So, I just got back from seeing Sweeney Todd. This raises a very important moral question--one that has nothing to do with murder or revenge or lying or anger or--or anything remotely related to the movie itself, actually. Sweeney Todd is rated R; I am a Mormon. Good Mormons don't watch R-rated movies; Sweeney Todd is my first.
It was an innocent mistake, really; my ignorance is to blame. It's a stupid story, really, so I shan't relate any details, but basically I thought the title was Swinging Todd and had no idea that it had nothing to do with WWII-era music and dance until I saw the movie poster at the theater.
Yes, I'm a moron. And you read my blog, so maybe you are, too.
Anyway, this post really isn't a movie review, but it also isn't the sort of writing in which the author babbles about his guilt and pleads for the readers' forgiveness; my intent here is to explore the rigidity of morality and the implications thereof.
While I was on my mission, I came up with a catchphrase that became a sort of--eh--the appellation of "battle cry" is entirely too enthusiastic; perhaps "mission statement" would be better--either way, I decided that I wanted to become the sort of person that could honestly be described this way, and I still do; I want people to say of me, "He's straight-laced but not high-strung."
A noble balance to seek, don't you think--being straight-laced without being high-strung--or maybe upright without being uptight? I mean, when I think of my theological role models--heck, when I think of pure Christianity--I just can't get into the Puritanical point of view that advocates such over-the-top piety that rules out all fun.
That said, a quick punch for my relative conservatism: I am appalled by those my age who think that life is all about fun and that fun=happiness, so don't think that that's the direction I'm headed in.
Strictness of morals has been a recurring theme in my ponderings throughout the year 2007, but I've yet to reach a solid conclusion about anything. Lately, I've simply done my best to keep all the commandments that I know and then followed every whim that pops into my head, hoping that my righteous living keeps me close enough to God and far enough from Satan that the former will prevail over the latter in domineering said whims. But that isn't a very stable philosophy to live on; I mean, don't you have to nail down and quantify and qualify morality at some point if you hope to be even remotely consistent? The poet in me says that morals cannot be pigeonholed so neatly, yet my internal philosopher (unschooled, though he may be) cries out that they must be and that the life I'm living dangerously resembles the ever-popular "Do what feels right" sentiment--the Lord of Misrule that has led many like me into riotous living.
Okay. I'm rambling. Let's refocus a bit; come on, little Schmetterling; stay the course, young man!
Music is the main reason that I have scrutinized my morals this year. Since I've returned from my mission (January '07), my musical preferences have gotten progressively harder; whereas in high school, Billy Joel's "Pressure" was too intense for my palette, I now regularly listen to Ozzy and Aerosmith--I even enjoy things like "Flagpole Sitta" by Harvey Danger and occasional Metallica songs. Granted, I'm no hard rocker, and the moral dilemma presented by my choice of music really has nothing to do with how hard a song is; the real question here has to do with profanity and vulgarity (I'll draw a distinction shortly) because a lot of these artists employ them.
Here I wish to make a couple of nearly-arbitrary definitions for two closely related words: profanity and vulgarity. For the sake of this discussion, profanity is cussing, and vulgarity is shady content. So Bon Jovi's "Keep the Faith" is profane without being vulgar; Aerosmith's "Rag Doll" is vulgar without being profane. Good enough? Hope so....
So let me say here that I really have no problem with profanity. Maybe that makes me a bad Mormon, but that's how it stands. I myself am not one to cuss, but I think that even a "bad word" can sometimes be the right word. Jon Bon Jovi taught me this; "Keep the Faith" and "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" are two very powerful, beautiful songs, I think, and I feel that the profanity in them are more than just fitting but actually beautiful in their own right.
Now, granted, profanity is rarely beautiful; it is, in fact, repulsive most times, and I choose not to cuss because I feel my vocabulary is strong enough to allow me to express myself in other ways. Just watch, oh, say, The Freedom Writer--a movie I like a lot and actually own--and you'll see that someone can cuss a lot without being very good at it. Profanity, to me, is like a bitter herb or a nasty pigment: it ought to be used but sparingly and only when nothing else will do. This is not to say that Freedom Writers would be better without the cussing--it would probably come out sounding sanitized and unconvincing--I'm just saying that in music especially (and perhaps poetry also, though I have no convincing examples there), sometimes bad words are good words.
