I am standing out in the winter air discussing the movie Finding Nemo in French, and I feel so happy. That movie is truly amazing in so many ways, and after watching it, I can see that all of my friends look happy and bright. Hopeful, if you will. There is something about watching a movie with humor, love, friendship, adventure, risks, and family all wrapped up in it. It just makes your mind open up. Thats not even to mention the surfer-dude turtles, or the animal rights undertones. I personally will never keep fish in a tank, and when I saw that school of tuna break the fishermen's net for the first time I almost cried. I was so happy. Finally, somebody out there with a voice was saying something worthwhile.

I made a decision that night, out in the friendly cold. I will no longer watch films or TV that don't send good messages. If you think about it, if a movie like Finding Nemo can make people feel that good, then crappy movies can make people feel incredibly bad.

I remember the night I watched the movie Scream. It was last spring, a Friday night right before the day of a big track meet. My friend Kelly and I decided to pass the time with a movie, and since I had never seen it before, we chose Scream. Apparently it was essential to my cultural education. So I watched it, all of it, and I barely was able to make it through. It was a horrible movie. It contained death, endless fear, blood, and sadness. Why that movie was ever made I have no idea. It didn't send any interesting messages, it had no good morals, and it didn't even have interesting or developed characters.

After watching that movie I went home and walked straight into my mom's bedroom where she was busily getting ready for bed. She listened to me, propped up on her pillow, rubbing lotion into her hands, as I recounted the horrors of the movie and my exasperation at the filmmakers and actors for making it, and myself for watching it. She gave me some very good advice that night. She asked me to consider what junk food does to your body. Its not good food, in fact it hurts your stomach and intestines, not to mention rotting your teeth. You still eat it because it seems to taste good, but if you really think about what it is and what it does to you suddenly it doesn't seem so appetizing. It doesn't seem like food even, it seems like poison for your body. And she told me something very important then. There are ways to poison your body other than eating junk food. Movies like Scream are poison for your mind. When you watch a movie like that you are forcing your mind to take in something awful that you will have to digest and detoxify, like a bad meal.

"Just give it some time," she said, "And it will go away, though you'd be much better off not watching things like that at all." After all, there really is only so much poison your body can take.

So I took my mothers sagely advice for a while, but after time I began to forget about it. During my stay in France I have watched several things that I really wish I hadn't, looking back on it. I never decided just to watch something crappy on my own either, it was always because somebody I knew was watching it. Always because it was social. I knew while I was watching whatever movie it happened to be that I shouldn't be watching it, that it was something my mind would have to spend hours detoxifying, but I did it anyway.

So there I was in the parking lot of Kinepolis, the theater, smiling and laughing with my friends, and I made the decision. I well never put anymore garbage into my mind willingly again. If the movie, TV show, book, newspaper, magazine article, or whatever else it is doesn't have some kind of decent message, humor, or purpose for the good of the world then I will not be giving any of my attention to it. I've wasted too much time of my life already on mind garbage that's purpose is not to entertain me, but to just make money. No more. Movies like Scream and The Fast and the Furious will not find their way onto my viewing list anymore. That also goes for TV shows like The Bachelor and NBC News (a.k.a. The Next Random Thing That Will Kill Us All), and magazines like Seventeen and YM. Anything that focuses on senseless sex, drugs, violence, hate, stupidity, and money will no longer find its way onto my list. You could say I'm starting a movement, and its called Down With Stupid Media Garbage.

You see, one of my main beefs with stupid crap like the movie Scream and the magazine Seventeen is this. People all over the world are dying because of hunger, lack of shelter, lack of health, and/or lack of education, and instead of using the money we have to help them out, we're using our money to support stupid crap that doesn't help anyone, not even ourselves. Furthermore, the people who make the stupid crap are also using large sums of money to make the stupid crap they're making, instead of saving lives or spreading education. I'm not trying to say that we should all stop going to movies and the entertainment industry shouldn't exist. The entertainment industry is an amazing thing. Movies can change lives. People all over the world can receive news almost the instant that it happens. Its great. And there are all kinds of great films out there. I was changed by Schindler's List, I sobbed at the end of Gladiator, Signs gave me belief, The Lion King showed me its possible to do anything, Lord of the Rings shows us just how far passion can take you, and that, as Samwise Gamgee says, we always have something to hold on to, and that's that there is some good in this world. That last line is taken directly from a movie, and it gives us hope. Every actor out there, every filmmaker, every writer and singer and politician has a voice. A voice that resonates on levels unimaginably large. I think its time that more of those voices start carrying decent messages. Disney has been doing it for years, giving us films full of hope and courage, movies that show that one person really can make a difference. There are singers out there, like Phil Collins, Sting, and Seal, that sing about things more interesting than puppy love, and its beautiful. Its about time that singers use their voices to on about something other than the love between a man and a woman. Its not that the topic is bad, its just so overused. I could go on and on about the stupidity of magazines that focus on nothing but thin thighs and the styles of sweaters that are in this season. Why bother? And the news. Just once I'd like to turn on the news and see find the headline story being something good, something hopeful. the stars of our world need to realize that they have voices. Sure, they could use their voices to go on about sexiness, trends, and violence, but there are things that are so much better. Talk about peace for a change, and love. Talk about religion and family. Talk about humor. Talk about intelligence and going beyond what is normal and expected. I say that its about time. So lets do something good. Money speaks wonders, remember that the next time you go to the cinema, and choose something that will teach you something, that will promote the good. Skip the stupid crap. Its not worth your time anyway.

And as for me. I know now that I have seen enough to know that i have seen too much. I will be choosing the ideas that enter my mind carefully. A movie is a powerful thing, as is a story. From now on I will choose movies that will inspire me, that will open my eyes. And the stupid crap? Finally I'm letting go of it, and like a stone dropped in water, like a broken tuna net, it will just fall away, and I will never look back.