What is the driving force behind teens today? What is it that influences them, and does it urge them to reach the unreachable star? What is the pop culture of today, and what worldviews does it present? From experience I have seen that what is shown on movies, what is heard in music and what the newest fashion trends set by the stars is the influential material that makes up pop culture.
Take movies for example. Troy came out on VHS and DVD recently. Starring popular stars such as Orlando Bloom and Brad Pitt, it was naturally advertised to those who had seen Mr. Bloom in Pirates of the Caribbean and The Lord of the Rings. Those attending it to see the Iliad, were greatly disappointed. Those going to see a romance with Mr. Bloom were not. But what kind of message did Troy leave those watched it? What morals, or lack thereof, did it promote? With Paris as the hero, and Helen as the heroine, Troy said, mayhap subtly, that if you and a woman loved each other, than you needed to go together, even if one of you was married. It encouraged adultery, on the basis that the voice of “love” needed to be hearkened to.
In fashion it is considered “in” to show the midriff, and have a low cut top. Pants hugging the hips, or even sitting lower are very popular. Do we want to stare at the skin of other teens as we talk to them, or stare up at the ceiling so as to avoid looking at them. Yet manners have taught us that it is polite to look at the person one is talking too. And that brings us to the question, is it better to follow manners, and perhaps succumb to temptation, or ignore temptation and manners, or follow manners, and proper clothes?
These questions I can not answer for you. Only you can answer them for themselves. But when you answer them, keep in mind virtue. Is your choice the virtuous one? Your choice will affect other choices, and it is our wish to have virtue predominate throughout all our choices.
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