Vulgarity is much different, and this is where things get rather problematic for me and my morals. On the whole, I am opposed to vulgarity. I don't like things that are dirty, crass, suggestive, raucous--I don't like vulgar things! This is not to say I've never laughed at a dirty joke, but I kinda wish that I could say I haven't. I really--I just--I don't like it, and maybe I'm only mollycoddling myself, but I kinda wish it'd go away!
That said, it isn't as true as I wish it were (honestly, I was only looking to use the word "mollycoddle" or one of its derivatives), but it's pretty close to the truth; I really don't like vulgarity, but I do see its place in art as well as reality. Opposition in all things, right? And in the sanitized life I live, I sometimes thirst for color, for worldly things--not to be worldly, but to--to--to be in the world--yaknow--without being of the world.
Since I'm probably not done referencing it, I'm just gonna put the lyrics to Bon Jovi's "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" here in their entirety, and then I'll kinda pick 'em apart so you can see what I mean (I'll number the verses for referencing):
Hey, man I'm alive; I'm takin' each day and night at a time.
I'm feelin' like a Monday, but someday Ill be Saturday night.
(1)Hey, my name is Jim; where did I go wrong?
My life's a bargain basement; all the good shit's gone.
I just can't hold a job; where do I belong?
I'm sleeping in my car; my dreams move on.
(2)My name is Billy-Jean; my love is bought and sold.
I'm only sixteen; I feel a hundred years old.
My foster daddy went, took my innocence away;
The street life ain't much better, but at least I'm gettin' paid!
And Tuesday just might go my way;
It cant get worse than yesterday.
Thursdays, Fridays ain't been kind,
But somehow I'll survive.
Hey man I'm alive; I'm takin' each day and night at a time.
Yeah, I'm down, but I know Ill get by.
Hey hey hey hey, man gotta live my life
Like I ain't got nothin' but this roll of the dice;
I'm feelin' like a Monday, but someday I'll be Saturday night.
(3)Now I can't say my name or tell you where I am;
I want to blow myself away--don't know if I can.
I wish that I could be in some other time and place
With someone else's soul, someone else's face!
Oh, Tuesday just might go my way;
It cant get worse than yesterday.
Thursdays, Fridays ain't been kind,
But somehow Ill survive.
Hey, man I'm alive; I'm takin' each day and night at a time.
Yeah, I'm down, but I know I'll get by.
Hey hey hey hey, man gotta live my life!
I'm gonna pick up all the pieces and what's left of my pride.
I'm feelin' like a Monday, but someday I'll be Saturday night.
I'm feelin' like a Monday, but someday Ill be Saturday night.
(1)Hey, my name is Jim; where did I go wrong?
My life's a bargain basement; all the good shit's gone.
I just can't hold a job; where do I belong?
I'm sleeping in my car; my dreams move on.
(2)My name is Billy-Jean; my love is bought and sold.
I'm only sixteen; I feel a hundred years old.
My foster daddy went, took my innocence away;
The street life ain't much better, but at least I'm gettin' paid!
And Tuesday just might go my way;
It cant get worse than yesterday.
Thursdays, Fridays ain't been kind,
But somehow I'll survive.
Hey man I'm alive; I'm takin' each day and night at a time.
Yeah, I'm down, but I know Ill get by.
Hey hey hey hey, man gotta live my life
Like I ain't got nothin' but this roll of the dice;
I'm feelin' like a Monday, but someday I'll be Saturday night.
(3)Now I can't say my name or tell you where I am;
I want to blow myself away--don't know if I can.
I wish that I could be in some other time and place
With someone else's soul, someone else's face!
Oh, Tuesday just might go my way;
It cant get worse than yesterday.
Thursdays, Fridays ain't been kind,
But somehow Ill survive.
Hey, man I'm alive; I'm takin' each day and night at a time.
Yeah, I'm down, but I know I'll get by.
Hey hey hey hey, man gotta live my life!
I'm gonna pick up all the pieces and what's left of my pride.
I'm feelin' like a Monday, but someday I'll be Saturday night.
Okay, so that isn't their entirety (there's some repetition-to-fade-out kind of stuff at the end that I chopped off), but that's the bulk of it--unedited.
