Movies and Music during Lent for Orthodox Christians Last year I was told that the Orthodox do not participate in movies and TV during Lent. Fine -- I assumed it had to do with the fact that new movies/TV are egregiously filled with sin, and Lent is the time of year to avoid sin even more so than usual. There is no canon prohibiting movies, but this practice could be inferred from the principles of Lent. However I still assumed that watching a G rating movie would be fine. It wasn't the TV/movies per se, but the sin involved in the majority of it.

Today I just heard that the Orthodox also do not participate in secular music during Lent. Initially I suspected that, yes, the lyrics in the majority of new secular music are egregiously filled with sin, so an inference could be made to prohibit secular music during Lent. However, non-lyrical music, specifically classical music, or "G rated" lyrical music, can't seem to me to fit into this category.

Has there ever been any actual proclamation made by the Church regarding music and TV during Lent? If so, is it a total fast from all movies and secular music, or simply from those which perpetuate sinful activity? Or am I missing the point here -- is it not necessarily to do with the sin in movies/music but more about denying yourself the pleasure of movies and music?

Is there any evidence at all to back up the notion that an Orthodox should avoid music or movies during Lent, aside from the fact that one should avoid sin during Lent, of which most new music and movies are deeply intertwined with?
I know very little about the Orthodox church, but I am familiar with Lenten practices of other churches. 

Lent is not a time for giving up things which are sinful. Things which are sinful are bad for you, and should be 'given up' all the time. In other words if movies (or music) 'perpetuate sinful activity', then they should be avoided at all times, not just during Lent. One should not "avoid sin during Lent" - one should avoid sin all the time.

What many people do during Lent is to give up something which is not in itself bad. Things like chocolate, sugar, coffee or meat (all popular choices) are not bad in themselves. But abstaining from them for a time allows a person to focus more on God, to become more self-disciplined and to better identify with people who don't have the kind of resources and luxury as us. Movies or music might well fall into this category. However these choices are usually personal and not something prescribed by the church.

P.S. Some people do indeed use Lent as a starting point to give up some sinful activity they have previously been doing - but the purpose is always to continue avoiding it after Lent is over, not to go back to the sin.