Rooney Mara is not exactly a household name, but she seems desperate to change that. NFL football fans who pay attention to long-time owners may notice that her name combines the family that owns the Steelers (the Rooneys) and the family that owns the football Giants (the Maras). The 26-year old actress was cast last summer to play the lead in a remake of the Swedish movie, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (based on Stieg Larsson’s book of the same name).
Although the movie will not be released for several months, the studio already has the promotion going in high gear. Getting the most attention is a poster showing Ms. Mara in character as Goth-girl heroine Lisbeth Salander. She is topless with one breast fully exposed.
Nudity in movies is nothing new. This movie has not been rated, but it will almost certainly be rated R. Viewers might not be shocked to see bare breasts in this kind of film. Where the shock value comes is in the display on a movie poster.
I am guessing that the poster will be edited, with a little more coverage given to Ms. Mara’s body parts before the coming attractions broadsides go up at your neighborhood mall cinema. But, maybe not. 21st century American culture is definitely moving in the direction of utter shamelessness.
While Adam and Eve were naked in the Garden of Eden, they were not ashamed [Genesis 2:25]. After they sinned, their eyes were open and they knew they were naked. They tried to remedy the problem by sewing fig leaves to cover themselves [Genesis 3:7]. Before sending the first man and woman out of the garden, God clothed them in animal skins [Genesis 3:21].
Nudity is mentioned from time to time throughout the rest of the Bible. King David looked from his rooftop and saw his neighbor Bathsheba taking a bath [2 Samuel 11]. That didn’t turn out well for anyone, most especially for Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah. In the New Testament, John the Baptist lost his head because King Herod’s stepdaughter/niece danced for him and his dinner guests. Herod was so impressed by the young woman’s performance that he foolishly promised to give her whatever she wanted. Listening to her mother’s advice, she asked for the head of John the Baptist. The Bible text does not tell us how much clothing she might or might not have worn, but there is little doubt that her dancing was provocative.
Contrast this with the counsel the Bible consistently gives godly women to dress modestly. The “worthy woman” of Proverbs 31 knew that godliness was worth far more than sensual charm and beauty. Verse 30 says, “Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Look to New Testament passages such as 1 Timothy 2:9-10 and 1 Peter 3:1-6 for more information about the benefits of women adorning themselves with godliness.
Frankly, women dressing to display godliness and modesty is the last thing we would expect in most movies today. Sadly, the same observation can be made about the real-life world around us. There seems to be much more interest in being shocking, daring, and sensual than in projecting the image of wholesomeness. Realistically, I do not know what Christians can do to change that in the short term future.
So let Rooney Mara and other young women like her display their goods openly before the eyes of men who want to look and lust. But let Christian girls and women determine that they are not going along with the trends. In a world where so many have forgotten how to blush or feel shame, let Christian women redouble their resolve to adorn themselves with godliness and not debauchery and sensuality.