Kay. So. Let's look at this a bit, yeah? Check out that first verse. OHMYPOORVIRGINEARS, he said the S word! Yes. He did. It's vernacular; you got a better suggestion? You really think a kid my age in that circumstance is gonna say something more sanitary than that? Get real! So there is a meager defense of profanity, but that's not really why I included these lyrics.
Check out verses 2 and 3; 2 talks about prostitution and abuse, and the speaker in 3 is suicidal. But here is the important part: it doesn't advocate these things. Orson Scott Card wrote an essay (maybe several, I dunno) about the place of evil in fiction; he said the important part is to portray evil without justifying it, and I feel that this song is a moving example of that. It'd probably be better if you heard it rather than read it, but I hope you can get the idea. Verse 2 tears me apart whenever I hear it; it's so incredibly sad and says so much about the pain of abuse and the sorrow of regret. 3 to me is the most powerful of all, though; I imagine many parents (mine included, perhaps) would be offended by a song that says "I want to blow myself away," but people like that are taking things out of context because here we have some poor youth saying he's tired of life and just wants to kill himself but then give that stirring refrain of hope: maybe tomorrow will be better, so I gotta hold on the best I can. To me, the contrast of feeble hope in the midst of such terrible times is powerful enough to justify the use of profanity and even vulgarity.
That said, I'm still steadfastly against things that advocate vulgarity. For example, Aerosmith's "Rag Doll" is just about the catchiest song I've ever heard, but it's--uh--not really the sort of song that I could recommend to you.
So those are my morals; I think they're pretty good, but I still struggle with them. See, I'm aware of my failings; I know I'm not invulnerable. Earlier this year--back in the spring sometime--I went on a road trip to visit a sister in Flagstaff. Before going, I checked out a bunch of CDs from the library to keep me company while I drove. One was "Devil's Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith." It is because of that CD that I know that I like a lot of Aerosmith's songs; they are a very talented group, and I enjoy their music. I was listening to that CD as I pulled into Flagstaff and had some of those songs ("Rag Doll" included) stuck in my head that whole weekend.
One night while I was there, I had a dream. I don't remember anything about the dream except that it disturbed me when I awoke because someone had cussed in it. I'm okay with cussing being around me, but I don't cherish the thought of it getting inside. As long as I can remember, I've been fed cute little metaphors like "You can't roll in the mud and not get dirty," but I never really thought that such things applied to me because I'm not one to dabble in dirtiness; I just tolerate it.
Now, this isn't to say that I'm afraid that one day I'll wake up and *POOF* I'll be a pottymouth, but I can't help but wonder what the implications are of having dreams I don't approve of.
Anyway, that's the pondering I've been doing this year, and it's raised questions like the following:
- How much badness ought I tolerate?
- Does supporting culturally unsanitized art make me an unsanitary person?
- Even though portraying and advocating evil are two very different things, they are sometimes hard to differentiate between; is the line, then, too dangerous to safely play around?
So. Sweeney Todd. What is my opinion of The Demon Barber of Fleet Street? Honestly, it's a quality flick. Cinematography, writing, acting, singing--all very fine. The music was amazing. But I would never ever ever ever EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER recommend it to anyone because it is an incredibly demented story.
That said, I've kinda been hungry for catharsis lately; I've been looking for a good tragedy for a few days now. Just last night, I got to thinking about what I said about Cast Away, and I wondered whether I could find an irony more painful than that. And I did. Sweeney Todd has the most painful irony imaginable: a man seeking to avenge his dead wife ends up killing her (I figure that, since I'm not recommending this movie, I may as well ruin the ending for my readers). That's right--turns out she isn't dead at all, and he kills her (not knowing it's her, of course; he finds that out afterward, and then he himself gets killed).
AND CATHARSIS CAME GUSHING OUT OF THE SCREEN!!!!!!
Or something like that....
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ReplyDeleteWell, sheesh. Thanks for ruining the movie for me. I don't know if I ever would have actually seen it, but, well, there you go.
And to assuage your guilt a bit, know this: The R-rated movie thing is really just a Mormon [urban] legend. I spent hours and hours researching this circa 2002 and there really isn't any reasonable way to say that The LDS Church Is Categorically Opposed to Rated-R Movies.
Would you believe me if I told you a healthy number of General Authorities have seen The Passion of the Christ? Had been quoted in newspapers regarding their opinion of it?
