Listen Chavereim, Torah does not forbid you from watching a screenplay. Torah forbids you from acting like a buffoon.
The Yalkut in Shemos 1 says (among other reasons) that the problem the Egyptians had with us is that we filled their theaters and circuses. This is the first step in assimilation and it was only shevet Levi who did not go to these things, that were saved from the years of servitude.
There is no illicit problem going to a movie unless say it is say Adult Rated.
Actually there can still be problems of isurei histaklus and ri’iyah. And lets be honest. Its more than just likely.
Personally I felt that cinema was a good way for children to learn about the world when used in an intelligent fashion.
Is this as opposed to the Torah which you are saying would not have been an optimal way to teach children about the world despite Ben Bag Bag who says that everything is in it?
Can you imagine not being able to see say Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark or Schindlers List?
Very easily. And from what I’ve heard, at least Schindler’s List was not entirely appropriate for a Jew to be watching.
I am a modern orthodox jew and I will not kow tow to a philosophy which states that this “secular” is antithecial to Israel. It is not and it in fact educates us as well. I will beat this to death as long as I exist.
I don’t think anyone is telling you to kowtow to anyone. But your opinion might not be entirely based on halacha. In which case, you may want to ask yourself is Hashem is asking of you to kowtow to his Law.
what you do and see will either improve or corrupt you and then you can take your Torah Skills to the test and figure out what you are made of and what you want to be in life.
It sounds as though you are suggesting that people test themselves in what they can handle secularly speaking. Are you sure that it is OK to test yourself in this way?
That is more intense and stronger than avoiding a theatre where the cinema plays for the rest of your lives.
What exactly is the problem with avoiding a theater for the rest of our lives? Would you not avoid a non-kosher restaurant your whole life or would you say that its better to go into the non-kosher restaurant and order a drink rather than avoid it?
I urge you to research the halachos of histaklus and r’iyah before writing such strongly worded statements about what the Torah allows or forbids.