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MAR2011.108

(2011), PG-13 [PG(13)*] (1hr 54.2min)

Final Score
Analysis Date
Date Posted
Influence Density
MinMax
August 29, 2011
August 31, 2011
80
0.36
-44

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Christian Long Distance

SUMMARY / COMMENTARY:
(While the Scriptural references are certainly not subjective, my commentary may be and sometimes is somewhat subjective.)

If Scriptural references appear, the full text appears at the end of the Summary / Commentary.



(2011), PG-13 [PG(13)*] ... doesn't need to be a PG-13


Cast/Crew Details Courtesy (in part) Internet Movie Database
Production (US): Focus Features, BBC Films, Ruby Films
Distribution (US): Universal Studios
Director(s): Cary Joji Fukunaga
Producer(s): Alison Owens, Paul Trijbits, Christine Langan, Peter Hampden, Mairi Britt, Faye Ward, Hannah Farrell
Screenplay by: Moira Buffini
Novel by: Charlotte Bronte
Cinematography/Camera: Adriano Goldman
Music: Dario Marianelli
Film Editing: Malanie Ann Oliver
Casting: Nina Gold
Production Design: Will Hughes-Jones
Art Direction: Karl Probert
Viewed on Universal Studios Home Entertainment DVD



Jane Eyre (2011) is rated PG-13 for "some thematic elements including a nude image and brief violent content." but it doesn't need to be a PG-13. The final score for Jane Eyre (2011) is 80 out of 100 which places in squarely in the scoring range earned by PG-rated films (68 to 86 out of 100) in the comparative baseline database. I've been doing this for over 15 years for more than 1400 films so I suspect there might be some credibility in the results of the CAP analysis model which has not changed over those 15 years: which has proven that which Harvard University researchers have proven but we proved it four years before Harvard.

The "brief violent content" is one character trying to choke another and a couple views of injury wounds. The "nude image" is a painting of a nude woman. The "thematic elements" are characters giving grace before meals, holding God as sovereign and acknowledging Heaven and Hell.

Jane (Mia Wasikowska) is first seen fleeing the Thornfield mansion to escape the dark and emotionally crippling secret of the one she was going to marry: the master of Thornfield, Edward Fairfax Rochester (Michael Fassbender). Braving the long distances and the severe elements Jane reaches the residence of St. John Rivers (Jamie Bell ) and his sisters, Diana (Holliday Granger) and Mary (Tamzin Merchant). Together with his sisters, Rivers nurses Jane ... Jane Elliot for now ... back to health and finds her a job as a teacher of cottage children.

Jane suffers silently along her path of life. Through flashbacks we find that the young 19th century orphan girl has been abused most of her life, first by her Aunt Reed (Sally Hawkins) who sends Jane off to a brutal charity boarding school. Through more flashbacks we see just how abused Jane was at the boarding school. Jane finally ages out and ends up at Thornfield. At Thornfield, Mrs. Fairfax (Judi Dench) guides Jane into her life at Thornfield as a governess for young Adele Varens (Romi Steborn Moore), the ward of Rochester. It is now that Jane begins to develop the relationship with Rochester that will lead her into nuptials ... until she finds out Rochester's dark secret.

There is much more to this 113.2 minute version of the classic but to spoil any more of would be unfair. Though many of you already know the story of Jane Eyre and can see this version is relatively parallel with the earlier versions, I will not reveal any more of the story and/or plot.

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Following are brief discussions of the content per individual CAP investigation area. As always the Findings section of this report is the best source for discovering the full accounting of the content of this film.

Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - 56 out of 100
There are indeed enough violence examples in the film in addition to the attempted choking for it to earn a hard PG-13 equivalent score in Wanton Violence/Crime but it is hardly "PG-13" due to the one instance of a character trying to choke another. We see that in cartoons and they are not rated PG-13. The matters of brutality, death and confinement torture were what merit the PG-13 equivalence.

There is indeed enough violence in this film to warrant reminding you of God's warnings about violence. Among numerous other verses, God warns us in Proverb 16:29 that violence is "catching" and can lead one into the way that is not good. Man echoes God's Wisdom by four professional public health agencies jointly publishing a finding that reveals violence in and as entertainment can, among other counterproductive influences, lead youth to real life violence and can lead them into thinking that violence is an effective way of settling conflict.

Impudence/Hate (I) - 73 out of 100
Deceit, lying and expressed hatred along with a single use of profanity (by a young girl) plus marriage fraud/attempted polygamy and a claim of social inequality because of station are the reasons for the score of 73 out of 100 in this investigation area.