And really, think about this from a purely logical standpoint: Should an American institution made of nonmembers and with many of their decisions sorta dictated by the studios and all their decisions guided by market issues really decide what the members of a worldwide church should watch? Should a Zambian saint have to get on IMDb to see what a half dozen citizens of Orange County rated a movie in order to decide if they should see it or not? Silly notion, really.
The R-rated thing isn't even in For the Strength of Youth anymore. You can check.
Another thought to mull over. You know that movie Zoolander? It was first rated R, then they complained, saying that, since the orgy scene was humorous rather than erotic, the movie should be PG-13. The MPAA agreed and the rating was changed. Does that make Zoolander better than it had been the week before?
Or Saints and Soldiers. Purposefully aimed for a PG-13 rating, thought they were less violent and bloody than other PG-13 films (specifically Pearl Harbor), yet got smacked with an R. Changed two shots (slight angle change, less close in a surgery shot) and they got the new rating. Hooray! Now Mormons can see it!
Silly.
What the Church thinks we should do is decide for ourselves. In this internet-fueled world, you can get plenty of info to decide if a movie is or is not appropriate to watch, according to your own understanding.
Anyway, your discussion on vulgarity and profanity was interesting and, I thought, good. I could give you two (but only two) beautiful uses of the F word--and in neither instance is the work in question vulgar. No other word would have done.
Great post. I should probably say more, but this is already a marathon comment so I'll just say that I think you're a good person.
But then....I've seen Saw.
Can't recommend that.
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ReplyDeleteI should point out realquick that the above is not justification for watching any ole R-rated movies--as it is often interpreted--it's about personal responsibility.
In many ways (every way, really) it is much easier just to have a brainless rule like No R-Rated Movies do my thinking for me. If it's R, I can't watch it. If it isn't, I can. It's nice, simple, Pharisaical. It's easy to to do, requires no spiritual insight, and proffers the opportunity to judge haughtily those who don't follow the same made-up rule. Which is exactly how most people use the R-rated rule.
It's worth pointing out also that at least 75% of R-rated movies are abominable and shouldn't be watched. But so are at least 50% of PG-13 movies, probably 30% of PG movies and 5-10% of G movies. Just because there's no simulated sex doesn't mean a film can't be morally bankrupt.
Anyway, just wanted to add that bit of clarification.
Yeah, I kinda gathered that the r-rated "rule" was unfounded when I tried to find something to hyperlink my phrase "good Mormons don't watch r-rated movies" to but couldn't, and I understand that the rating system is only national and very political, but I'll kinda miss my Pharisaical ego boost of, "Oh yeah? Well I've NEVER seen an r-rated movie!"
ReplyDeleteThis just in:
ReplyDelete"We counsel you, young men, not to pollute your minds with such degrading matter, for the mind through which this filth passes is never the same afterwards. Don’t see R-rated movies or vulgar videos or participate in any entertainment that is immoral, suggestive, or pornographic."
President Ezra Taft Benson "To the Youth of the Nobel Birthright" (see Ensign May 1986).
Some urban legend....
Oo! Oo! Now a rebuttal!
ReplyDelete(Perhaps this warrants an entirely new post rather than such an excessive number of comments on an already lengthy post, but I'm too lazy just now.)
Check out this website:
http://www.nauvoo.com/library/card-r-rated-movie.html
Brother Card makes a very solid argument.
Hm... quite the exercise of feeling, and logic. A few thoughts:
ReplyDeleteThe S word and F word never really sounded good in any kind of context at least for me. The S word always makes me feel like some of what it describes got in my mouth... just an abrasive word - an old used up useless piece of sandpaper. And the F bomb? Perhaps I'd rather have a CHERRY bomb go off in my ear. SoB I find to be another difficult phrase: To suggest that the person another loves more than any other (in theory), is a dastardly thing to do. The phrase is directed to suggest that the target is a swine in some way or another, and even understood that way, but the literal meaning remains an insult to the dear lady.
The masculine B word again is either an insult against the virtue of our sweet mothers, or a placement of blame upon the target for the ill morals of his parents (although it does have a catchy sound to it)... Hm... I'm getting off target...
