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A ministry of the ChildCare Action Project: Christian Analysis of American Culture (CAP Ministry) A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Christian Ministry. www.capalert.com/ Entertainment Media Analysis Report A service to His little ones through you in His name by His Word MAR27025  (2007), PG-13 [Hard R-13*] (1hr 38min) The #1 Christian entertainment media analysis service on the Internet. We give you OBJECTIVE tools NO ONE ELSE CAN to help YOU make an informed decision for yourself whether a film is fit for your family. Over 1100 analyses for parents, grandparents, pastors, youth leaders and more. |
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(While the Scriptural references are certainly not subjective, my commentary may be and sometimes is somewhat subjective.)
 Cast/Crew Details Courtesy Internet Movie Database Production (US): Cold Spring Pictures, DreamWorks SKG, The Montecito Picture Company, , Paramount Pictures Distribution (US): DreamWorks SKG, Paramount Pictures Director(s): D.J. Caruso Producer(s): Ashley Brucks, Jeremy Kramer, Jackie Marcus, Joe Medjuck, Kwame Parker, Tom Pollock, Ivan Reitman, Steven Spielberg, E. Bennett Walsh Screenplay by: Christopher B. Landon, Carl Ellsworth Story by: Christopher B. Landon Cinematography/Camera: Rogier Stoffers Music: Geoff Zanelli Film Editing: Jim Page Casting: Deborah Aquila, Jennifer L. Smith, Mary Tricia Wood Production Design: Tom Southwell Art Direction: Douglas Cumming Viewed At: Driftwood Theater 6 Disturbia. A teen cussfest sex flick. It is rated PG-13 on appeal. Well, if there was any appeal it wasn't enough. The CAP analysis model found content severe enough to earn a score of zero in four of the six investigation areas. R-rated films in the comparative baseline database earned final scores of 54 and below out of 100. Dusturbia earned a final score of 28! All for our 13 year olds. And that is very "distrubia-ing." I cannot image how a group of adults, ostensibly parents, can slap an apporved-for-13-year-olds stamp on this film. But then, we all know by now about the MPAA (See R-13 and Harvard Agrees With Us. Young Kale (Shia LaBeouf) loses his father to a heinous traffic wreck and then loses control ... to a point. Kale is able to hold him self until a Spanish teacher (Rene Rivera) asks Kale what his father would say about Kale's failure at learning Spanish. After Kale puts out the lights of the Spanish teacher, in class no less, Kale is convicted and sentenced to three months of house arrest under Warden mom, Julie (Carrie-Anne Moss) rather than doing time in jail. The judge was lenient due to the circumstances which we are led by Hollywood to believe children should have since they are not accountable for their own deeds. But then, Dr. Larry Gilliam, a practicing counselor, Dr. Karen Nelson, a university psychology department head agree with me that it would be unusual for even a 16 year old to be able to fully separate fantasy from reality or to be able to fully anticipate the consequences of his/her actions: that such skills typically do not plateau until the early twenties. [1 Cor. 13:11] But if Kale gets out of his electronic boundary for more than 10 seconds, the Sheriff will cart his [expletive] off to jail for the full sentence. Kale's electronic boundary is just a couple feet from the edge of is mother's yard. Much too confining to go a personally check out his new same age neighbor, Ashley () who prances around in dressing to maximize the female for and/or skin exposure or much of the film. Indeed, much of the film is not spent in suspense but in the building of the relationship between Kale and Ashley. Occasionally filmmakers use too little screen time to build character and plot, but this one is the inverse of that. It felt as though most of the film was a close-up of Kale or Ashley or both. Now that Kale is under house arrest he cannot his mom's property. He goes stir crazy and spends his time watching TV, listening to music ... and peeping. On everyone. Especially Ashley. But one day he notices a neighbor, Mr. Turner (David Morse) who mows his grass twice a day, drives a car that fits the description of a suspect in a kidnapping disappearance of a woman. Now Kale's attention moves -- a little -- from peeping on Ashley to peeping on Mr. Turner. And Ashley gets involved in the peeping, too. From Kale's bedroom, of course. Wanton Violence/Crime (W) Kale loses his father in a graphic episode of vehicular collision. While little gore is seen, the acting is rather expressive. Kale hits his teacher and Mr. Turner assaults people a number of times, several of the assaults are rather graphic. One of them involves sexual harassment and forcing himself into Ashley's car. Several times attempted murder with a baseball bat is seen as well as assault to kill using whatever happens to be available to the assailant. There are