Movies

How Stories Can Encourage Evil

Evaluating Hit Man, the #1 Movie on Netflix as of June 2024

By Adam Lloyd Johnson, Ph.D.

Some people dislike stories that involve appalling evil such as sexual immorality and murder. However, such stories can be powerful tools to encourage us to do what’s right and fight against our prideful, selfish desires. Often this is done by having an appealing character make an evil decision and then showing the audience how that decision destroys his life. A famous example of this is the story of David whose decisions to commit adultery with Bathsheba and murder her husband ruin his life, his family, and his kingdom.