I do have a kind of love for the sound of the D & H words... why? I don't know... maybe it's because Professor Higgins in the the musical My Fair Lady makes the D word sound fun and catchy when he says it 5 times in a row while walking down the street and preparing to break into song. That said I don't ever use either of these except in describing the state of a soul or where it's going. Why? I'm either afraid that the universe would collapse, or I don't want to approach the fringes of loss of control over my "little member" - the tongue (see James 3). That is to say, I too would hate to wake up a potty mouth.
It is worth noting the quotes by Elder Oaks and President Hinkley referenced in the 2006 New Era (“To the Point,” New Era, May 2006, 34). I've provided the quotes in the full context of 4 paragraphs, and was too lazy to turn inner quotation marks into single marks rather than regular ones.
"Swearing isn’t just about certain words. It’s about your attitude. Unclean speech is bad because it fills your mind with unclean things. Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “The language we use projects the images of our hearts, and our hearts should be pure.” He added that profanity and vulgarity “are sins that separate us from God and cripple our spiritual defenses by causing the Holy Ghost to withdraw from us” (“Reverent and Clean,” Ensign, May 1986, 49). On the other hand, using clean language sends a signal to people that you want to be clean.
The language you use also says a lot about how you deal with other people. Does what you say make it easier for those around you to live the gospel? Shouldn’t you use language that will lift them up, whether or not they share your beliefs? In the Bible, Paul said it this way: “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Eph. 4:29).
So don’t use language that is vulgar, unkind, sarcastic, or rude. It dulls your spiritual sensitivity. It has a bad effect on you and on those around you.
President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “Conversation is the substance of friendly social activity. It can be happy. It can be light. It can be earnest. It can be funny. But it must not be salty, or uncouth, or foul if one is in sincerity a believer in Christ” (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley [1997], 494)."
Now, I'm not about to stare incredulously at a person I respect if they release a common expletive, but I think I'd not ever use them... particularly because I'd rather not have them slip out in times of anger, or in particularly inappropriate settings. That which I exclude from my vocabulary, will never be a source of awkwardness or guilt.
As far as vulgarity goes, I wish I could master it as well as I have profanity. I don't go around all day telling dirty jokes... but I wish I didn't know any... I also wish I could say I'd never told any. Somehow I find humor dulls my sensitivity and I find that light mindedness is harder to reject than that which is raw and serious. All in all, vulgarity is in every way wrong because it drives out virtue. Virtue is the source of all our power. Idealistically, none can be tolerated. Will I remove myself from it completely. Not likely. Shame on me. I just watched, loved, and intend to purchase the flick "Stardust." It was rated PG-13 for "Fantasy Violence and Risque Humor". It DID have a spattering of suggestive humor and romance throughout. I'm still going to buy it. I suppose what I'm telling myself is that the moral of the show, the couple "feel good" moments, and overall entertainment value outweigh the comparatively small taint of worldliness therein. That's probably my biggest downfall in toleration of vulgarity - I like comparisons: because there is more of this than that; or because this one isn't so bad as todays norm; or because someone I judge to be cleaner than the rest of the world recommended it or liked it. Comparison is what kills me. What's worse is that I know it.
I suppose that the real test is to see what comes out of our mouths later, and to be able to determine whether we have come closer to, or farther from, God at the end of the moment, day, week, month, and year.
Sorry for the lengthy comment. I should have posted it in my own blog and linked it here, but there it is. Something to chew on... particularly for me. =D
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ReplyDeleteIt's worth noting that I never use those words in my own speech--but I do consider them fair game for fiction. Sometimes even necessary game, if one wants to be truthful and write about things other than talking goldfish. There are ways around it--Dean Hughes scrupulously avoids the swears--but sometimes it rings false. It's a very complicated issue, as simple as it seems. Like most everything in life.
And the Benson quote is the primary source of, yes, an urban legend. The talk is very specifically aimed at youth.
One could of course argue that anything inappropriate for the gosling is inappropriate for the goose, but, well, consider:
Baptism (8)
Aaronic Priesthood (12)
Patriarchal Blessings (varies)
Temple Covenants (varies)
Sex (varies)
And that's just for starters. There's plenty of doctrinal evidence that the rules aren't the same for geese and goslings.
Anyway, in closing I just want to restate that I am not promoting evil here. All I am doing is emphasizing agency. One of the great things about being LDS is how the Church goes out of its way to avoid creating pharisaical rules for its members. Teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves.