also a number of scenes of decayed/decaying human flesh and body parts. Also, a defensive killing using garden shears in portrayed is seen. [3 John 11, Prov. 3:31-32] Impudence/Hate (I) Forty-four times the three/four letter word vocabulary is used, mostly by a teen, plus one use of the most foul of the foul words. [Eph. 4:29, Col. 3:8] In addition to tantrums, this film is rife with teen arrogance. And after more than 12 years of study and more than 1100 film analyses, I have found that one behavioral influence stands out above the rest. While sex, drugs, booze, violence indeed influence negatively, they are all but spinoffs or byproducts of the basal element most prevalent in modern entertainment -- the attitude. In particular the bad attitude of arrogance and rebellion, of"It ain't good enough, no matter what ;it; is" which is one of the most contagious behaviors known to man, especially among the young. [Mal. 4:1] And, by the way, arrogance the first in the list of of seven sins God says He hates. [Prov.6:16 - 19] Sexual Immorality (S) Two young preteen boys are seen watching porn on TV. And it is not hidden from the viewer. "Porn, you say?" Yes. When a woman is seen fondling her bare breasts in exhibition, it is porn. Plus that is not all we are shown on that trash TV. Repeatedly. The gamming, the dozens of episodes of peeping, the rude staring, the skimpy swim wear the rear female nudity from the waist up, the women as toys, the poses and dressing to force the viewer on private parts, the teen boy and girl making out on his bed and more eradicated all the starting 100 points in this investigation area. [Mark 7:21, Rev. 21:8, Gal. 5:19, Rev. 22:14-15] Drugs/Alcohol (D) Booze was noted only once as was drinking. But once is too many in view of the finding by the American College of Physicians (ACP) and the University of Connecticut. The ACP found that drinking in and as entertainment undeniably leads to abuse of alcohol by the middle school crowd. Middle school? Sounds like 13 as in PG-13 to me.See the text of the reference to Eph. 5:18 below for more information. Offense to God (O) God's name in sued in vain without the four letter expletive at least 19 times, all by adolescents who are paid to do so by adults. Take heed, filmmakers, of Deut. 5:11 and Luke 17:2. Murder/Suicide (M) At least two murders are seen, one bay baseball bat and another by neck breaking. It is this and other, even less extreme, demonstrations in and as entertainment which lead to the desensitization we hear so much about but yet evidently ignore. [Gal. 5:21, Rev. 21:8, Rev. 22:14-15] For more information see our Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children Congressional Public Health Summit page. SCRIPTURAL APPLICATION(S) If needed to focus or fortify, applicable text is underlined or bracketed [ ] or bold. If you wish to have full context available, the Blue Letter Bible is a convenient source. If you use the Blue Letter Bible, a new window will open. Close it to return here or use "Window" in your browser's menu bar to alternate between the CAP page and the Blue Letter Bible page. CHAPTER/VERSE ***Selected Scriptures of Armour against the influence of the entertainment industry*** As always, it is best to refer to the Findings/Scoring section -- the heart of the CAP analysis model -- for the most complete assessment possible of this movie. |
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 Wanton Violence/Crime (W) Impudence/Hate (I) Sexual Immorality (S) Drugs/Alcohol (D): Offense to God (O) Murder/Suicide (M) |
| There are some in the entertainment industry who maintain that 1) violent programming is harmless because no studies exist that prove a connection between violent entertainment and aggressive behavior in children, and 2) young people know that television, movies, and video games are simply fantasy. Unfortunately, they are wrong on both accounts." And "Viewing violence may lead to real life violence." I applaud these associations for fortifying 1 Cor. 15:33. Read the rest of the story. From our years of study, I contend that other aberrant behaviors, attitudes, and expressions can be inserted in place of "violence" in that statement. Our Director - Child Psychology Support, a licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist concurs. For example, "Viewing arrogance against fair authority may lead to your kids defying you in real life." Or "Viewing sex may lead to sex in real life." Likewise and especially with impudence, hate and foul language. I further contend that any positive behavior can be inserted in place of "violence" with the same chance or likelihood of being a behavior template for the observer; of being incorporated into the behavior mechanics and/or coping skills of the observer. In choosing your entertainment, please consider carefully the "rest of the story" and our findings. |
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