fashion world, she eventually returns to her roots.
The lie falls with the first character; the one that got all her power and fame from her outward appearance and puts all her worth and importance into that. Proverbs 31:30 talks about where real praise and value lies in a woman: “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.” Mark 8:36-37 also shines some light on the dangers of giving in to such lies and temptations: “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” We need to fight for our young girls and raise them up with their eyes fixed on God and not solely in the mirror.
2. Bullying is Funny
Somewhere along the line, young girls started to believe that bullying, fighting and tearing other girls down was an okay and acceptable thing to do. From the teasing of clothes and makeup, to arguments that lead to physical fights, girls have been against each other for decades now.
Movie influences that have given the “okay” on this destructive behavior are ones like The Duff, Bridesmaids and Mean Girls, all of which portray young teenage girls or adults using words, labels, punches and anything necessary to get their vicious, damaging message across to other girls.
Proverbs 31:26 gives a clear picture of how a lady should speak and act, saying, “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the teaching of kindness.” Matthew 5:43-44 gives a much more general view of loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you. These are the actions that should be taught to the young girls that are growing up to be the young women of this world.
3. Having Romantic Fantasies is Good
In a world consumed with love, relationships and fantasy, it is easy for little girls to start believing the lie that a man, or people in general, will be able to fulfill that hole in the heart that truly belongs to God. Girls are convinced that getting attention and being loved by the “perfect guy” is the only thing that will give them worth in this world.
The Twilight Saga is a series of movies that captures this corrupted mentality quite well. The story follows the relationship between two teenagers and their twisted journey in finding love and being together forever. Even so, the amount of emphasis on infatuation, love and being with the most “perfect guy” is so huge that it is easy for a young girl’s mind to slip into that fantasy of only wanting that type of attention in life.
The Bible is very clear about where our love, heart and focus should lie: on God. Deuteronomy 6:5 begins to paint this picture by saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might,” and Colossians 3:2 continues with “Set[ing] your affection on things above, not on things on earth.” Finally, 1 Corinthians 13 gives a detailed description of what real love actually looks like, rather than this fantasy that our young girls have given into.
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