 RED does not mean "stop." GREEN does not mean "go." Click on the CAPCon Alert image for explanation |
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 MAR29010  With Comparative (2009), R [Hard R*] (1hr 27min) 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 1200 analyses for parents, grandparents, pastors, youth leaders and more. |
  (a PayPal account is NOT required) OR (preferred) by Check or Money Order. The CAP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Christian ministry. Donations to us are TAX-DEDUCTIBLE |
on what Hollywood feeds your kids. SUBSCRIBE (or unsubscribe) to our FREE text-only email version of these reports and our COMING SOON notices. |
  Christian Long Distance |
(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): Ozla Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), Stage 6 Films, Unified Film Organization (UFO), Vertigo Entertainment Distribution (US): Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Director(s): Toby Wilkins Producer(s): Jeffery Beach, Doug Davison, Joseph Drake, Takashige Ichise, Nathan Kahane, Roy Lee, Andrew Pfeffer, Sam Raimi, Phillip J. Roth, Takashi Shimizu, Robert G. Tapert Screenplay: Brad Keene Cinematography/Camera: Anton Bakarski Music: Sean McMahon Film Editing: John Quinn Casting: Sunday Boling, Meg Morman Production Design: Bobby Michaels Viewed on Sony Pictures Home Entertainment DVD  This film analysis is sponsored by E&HP. As the story goes, when someone is murdered in the grip of a powerful rage a curse is spawned in that place of death -- a grudge is born -- and those who enter that place of death will be touched by the curse and consumed by its fury. They who survive the fury will carry the curse with them ... And so on. Some years ago (The Grudge - 2004) in Tokyo, Japan an irate father, who discovered the unfaithfulness of his wife Kayako (Takako Fuji), brutally murdered her and their son Toshio (Yuya Ozeki) ... and the family cat ... and himself. A grudge was born. Somehow, that grudge which spawned in Tokyo moves to Chicago. Mother Kayako (Takako Fuji then, Aiko Horiuchi now - Fuji was better) and son Toshio (Yuya Ozeki then, Shimba Tsuchiya now) span the ethereal Big Pond to terrorize America, starting in apartment #305 on anystreet, Chicago. Max (Gil McKinney) and his two orphaned sisters, promiscuous teen Lisa (Johanna E. Braddy) and asthmatic adolescent Rose (Jadie Hobson), manage to manage the apartment building in which they reside. But Max may lose his job because people keep moving out of the building. No one wants to live in an apartment building in which a family was mutilated. The family of preteen Jake (Matthew Knight) was recently killed ... by the grudge ... in apartment #305. Jake is taken under the wing of Dr. Sullivan (Shawnee Smith) and moved to a care facility, but that does not stop Kayako from getting the last member of that family -- Jake himself. Within a locked padded room Kayako mutilated Jake. In a land far, far away -- Tokyo -- lived a woman named Naoko (Emi Ikehata) whose sister was forced during childhood by their shaman mother to drink a drop of a grudge victim's blood in a ritual to cast out the grudge. Naoko has since been following this grudge, learning her mother's ways. Naoko learns of the grudge moving to Chicago and relocates to Chicago with it ... to kill it if she can. Naoko enlists the help of Lisa and Rose to destroy the traveling grudge but becomes destroyed herself. Along with Max. After the possessed Max "kills" Naoko, she comes back to life possessed and kills Max. One is led to think the grudge is now dead. But the grudge never dies ... So we are led to believe. Names and places (and some levels of extremes of assaults on morality and decency) have been changed but the rest of the story is essentially the same as in the previous installments. Note that this is an R-rated film and rightfully so if for no other reason than the plethora of sexually immoral deeds -- expressed, implied and planned -- between Lisa and her boyfriend, Andy (Beau Mirchoff). Mirchoff and Braddy are introduced by making out standing, stumbling through the hallways of the apartment building, he putting his hands as close to her breasts as he possibly can until they enter yet another empty room (apartment #305 in this case) to strip and have sex ... again ... figuratively checking off another of the rooms they have used as a "play" room. In another case, a teen girl named Brenda (Mihaela Nankova) is seen, intimately seen, as she falls into a bathtub fully nude. At least the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) got it right this time. Each of the previous Grudge installments (The Grudge and The Grudge 2) was rated PG-13 but each earned a CAP final score equivalent to R-rated films (54 and below out of 100). But this 2009 installment earned a final score of 21, making it a hardcore R film. In other words, all three versions should have been rated R rating but only this third installment was. I cannot imagine why this third film in the Grudge trilogy would be engineered to garner a R rating when both of the previous two versions were PG-13. The implications are bold as to why a sequel to two films, each "approved" for 13 year old kids, is rated R but to voice the implications would be subjective and conjecture. You do the math. The following scoring data comparative of all three versions should help you in your calculations.  Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - Zero out of 100 Matters of violence include brutal attacks resulting in graphic mutilations, mutilated bodies and other forms of gore. The film also capitalized on flashbacks of the brutalization of Kayako and Toshio from the first Grudge. While some connectivity to previous installments are certainly necessary to flow, the extreme extent was unnecessary. Yes, this is an R-rated film but that it is "R" does not excuse the influence of which God warns in 1 Cor. 15:33, Prov. 16:29 and many other verses. Impudence/Hate (I) - Zero out of 100 Atypical of R-rated films (and PG-13 films), this version projects profanity of one form or another (including the most foul of the foul words) 13 times, this is not to include the use of God's name in vain both with and without the four letter expletive discussed in the Offense to God investigation area below. Massive tattoos are noted once. Note that hatred is shown viciously by the father who murders his family but the CAP analysis model will not permit "double dipping" of scoring. Specifically, the scene is of the father murdering his family violently out of hatred/rage. Thus, the matter could be incorporated into the Wanton Violence/Crime, the Impudence/Hate or the Murder/Suicide investigation area. Since these cinematic assaults were incorporated into the Murder/Suicide investigation area, they cannot be incorporated also into the Wanton Violence/Crime or the Impudence/Hate investigation areas. While into which investigation area an observed assault on morality and decency is incorporated will affect the investigation area scoring distribution, it will have no effect on the final score. For example, I could move the above issues of hate-borne murder to the Impudence/Hate investigation area. If I did the Murder/Suicide investigation area score would increase and the Impudence/Hate investigation area score would decrease but the final score would not change. Little would it matter in the case of The Grudge 3 since the Impudence/Hate area score is already zero. Sexual Immorality (S) - 4 out of 100 As noted in the Summary/Commentary section, sexually immoral deeds and desires are rampant. Lisa and Andy plan to move to New York and live together ... to cohabitate with no mention of marriage. They seem to play a "check-off" game with the many empty rooms in the apartment building, trying to have sex in as many of them as possible. [Hebr. 13:4] While one normally takes off his/her clothes to bathe, they do not normally do so in front of millions of viewers. Not morally anyway. [**] Let me "resurrect" a common argument I have received from uncounted teens about nudity. No, it is not sinful to take your clothes off to bath or for a medical examination or other such necessary deeds. Neither would it be a sin on you for you to, by chance, encounter nudity or teases of it or pictures of them on the streets, but it would be sinful to stare or take delight in the sight. But it is sinful if you take off your clothes to display your nakedness OR to use your nakedness (or teases of it) to entice. By the way, display of nudity in the flesh, in stone, clay or mortar or with paint in the name of "art" does not excuse it. The nudity painted by Michelangelo atop the Sistine Chapel and other forms of nude art are still displays of nudity. Pictures of nudity shown in some Bibles were put there by man, not God, long after the Bible was inspired. Even the statues of nude men in Rome are displays of nudity. If you do not agree that such "art" is sensual, let me recall a cartoon I once saw about two girls intending to meet two guys "by the big clock." The foursome did not meet. The guys went to a big clock. The caption below the panel with the guys in it read "I'm sure [the girls] said 'the big clock" while the panel with the girls in it had them standing by the huge statue of a nude man. Art is not sin and sin is not art, but art becomes sin when art uses sin. Drugs/Alcohol (D) - 100 out of 100 The only instance of drugs and/or alcohol noted in the entire 87 minutes of this film was the consumption of prescription drugs. Since there was no presentation of illegal drugs, their consumption or of abuse of prescription drugs, this investigation area was free of assaults on morality and decency. Offense to God (O) - Zero out of 100 Seven times someone uses God's name in vain, two of them with the four letter expletive. I wonder how many of you know that God in Man spent three days in Hell so you and I would not have to spend one moment there? Is He not worthy of the respect to speak His name only in responsible and reverent ways? God thinks He is ... and will not hold guiltless anyone who does otherwise. [Deut. 5:11] Murder/Suicide (M) - 23 out of 100 Murder is brutal and vicious ... repeatedly. A father drowns his son and beats his wife nearly to death then breaks her neck by a head twist. A woman bites the throat out of a man. A man shoves a sheetrock saw through a woman's neck. And more. Not at all consistent with the two previous versions of this trilogy. 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. |
 |
 Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - Zero out of 100 Impudence/Hate (I) - Zero out of 100 Sexual Immorality (S) - 4 out of 100 Drugs/Alcohol (D) - 100 out of 100 Offense to God (O) - Zero out of 100 Murder/Suicide (M) - 23 out of 100 |
| 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. |
|
Thank you for visiting us and may God bless you. Prayerfully, we will provide you with some of the most revealing commentary and investigative reporting you have ever read. 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 |  |
Christian Long Distance |
|
We exist only by your tax-deductible donations. PLEASE  Features PayPal! You do NOT need an account to donate. |
