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A ministry of the ChildCare Action Project: Christian Analysis of American Culture (CAP Ministry) www.capalert.com/ Entertainment Media Analysis Report A service to His little ones (which includes at-home teens) through you, their parents and grandparents, in His name by His Word MAR24077  (2004), RPlus Comparative |
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 (2004), R -- For some, such sights and sounds cannot be unseen or unheard except by prayer and faith.  Cast/Crew Details Courtesy Internet Movie Database Production (US): Dominion Productions, Morgan Creek Productions Distribution (US): Warner Bros. Entertainment Company Director(s): Renny Harlin Producer(s): Guy McElwaine, Wayne Morris, David C. Robinson, James G. Robinson Written by: William Peter Blatty (The Exorcist); Story - William Wisher Jr., Caleb Carr: Screenplay - Alexi Hawley Cinematography/Camera: Vittorio Storaro Music: Trevor Rabin Film Editing: Mark Goldblatt, Todd E. Miller Casting: Pam Dixon Production Design: Stefano Maria Ortolani Art Direction: Eugenio Ulissi Viewed At: Driftwood Theater 6 I don't believe this 2004 prequel is an attempt beyond inherent to build on the 1973 original, to magnify it or to widen the scope of it. I believe it is an attempt to capitalize on a previous success. Nothing more. It was too hollow and shallow for it to be an earnest attempt to fortify the first edition. For example, the connecting artifact found in the 1973 version was found in northern Iraq. It was lost in Kenya in this version. Judging from the comparative data display below, the coarsening of even the R-rated stratum is obvious as revealed by the original being not nearly as vile as the prequel.  The World War II Nazis in Holland were murdering little children by shooting them in the head and were going to keep doing it until Father Lankester Merrin (Stellan Skarsgård) revealed the identities of key people in his Parrish. What was Merrin to do? Kids were being killed. So Merrin told the Nazis what they wanted to know. The people Merrin revealed were then murdered by the Nazis. Merrin's anguish and torment began. For his guilt, Father Merrin, who is also an Oxford educated archeological scientist, lost all his faith and could no longer call himself a man of God. His faith could not stand up to the torment. Merrin defrocked himself, left Holland and became a faithless drunk, trying to escape the emotional razors of his past by guzzling away the horrors for which he blamed himself. But little did Merrin know that the true horror had not yet begun. In 1949 Merrin was met in Cairo by Semelier (Ben Cross), a collector or rare antiquities in hopes that the expert archeologist would join with a British archeological excavation which had unearthed a Byzantine church in the Turkana region of Kenya in "mint condition" as if it was "buried on the day it was completed." As the story goes, after the war in Heaven, the buried church marks "the place where Lucifer fell" and where evil was born. [Rev. 12:9] Never mind that Satan was cast out long before the first human brain was ever created let alone a church building built. Merrin's job was to find a demon relic before anyone else. The relic is the joining point of the two Exorcist movies. The relic to be found in Exorcist: The Beginning (2004), which is found then again lost, is the relic Father Merrin (Max Von Sydow) in The Exorcist (1973 Remastered) found toward the beginning of that show. Merrin agrees to go to the dig and try to find the relic. What else does Merrin find? More brutality against innocent villagers -- the same horrors he left Holland to escape. Merrin also finds that as the church is unearthed, madness saturates not only the villagers but the British soldiers sent to protect the dig. After the animals, children are the first targets of the evil swooping over the villagers, just as children were the target of persuasion by intimidation by the Nazis in Holland. Maybe there is script method to that madness. Maybe that targeting unintentionally parallels the entertainment industry as it targets our youth. The father of lies knows no honor. At the dig, Merrin takes a fancy in the local doctor, Sarah (Izabella Scorupco) who, after a number of children are victimized and after one child is labeled as the host of the evil, becomes the ultimate manifestation of the evil one. Inside the Byzantine church is sculpture of Jesus on the Cross -- upside down as if an upright Cross originally there was torn down and hung upside down. In recognition of the writers, such might be expected in a church occupied by Satan and his dogs. Even the Satanists of today understand the "message" of the upside down Cross, or the Southern Cross http://www.capalert.com.backtoschool/backtoschool.htm. Also in that church is what is a very vulgar sculpture, ostensibly of Satan himself bearing what appears to be the same head as that of the demonic relic Merrin is trying to find. At one point (subjectively speaking) the film is the most vulgar film I have ever seen because of the contribution by Scorupco. How she could actually speak the things she did is beyond me. Well, I guess since Linda Blair could be portrayed as speaking vile filth that made it okay for Scorupco to so do. All in the name of the performing arts. Maybe Linda Blair or Izabella Scorupco did not actually speak the words but someone did. What is it in the minds of the people who write this stuff that can cause their brains to generate such vile and reprehensible filth? [Mark 7:21] Creativity? Neither creativity nor "It's a movie" excuses the sin of demonstrating sin. [Ps. 12:8] The sexual vulgarity of that one scene with the possessed Sarah is intense beyond any ability to describe it in words without the description being nearly as vulgar. Murmurings and mumblings after the show and even manager commentaries corroborate this assessment. But do the secular reviews? N--o-o-o! People who love children and are incensed by violators of them will find no entertainment in a young boy being ripped apart by CGI hyenas. Or if you are one to be repulsed by seeing a child get her brains blown out of her head by gunfire no less realistically or desensitizing than the news footage of the asian man being shot through his head, it would not be wise to watch this film. Folks who find it unacceptable to watch a man stuff a pistol barrel in his mouth then pulling the trigger, seeing the flash of the powder illuminate the inside of his mouth will not find this film acceptable. If you are bothered by seeing a human body atomized into tiny pieces and another body with a 10-inch hole eaten through its midsection with about half the flesh gone from the rest of the body, this film is not for you. For some, such sights and sounds cannot be unseen or unheard except by prayer and faith. [Phil. 4:8, 1 Cor. 15:33] 8MM put this rather succinctly: "Dance with the devil, you don't change the devil - the devil changes you." [1Pet. 5:8, Phil. 4:8] If there are any positive features to this film, they are up to you to discover if you decide after reading the listing in the Findings/Scoring section of this report that this film is watchable. 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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(The heart of the CAP Analysis Model)  Wanton Violence/Crime (W) Impudence/Hate (I) Sexual Immorality (S) Drugs/Alcohol (D): Offense to God (O) Murder/Suicide (M) |
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| 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 more than eight 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. |
| In the name of Jesus: Lord, Master, Teacher, Savior, God. Tom Carder President ChildCare Action Project (CAP): Christian Analysis of American Culture 100% dependent on your tax-deductible financial support |  |
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Unique. Posted 5/27/04 |
ChristianStats Counter TEST Unique. Posted 5/24/04 |