Sexual Immorality (S) - 76 out of 100
I have prepared analyses of uncounted films with painting and statue nudity which have not once caused the MPAA to even notice them let alone rate a film with them in it a PG-13. Why now? Maybe this is a sign the MPAA in coming around to understanding God's Word about nakedness?**

Under the CAP analysis model, the two views of the nude painting, one from a distance and one slow close-up pan from the feet up, earned the same scoring losses as if they were displayed by a live actress. But that is not the most severe of the sexually immoral content. The worst was an adult character grabbing and carting off a young adolescent girl with his right hand on her right breast which is not even addressed by the MPAA. Maybe his hand on her right breast was unintentional? Well, maybe so but filmmakers are not stupid and know each and every frame that makes up the final product. [Matt. 18:10]

This is one of the great feature of the CAP analysis model. The CAP analysis model does not subjectively require that something like the painting nudity is enough to preclude you from seeing it. We tell you that it is a sinful display and incorporate it as such into the scoring distribution. You decide whether it merits you rejecting this film as unfit. We tell what is there ... you decide.

Drugs/Alcohol (D) - 73 out of 100
There is some smoking, a few alcoholic beverages and drinking of them. But that is all. There is no consumption or possession of illegal drugs or abuse of prescription drugs noted.

However, however slight the content may seem, there are dangers to exposing youth to alcohol and tobacco in and as entertainment. A 2002 study by the American College of Physicians (ACP) revealed that adolescent exposure to drinking in and as entertainment undeniably leads to abuse of alcohol among underage viewers. The finding entitled Relation Between Parental Restrictions on Movies and Adolescent Use of Tobacco and Alcohol reports that of 4544 youths from grades 5 through 8 of fifteen Vermont and New Hampshire middle schools (90% of the youths were under fourteen years old) only 16% were completely restricted in their entertainment diets. Within the ACP study population, the prevalence of having tried alcohol without parental knowledge was

  • 46% for those with no viewing restrictions
  • 16% for those with partial viewing restrictions
  • four percent for those with complete viewing restrictions. [Eph. 5:18]

    There is nothing to say that smoking in and as entertainment does not carry the same danger of influence as drinking. Actually, the same matter of behavior influence applies to any behavior demonstrated in and as entertainment, including good behavior.

    Offense to God (O) - 100 out of 100
    Nothing was noted that is applicable to this investigation area: no blasphemy; no satanism; no witchcraft; no occultism; no demonism or anything of the kind.

    Murder/Suicide (M) - 100 out of 100
    No murders of suicides were found.


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    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

  • Prov. 16:29 A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good. [The issue is the violence, the 'way that is not good' no matter how "small" or "fantasy" or "justified" the violence might seem, and its "leading" effect on the observer. "A violent man" can be any character of any age, any gender, human or not in the act of committing (demonstrating in the case of entertainment) violent behavior/action whether for good or evil OR the violent behaviors/actions themselves. Such exposure can and does embolden the viewer into aggression, especially youth. It took years for the American professional health community to finally affirm, probably without knowing it, that which God told us in 1 Cor. 15:33 below. See also Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children: Congressional Public Health Summit for more information. Their findings include: --> Children who see a lot of violence are more likely to view violence as an effective way of settling conflicts. Children exposed to violence are more likely to assume the acts of violence are acceptable behavior. --> Viewing violence can lead to emotional desensitization towards violence in real life. It can decease the likelihood that one will take action on behalf of a victim when violence occurs. --> Entertainment violence feeds a perception that the world is a violent and mean place. Viewing violence increases fear of becoming a victim of violence, with a resultant increase in self-protective behavior and a mistrust of others. --> Viewing violence may lead to real life violence. Children exposed to violent programming at a young age have a higher tendency for violent and aggressive behavior later in life than children who are not so exposed. Further, God speaks darkly of violence 56 times in the Old and New Testament of the KJV.]
    ** "Nakedness" (display of nudity) is spoken of as dark, restricted, undesirable, shameful, etc. 47 times in the KJV from Genesis to Revelation. For example, Ezek. 16:36 "Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers,..." thus associating display of nakedness with ill repute. What makes display of nudity okay in entertainment/art if it is not okay in flesh? God even advised the priests not to climb the steps to the altar lest the wind expose their nudity to the people below in Exodus 20:26 "Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon." The display of nakedness, even accidental or the tease of it is not good in God's eyes.
  • Matt. 18:10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. ["Despise" is kataphroneo {kat-af-ron-eh'-o}: to condemn, despise, disdain, think little or nothing of, to look down upon (which includes abuse, even by influence or bad example, lying to them, enticing/teasing them, seducing them and/or their thoughts, involving them in sin or crime, etc.). What do you want the angels for your kids to say to God? By the way, "little ones" is mikros meaning less by birth, younger. All of your children are "less by birth" than you. All of them are younger. So, "little ones" includes at-home teens, the most easily influenced, morally malleable age stratum.]
  • Eph. 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. [Since "drunk" is methusko {meth-oos'-ko}: to intoxicate; make drunk; to get drunk; become intoxicated, "wine" can be any intoxicating substance including illegal drugs or abuse of prescription drugs. The issue is do not abuse the body by intoxicating it [1 Cor. 6:19]. Though it is not a sin to drink, it is a sin to get drunk OR to influence to get drunk OR to drink in defiance such as underage drinking.]

