So…
As I was doing some research on another blog that I pen for, I “happened upon” (Proverbs 16:33-AMP) a website called, ThoughtCatalog.com. As I was reading through a few pieces, I found myself digging it. Anyway, in the midst of referencing one topic, I peeped another feature entitled, “We Are The Porn Generation” and while you might think it’s just about the kind of porn that we deal with on here, it actually is coming from a definition that we don’t really associate with porn *nearly as much as we should*:
Porn: television shows, articles, photographs, etc., thought to create or satisfy an excessive desire for something, especially something luxurious
With that, here’s an excerpt of the piece (the first two paragraphs, actually):
Even if you aren’t a teenage boy, I’ll bet that you were exposed to some pornography today. You can stop sweating; I’m not talking about erotic films (at least not necessarily). I mean the concept of pornography, at the simplest level. When broken down, what pornographic films do is take the most arousing parts of regular films (i.e. the sex scenes) and have those parts comprise the main content. In other words, it’s all meat and potatoes. We want the good stuff, and we don’t have time to eat the veggies. For example, a movie like Black Swan is a salad: lots of boring lettuce… with that Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis sex scene as the sprinkled bacon bits. The same concept applies to the actors: pornographic filmmakers understand their main demographic, and use actresses that will appeal most to that group. That’s why certain features in these women are either selected for in casting or exaggerated with surgery.
Now, think about where else the concept applies: where else do they isolate the meat and potatoes? Quite literally, it’s done at McDonald’s. Fast food is food porn. A trip to your local burger chain is masturbation for your taste buds. We love certain tastes; salt, sugar, protein – and that’s all you get in your greasy, brown paper bag. It starts with the burger: if a Big Mac were a movie, it would be rated ‘R.’ It’s also clear who the big star is: the patty. The lettuce is just an extra; it shares a trailer, stays out of the spotlight, and just makes the whole thing look pretty. When you’ve gotten your beef fix, you move on to the fries; the deep-fried, salt-covered potato sticks. Taste one and tell me there’s something in there that isn’t pushing your sodium meter off the charts. Wash the whole thing down with a jumbo fountain soda, sweetened with enough high-fructose corn syrup to make a 10-year-old pixie stick addict wince.
The entire piece really is cleverly written, but as the author came to the final resolve of “Life appears to be a continuous quest to get the most possible pleasure out of every situation, but it’s really more complicated than that. You can go straight to the bedroom if you so choose, but I want some romance first“, I thought about an article I read once entitled, “The Largest Sex Organ of the Body Is Your Brain” and how, if sexual porn was actually a satisfying experience, why do so many of us transition into being *addicts*? I mean, if it really met a true need, would it be something that we had an unhealthy dependency on? We need water. How come we aren’t referred to as *water addicts*? Fruits and veggies never killed anybody (now those pesticides are something entirely different) and health professionals say we can never (really) consume too much of them. Why aren’t we banana and carrot junkies?
What is it about our brains that they are simply not content with so much of the crap that we try and force it to be satisfied with? Because really, isn’t that what instant gratification centers its entire “movement” on? Trying to meet a desire as quickly as possible and when it fails to try again with either more of the same thing or with something else? And since it fails so much, perhaps it’s a movement that we should boycott. Seemingly it’s a contradition in terms. Illicit sex, food, entertainment, Facebook, shopping…whatever-ing may come to us “instantaneously” but if we were *really and truly gratified*, we wouldn’t be exhausting all that we have and all that we are to get more?
Besides, on a spiritual level, how productive is that way of living? You know, I looked up how many times “instant” appears in the New King James Version of the Bible. You know how many? A whopping five. OK, but the word “wait”? How about 92 and the phrase “Wait on the Lord” got eight honorable mentions (literally) all on its own. WAITING ON THE LORD BEATS OUT ANYTHING THAT’S INSTANTANEOUS.
Contrary to ignorant assumption, God has no problem with satisfaction or pleasure. Matter of fact, Psalm 145:16(NKJV) tells us, “You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing” and Psalm 16:11(NKJV) states, “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Matter of fact, Psalm 36:8(NKJV) takes it a step further by saying, “They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.” Yet as I was thinking about how often we want so much so quickly and how unhappy so many of us are in the process, I had to take Richard Starr, the author of the “porn piece” to heart.
Are we the porn generation? And if so, what kind of legacy are we leaving for the generations after us to follow?
No matter what kind of porn we seek.