Sister Linda S. Reeves, Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, listed some of Satan's tools, most of which involved media, and warned us that "We cannot play with Satan’s fiery darts and not get burned. ...When we are involved in watching, reading, or experiencing anything that is below our Heavenly Father's standards, it weakens us."
This makes me wonder which movies, TV shows, books, songs, and games meet our Heavenly Father's standards and which ones are tools of the adversary? The latter half of the question is easier to answer. Satan could use almost anything, even some good things, as a weapon against us, by using them to distract us from the things that really matter. For example, a card game or a movie might distract us from doing our schoolwork, and focusing too much on our schoolwork might distract us from reading our scriptures and cause a level of stress that is harmful to our spirits. It's no wonder that Sister Reeves urged us to be careful when Satan has so many tools at his disposal.
On the other hand, what are God's tools? What media meets His standards? Or, in other words, if God Himself were to watch a movie or TV show, read a book, listen to music, or play a game (if you can imagine a God that plays games), what might He choose to watch, read, listen to, or play? Certainly, it would almost have to be something uplifting - something that teaches eternal truths, inspires Christlike feelings and aspirations, or in some other way pleases the Spirit. It would be something that helps make the receiver of the media a better person.
Recently, I watched a Let's Play of The Legend of Spyro, A New Beginning. It's a 3D combat and platforming game where the player collects gems to level up their elemental attacks. On the surface, it's a long and dull series of combat encounters, which a person might play just to take their minds off other things. Naturally, that's not why I watched it. The story of the game centers around Spyro, a young dragon who was separated from his family before his birth, and thus escaped a genocide that destroyed the rest of his generation. Once he learns of his great potential, Spyro sets out to reclaim his homeland, rescue a council of elder dragons, and defeat the forces of a being called "the Dark Master."
Through it all, Spyro's optimistic and positive attitude, his perseverance, and his commitment to doing the right thing, regardless of how intimidating or difficult that was, was kind of inspiring. Every time Spyro died in the video game, he would respawn saying something encouraging like "Let's try again," or "I think I have the strength to go on" which I believe was sometimes more of a positive affirmation than an honest self-inspection, but it was usually probably both. Even though his challenges were great, he never let his circumstances defeat him mentally, even when they defeated him physically. It made me think, if I had that kind of attitude, what could I accomplish? What dreams could I achieve, what goals could I reach, if I followed Spyro's example of perseverance and optimism?
Looking at that game both ways, it could be an encouraging story or a mindless distraction. Like many things, it could be good or bad, depending on what we take from it and how much time it takes from us. This is why it's important that we evaluate the time we spend with games and media, to make sure that the time we spend seeking uplifting media doesn't take too much time away from other uplifting things or from things that are important. Even if a thing is good, it might not be good enough to meet God's standards.
Evaluating our media based on whether or not it meets God's standards means that we're going to have to cut back on some things. Spending too much time with any media, even the best kind of media, is a bad thing. Since our time on Earth is limited, we should also limit the amount of time we spend watching movies and playing games. And when we do watch movies and play games, we should try to make sure that they're uplifting enough to be worth the time they take.
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