    Selected Scriptures of Armour against the influence of the entertainment industry

  • Jer. 37:9 This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, 'The Babylonians [the destroyers from within] will surely leave us.' They will not!
  • Ps. 12:8 The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men [when enough people continue to defend what is vile, embrace it, enjoy it, want it, submit to it.]
  • Col. 2:8 Beware lest any man [by his influence] spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
  • 1 Cor. 15:33 Be not deceived: evil [kakov: of a bad nature, not such as it ought to be] communications corrupt good manners.
  • Rom. 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
  • Jude 1:4 For there are certain men* crept in unawares [secretly slipped in among us], who were before of old ordained to this condemnation [whose condemnation was written about long ago], ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness [a license for immorality], and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. [*men: anthropos {anth'-ro-pos}, generic, a human being, whether male or female]
  • Matt. 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
  • Luke 17:2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. [Offend: skandalizo {skan-dal-id'-zo} - scandalize; to entice to sin; to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey; to cause to fall away.]
  • Ps. 119:133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me [let no sin rule over me].
  • John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
  • 1 Thess. 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. ["Evil" includes all things that are sinful.]


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    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.
  • FINDINGS / SCORING:
    (The objective heart of the CAP Analysis Model, independent of and insulated from the Summary / Commentary section.)


    Jane Eyre (2011) CAP Thermometers

    Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - SCORE out of 100
  • severe weather exposure
  • older sibling abuse of young girl
  • self injury to unconsciousness
  • physical brutality of a young girl
  • confinement torture
  • death from illness - young girl
  • sudden startle
  • action violence - fire
  • injury gore, twice
  • assault - choking
  • woman raging at others
  • tale of death by fire and suicide

    Impudence/Hate (I) - SCORE out of 100
  • one use of profanity and then by a child
  • deceit of mother
  • lying to implicate
  • emotional abuse, repeatedly
  • adolescent hatred of caregiver
  • claim of servants being less than equal
  • marriage fraud/attempted polygamy

    Sexual Immorality (S) - SCORE out of 100
  • inappropriate touch of adolescent girl's right breast
  • painting nudity, twice, once of a slow pan from feet up
  • woman undressing to underwear

    Drugs/Alcohol (D) - SCORE out of 100
  • smoking, twice
  • drinking, repeatedly
  • booze, repeatedly

    Offense to God (O) - SCORE out of 100
  • none noted

    Murder/Suicide (M) - SCORE out of 100
  • none noted















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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 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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    * CAP Equivalence to MPAA Rating Scale:
    Please note our new manner of indicating a film's Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rating in comparison with the CAP equivalence such as "PG-13 [R-13]." The first term is the Motion Picture Association of America's (MPAA) rating. The second term [in brackets] indicates that which the film earned under the CAP analysis model. In the example, "PG-13 [R-13]" indicates the MPAA rated the film PG-13 but the film earned a CAP final score in the scoring range earned by R-rated movies in the comparative baseline database. Other comparative terms used might be "PG [13-PG]", "G [PG-G] or even 'PG-13 [PG]" as was the case for Alien vs Predator. I doubt there will ever be a "G [R]" used, but only time will tell. The CAP analysis model is Rock-solid. The MPAA is not.

    The current CAP to MPAA** nomenclature is:

    For G rated Films with
    G equivalence: G
    PG equivalence: PG-G
    PG-13 equivalence: 13-G
    R equivalence: R-G<
    For PG rated Films with
    G equivalence: G-PG
    PG equivalence: PG
    PG-13 equivalence: 13-PG
    R equivalence: R-PG
    For PG-13 rated Films with
    G equivalence: G-13
    PG equivalence: PG(13)
    PG-13 equivalence: PG-13
    R equivalence: R-13
    For R rated Films with
    G equivalence: G-R
    PG equivalence: PG-R
    PG-13 equivalence: 13-R
    R equivalence: R
    For NR rated Films with
    G equivalence: G-NR
    PG equivalence: PG-NR
    PG-13 equivalence: 13-NR
    R equivalence: R-NR
    ** G, PG, PG-13 and R are registered trademarks of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).




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