Why watch 'movies' when you can watch 'real life'?
Why 'watch' real life when you can 'live' real life?

If my logic sounds Greek to you, go back and enjoy your movies.

Hatzlacha

MT

Machshovo Tova wrote:


dear m.t.
your logic is unshakeable.

fortunately for you, you sound like you don't have an inkling or even a faint remote idea of what a pull a movie can be, unlike billions of other humans on this planet.
so i'm not gonna ruin your bubble, and i hope you'll NEVER be even slightly interested in movies and it should stay GREEK to you.
and no, i do NOT want to enjoy a movie.
BUT i'm pulled to it as a means of escape.
AND just for your info, there is a tosefos that mentions how bocherim had play fights in order to entertain a chosson, so even they understood the IDEA of entertainment of acting.

I will let Reb MT speak for himself, but I believe this is a mindset he acquires over months of effort in this area.

he was sayin' what our mindset should be.

b'hatzlachah

cordnoy wrote:


well then he should have said so.

and besides he was using " logic " to prove his point, instead of pointing out something about the ideal mindset which takes hard work. [and this is my edited version - v'doik]

lavi have you tried not watching for a little while . from experience if you can manage for a couple of days , the pull should slightly start to diminish . and if you continue in this way , you may forget what a movie looked like . Then you can leave for us all the pop corn

newaction wrote:


thanks for your concern buddy.
yes i have tried to not watch, but it comes and goes in waves. at one point i stopped for 2 months!!!
and from i have read from all kinds of addictions just stopping for a while isn't sufficient to treat things.
basically i try to trade any pushing desire for lust into entertainment from the media, which may be a step up, but i wanna break it

lavi wrote:


Dear lavi

Pleased to meet you. For your info, for many many decades I was victim to the pull of movies (probably way before your times). Way before the days of PCs and internet, I would sit for hours at the TV (even on days forbidden by halacha), watching every kind of stupid movie. Even in middle of learning a sugya in Bais Medrash, the 'pull' would force me to close the gemara and go feed my addiction. Way before porn was available on private devices, I would frequent movie theaters in various neighborhoods (with and without various disguises), and sometimes it was not x-rated, but most times it was. When the internet arrived, it only added to my existing 'pull'. But it also pulled me down so deep that I realized it will kill me if I don't completely cut it out of my life.
B"H I was able to completely stay away from all forms of non-religious movies, and my new real life is much better than ever.

Iy"H by you (and may it continue by me as well),

MT

had a hunch
from one old man to another (sorry Zaide).

Wow MT you are an inspiration, many of these post are me too. I did stop all movies for the whole of Elul till after Yom Kippur, (actually I managed till after Succos) and yes it is true I didn't miss them. But unfortunately, I have started again, and I can already feel where it can lead to.
Yes I watch movies to escape, from what I'm not sure, but that's where I'm at.

I can't imagine a movie less life forever. There is always the pull of the next instalment of the series.

What to do?

Machshovo Tova wrote:


that's better.

machshava tova and dibbur toiv - may we be zoche to maasim tovim.

israel613120 wrote:


Imagine a guy that is addicted to (let's say) jelly beans. One day the doctor tells him that he is highly allergic to jelly beans and if he keeps eating them he'll drop dead real soon. He may also say, "I can't imagine a jellybean-less life forever. There is always the pull of the next juicy jellybean. What to do?" And my answer to him is, "The choice is yours. You need to decide whether you want to keep enjoying jelly beans for now and not worry about the consequences. Or if your life is of value to you, then you need to come to the realization that a jellybean-less life is better than no life at all. In fact, it can turn out to be more enjoyable than ever before."

Hatzlacha

MT

what you are saying is good for a person who actually is convinced that a single movie is absolute poison.
for those who are not.....do you a machshava tova for us?

but Lavi my dear chaver,

It is like that with all elements of lust.
Instead of movie, insert your object of desire.
Youtube, radio music, magazines, porn, women on street, excitin' link, clubs, chats, etc....many of us fall into the trap that it is just one.....whatever....that will not destroy my life; I will be ok, and then we feel that pull, and sooner than later, we are powerless over that particular desire.
Happens to be, I have ALL of the above desires.

My advice is to take it one day at a time. I used to love watching movies and tv shows. It was hars to stop, but it can be done.

shomer bro wrote:


thanks sho bro for your advice, i even did little stages one at a time, if you read my posts above, i wrote i even managed 2 months, but the downside to that approach is the big pressure at the end of the time period, then one can feel that one "deserved" a good movie and ....back to square one.