Not long ago, I read a good article by Dr. James White entitled, "What Not to Watch". The article gave some guidelines Christians might use when deciding on television & viewing choices in light of Psalm 101:3 ~
I will set no worthless thing before my eyes...
It can be very difficult to decide what is and isn't worthwhile. My husband and I have always been fairly choosy in making choices for both our ourselves and our children. It's not that we want to be legalistic about it. We are free in Christ. But we are free for a purpose, and as I Corinthians 6:12 says, Everything is permissible for me, but not all things are helpful. Everything is lawful for me, but I will not become the slave of anything or be brought under its power.
In deciding what we will watch, we consider whether or not the show or movie has redeeming value. That value might be expressed directly through the film, via teaching a moral lesson. It might be come through the (accurate) teaching of an important aspect of history. Or it might come more indirectly, though the teachable moments presented after the movie is over. Sometimes the value is as simple as a few belly-laughs during a film that offers wholesome, clean fun.
One resource that we find very helpful for family movie night is Focus on the Family's website Plugged In. Here, you can get a decent feel for almost any new movie or new DVD release you are interested in watching: the good, the bad and the ugly. (Although the site features new releases, I believe there is also a decent archive of older movies on DVD.)
Recently, Plugged In added another really cool feature: Movie Night Discussion Guides. The discussion guides are written to help children and teenagers think about films from a Christian worldview. They contain thought-provoking questions for parents & kids to discuss, along with pertinent Scriptures pertaining to incident or issue being discussed. (What a great way to prepare our kids for something they may now only encounter on a screen, but may later very well encounter in the "real" world!)
Not all Discussion movies are appropriate for all families, depending on the age/maturity of the kids and the personal convictions of parents. I appreciate, though, Focus on the Family's continual efforts to strengthen both families & Christians to live out our faith while living in the very real (and very secular) world. Check it out!