Principal: Avoid evil.
Meaningless rule for lazy people: Don't watch R-rated movies.
Principal: Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly.
Meaningless rule for lazy people: Don't write books about longshoremen.
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ReplyDeleteOh. Guess I'm logged into the wrong account.....
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ReplyDeleteUm. And I still was.....
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ReplyDeleteSo I just reread the OSC article you mentioned for the first time since Passion came out and I still agree. It's a great article.
One more thing on this issue is that is is every bit as possible for a person on my side of this argument to fall into self-righteousness and telling others they are being bad for not thinking as it is for them to tell me I'm being bad because I count Psycho and Rushmore among my favorite movies.
I need to be every bit as careful to remember my watchwords: agency, wisdom, empathy.
"
President Hinckley in particular has tried to get us to make wise decisions about such things on our own, refusing to get roped into giving us specific regulations that allow us to turn off our own consciences.
Yet there are always Latter-day Saints who want to live in a pharisaical church.
The Pharisees had a pious goal: Because they wanted to avoid disobeying the law even by accident, they decided to "build a fence around the law," surrounding the deep principles of Torah with a lot of small, specific regulations, so that by obeying those little rules, the Lord's people could be sure they wouldn't accidentally stray from the great law.
The problem is that such a "fence around the law" can give us a false sense of safety. It's so easy to obey such laws and yet join the category of "fools" and "hypocrites" that Jesus repeatedly rebuked. You condemn your brother for the mote in his eye, Jesus said, but don't see the beam in your own. The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
Paul called them whited sepulchers, those hyper-obedient souls who went to extraordinary lengths to defend the law -- and broke it repeatedly with their pride and their persecution of others.
Surely we can recognize that Jesus was not being lax or careless with the law when he resisted the Pharisees.
On the contrary. Jesus was teaching us that you can't build a fence around the law, and then feel safe. Instead you have to take the law into your heart and embrace it so that you understand and obey its purpose.
...
Maybe what we need is for all of us Latter-day Saints to take the words of our leaders in their proper context, and with a full sense of our personal responsibility for making moral judgments instead of blindly following rules even in situations that clearly were not intended.
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But my favorite line was the last.
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ReplyDeleteIf you want, delete that last comment: the paragraphs got in the wrong order.
Or don't: I'm not reputting-in the hyperlinks and italics.
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So I just reread the OSC article you mentioned for the first time since Passion came out and I still agree. It's a great article.
Favorite portion:
"
President Hinckley in particular has tried to get us to make wise decisions about such things on our own, refusing to get roped into giving us specific regulations that allow us to turn off our own consciences.
Yet there are always Latter-day Saints who want to live in a pharisaical church.
The Pharisees had a pious goal: Because they wanted to avoid disobeying the law even by accident, they decided to "build a fence around the law," surrounding the deep principles of Torah with a lot of small, specific regulations, so that by obeying those little rules, the Lord's people could be sure they wouldn't accidentally stray from the great law.
The problem is that such a "fence around the law" can give us a false sense of safety. It's so easy to obey such laws and yet join the category of "fools" and "hypocrites" that Jesus repeatedly rebuked. You condemn your brother for the mote in his eye, Jesus said, but don't see the beam in your own. The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
Paul called them whited sepulchers, those hyper-obedient souls who went to extraordinary lengths to defend the law -- and broke it repeatedly with their pride and their persecution of others.
Surely we can recognize that Jesus was not being lax or careless with the law when he resisted the Pharisees.
On the contrary. Jesus was teaching us that you can't build a fence around the law, and then feel safe. Instead you have to take the law into your heart and embrace it so that you understand and obey its purpose.
...
Maybe what we need is for all of us Latter-day Saints to take the words of our leaders in their proper context, and with a full sense of our personal responsibility for making moral judgments instead of blindly following rules even in situations that clearly were not intended.
"
But my favorite line was the last.
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One more thing on this issue is that is is every bit as possible for a person on my side of this argument to fall into self-righteousness and telling others they are being bad for not thinking as it is for them to tell me I'm being bad because I count Psycho and Rushmore among my favorite movies.
I need to be every bit as careful to remember my watchwords: agency, wisdom, empathy.