Item Detail
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18289
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3
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1
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English
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Seeking after the Good in Art, Drama, Film, and Literature
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BYU Studies
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2007
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46
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no.2
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231-246
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Anderson suggests that just because something is unoffensive does not mean it is good or even wholesome. In fact, entertainment in general is not wholesome or good or virtuous because, even if it is lacks content that people find objectional, it rarely inspires learning or a desire to be better. Art that "is without objectionable content are not in consequence of that fact spiritually or intellectually nourishing." Yet, sometimes we have come to equate goodness with unobjectionable. Anderson feels this is a dangerous standard because it causes people to focus on the negative because we focus on what something lacks rather than what it may contain. Instead, members of the Church should follow the 13th Article of Faith and seek for art that is virtuous. In the present that word has come to mean chaste, but in the past it mean goodness and excellance. If we are seeking for the good we will find it because that is where our focus will be. In fact, "the only safe and reliable way to avoid the bad is to look constantly at and for the good." If we seek the good, we will not only avoid the bad, but we will "become good." In order to see the good in art one must "recognize that art is important" even when it may not be entertaining. But it will enrich life.