J.C.'s Stride by Joyce Coronel: Hollywood fans the flames, contributes to human trafficking

It seems more than a little hypocritical to me that Tinsel Town, an enthusiastic promoter of sexual immorality, should inject itself into the sexual abuse scandal. If you ask me, the big screen tends to encourage deviant behavior.

A movie like “Milk,” for example, is Hollywood’s idea of showcasing what it views as a modern-day martyr for the cause of homosexual behavior. The movie deals with the murder of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to hold a major political office in the United States.

Unintended irony

Although I’m obviously not a fan of the big screen, I do enjoy the occasional night out at the theater, especially for movies like “Bella” and “Fireproof.” Wouldn’t it be great if films like these became the norm rather than the exception?

Last week, my husband and I went to see “Taken,” a story that deals with human trafficking and a very determined dad intent on rescuing his daughter from the real-life monsters who hold her captive.

Before the movie began though, we saw a preview for the upcoming “Miss March.” It’s supposed to be a comedy, but sadly, it makes light of promiscuity and pornography.

I say “sadly” because film has such a capacity to inspire, to entertain and to teach, and yet so often becomes instead a corrupting influence.

“Miss March” is the story of a young man who plans to sleep with his girlfriend on prom night, but instead, falls down a flight of stairs and winds up in a coma for four years. He awakens only to discover his girlfriend has become a Playboy centerfold. There’s even a scene with the ever-charming Hugh Heffner.

Are you laughing yet?

It struck me as incredibly ironic that we were minutes away from watching a movie about the horrors of human trafficking and yet expected to find kidding about promiscuity and pornography oh-so-funny.

Cultural conditioning

What Hollywood doesn’t get is that promoting the misuse of the gift of human sexuality contributes to the tragedy of human trafficking. Viewing other human beings as commodities and sex as a recreational activity encourages the behavior that allows human trafficking to flourish. It’s the natural outcome of cultural conditioning via the movie industry.

Where is the collective outcry over this? Plenty of people are waking up to the fact that human trafficking is a worldwide nightmare that involves thousands of innocent victims and billions of dollars changing hands, and yet somehow, an industry that encourages the sort of attitudes that foster this modern-day slavery gets a pass.

As you read this article, please know that there are victims right here in our own community who are being held against their will and forced into lives of prostitution. It’s a modern-day slave trade in which the victims are terrified to leave and regularly beaten.

Authorities estimate that each year, approximately 17,000 foreign nationals, mostly women and children, are brought to the United States to work in the sex industry. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the number of U.S. citizens trafficked within the country is even higher.

And while we’re all becoming more aware of this disturbing trend, we’re somehow blind to what fans the flames: out-of-control sexual appetites, fed by a movie industry that thinks sexual immorality is comedy. What’s wrong with this picture?

If ever there were a need for penance and the praying of the rosary, it’s right now. I say we start by asking God to help us love the way He loves, which is with a pure heart.

And let us be that sign of contradiction we’re called to be by refusing to support films that glorify sexual immorality. The more we live according to God’s will in every area of our lives, the more we will be able to build up a culture of life in which the dignity of every human person is cherished.

Joyce Coronel is a regular contributor to The Catholic Sun. Please send comments to letters@catholicsun.org.

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