When the owner of a drive-in movie theater located in the 2,300-person town of Henagar, Alabama, took to their business’s Facebook page Thursday night, it’s doubtful they expected to attract the attention of the national media.
But that is the world in which we live.
Earlier in the week, Beauty & the Beast director Bill Condon revealed that the forthcoming film would feature Disney’s first gay character, previewing an “exclusively gay moment” for moviegoers. This drove media outlets to trumpet the decision as “historic” and “truly groundbreaking.”
In response, the Henagar Drive-In Theater posted a note on Facebook respectfully informing patrons of its decision not to screen the movie. It was the kind of post that would not have been worthy of so much as a double take just ten years ago. But in 2017, it earned coverage in Entertainment Weekly, Time, Cosmopolitan, Variety, the Hollywood Reporter, Marie Claire and more, all in less than 24 hours.
Here is an excerpt from the now-viral post:
[blockquote]If we can not take our 11 year old grand daughter and 8 year old grandson to see a movie we have no business watching it. If I can’t sit through a movie with God or Jesus sitting by me then we have no business showing it. I know there will be some that do not agree with this decision. That’s fine. We are first and foremost Christians. We will not compromise on what the Bible teaches. We will continue to show family oriented films so you can feel free to come watch wholesome movies without worrying about sex, nudity, homosexuality and foul language.[blockquote]
This reflexive outrage over a small town drive-in’s business decision provides an instructive opportunity for all of us to take a deep breath, pause for a moment, and engage in the tolerance and understanding so many on the Left pledged to practice after the presidential election.
Honestly, the media’s impulse to cover the story feels a lot like urban voyeurism — city-dwelling journalists plucking the post of a rural theater from its local reach to showcase the ignorance to their more cosmopolitan readers.
After the election in November, New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet told NPR, “I think that the New York-based and Washington-based too probably, media powerhouses don’t quite get religion. We have a fabulous religion writer, but she’s all alone. We don’t get religion. We don’t get the role of religion in people’s lives. And I think we can do much, much better.”
Here’s a great opportunity for the media to start.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
