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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 MAR28002  (2008), PG-13 [Hard R-13*] (1hr 23min) 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. |
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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): Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, New Regency Pictures, Created By, Hypnotic, Regency Enterprises Distribution (US): Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation Director(s): Doug Liman Producer(s): Marc S. Fischer, Lucas Foster, Scott Gardenhour, Vince Gerardis, Jeffrey Harlacker, Joe Hartwick Jr., Simon Kinberg, Giovanni Lovatelli, Stacy Maes, David Pomier, Jay Sanders, Ralph Vicinanza, Philip Waley, Prague, Kim H. Winther Screenplay by: David S. Goyer, Jim Uhls, Simon Kinberg Novel: Steven Gould Cinematography/Camera: Barry Peterson Music: John Powell Film Editing: Saar Klein, Dean Zimmerman, Don Zimmerman Casting: John Buchan Production Design: Oliver Scholl Art Direction: Elinor Rose Galbraith, Peter Grundy, Tamara Marini, Tom Valentine Viewed At: Driftwood Theater 6 That is a vile and harsh comment in the title-year-rating tag above. But know your kids will see it if they watch this film. And that is not all the will see ... and hear in this hardcore R-13. Teens and young adolescents are not growing wiser by exposure to such content as in Jumper, they are just getting more worldly. Jumper is just another teen tease with morality-challenging content that feeds or satisfies something. Could that "something" be that such films fulfill God's Word? Specifically Proverbs 22:15? I have yet to figure out what is adult about "adult" content. The "adult" label means it is not for kids, right? Why? Is that which is sinful for a child not also sinful for an adult? If not which sin is it that is sinful for a child but not for an adult? Does the content make the viewer adult? Maybe "adult" should be replaced with "theft of childhood from children." And for those who say movies educate our young in the "real world" or "real life" I say it is the wrong education. For one thing, movies are not real. Some think kids are going to "learn about that stuff anyway, why not make it in the "safe" environment of a theater?" "Safe?" Too often using movies to teach children how to behave teaches them how to MISbehave ... by choice. Too often using films to teach what is wrong teaches wrong. Fifteen year old social misfit David Rice (Max Thieriot [The Astronaut Farmer] then Hayden Christensen [Star Wars II]) of Ann Arbor, Michigan finds during an episode of tormenting by a bigger kid that he is able to instantly "jump" from one place to another. David tries to give a snow globe to she whom he wants to be his girlfriend, Millie Harris (AnnaSophia Robb [Bridge to Terabithia] then Rachel Bilson) but the bigger kid takes it. Millie comes to David's rescue but cannot prevent the bigger kid from throwing the ornament onto the ice covering a river. While trying to retrieve the snow globe David falls through the river ice and gets dragged further downstream under the ice by the current. An instant later he finds himself in the Ann Arbor library. Wet and lying in a puddle of water. David "jumped" from the river to the library. David takes advantage of the opportunity and lets everyone think he drowned, including his father William (Michael Rooker), the reason to be revealed soon. David's mother, Mary (Diane Lane) left when David was five years old. She had to leave or kill David. Mom is a "paladin." A paladin is "any of the twelve peers of Charlemagne's court, of whom the count palatine was the chief: a knight renowned for heroism and chivalry (late 16th century)." [Apple Dictionary, version 1.0.2] For centuries the only purpose in life for paladins is to kill jumpers. This time, the jumper is the paladin's son. So, rather than kill her son, Mary left. After Mary left, David's father went downhill and has become an abusive alcoholic. After learning to control his [unholy] power David decides to leave his dysfunctional home thinking "Mom ran away, so can I." This is why David wanted everyone to think he had drowned. Fifteen year old David can now go anywhere he wants ... in an instant. On one of his jumps David entertains himself with a prostitute after he came into some money on other jumps. He robbed banks to get money. "I was 15. What would you do?" David "built his realm" with unjust gain. [Hab. 2:9] For about ten years David lives in the lap of luxury and splendor. But David becomes lonely and returns to Ann Arbor to find Millie, now a bartender. As a climax for the reunion David invites Millie to accompany him on her dream trip ... to Rome. Not wanting Millie to know about his powers (yet) the pair fly to Rome and visit the Colosseum. Well? David has plenty of money now. Stolen money but money nonetheless. In Rome, David discovers he is not so special after all. David meets Griffin (Jamie Bell), a young lad who strangely traces David's jumps. In the bowels of the Colosseum, Griffin asks David "You think you are the only one?" Griffin is another jumper. After a "toughest kid on the block" scuffle, Griffin becomes David's mentor. Along the way of David's treks, he encounters another set of "court peers." The leader of these paladins is NSA Agent Roland (Samuel L. Jackson) who will stop at nothing to cram a machete into the heart of any jumper. He does so once in the film. Quite graphically. Once Roland and his clan have the jumper trapped with 1,000-volt cables, Roland enjoys thrusting his blade into the defenseless hog-tied jumper. (This is not a scene for power-hungry youth suffering the fires of puberty no matter what the MPAA thinks. Ref: Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children Congressional Public Health Summit.) Some have called this a "super hero" film. But since David uses his power to commit crimes I find it hard to accept any "super hero" to it. Remember, a noble destination does not excuse an ignoble path. [2Tim. 2:5] Wanton Violence/Crime (W) The film begins its journey into violence/crime with the bully tormenting David and Millie. Then it moves into impending death by drowning. While David planning theft is bad enough, it is topped by David committing theft of thousands of dollars numerous times using his jump power. When Roland finds David, the violence envelope explodes with several episodes of brutal assault of David by Roland. The several action violence sequences or varying intensities added deeply to the loss of the starting 100 points in this investigation area. Other matters of violence added to the content causing the loss of all the starting 100 points in this investigation area. [Prov. 16:29] Impudence/Hate (I) Of the eighteen uses of the three/four letter word vocabulary, six of them were by a teen. [Col. 3:8] The single use of the most foul of the foul words was by an adult. In addition to an abusive parent, excusing one's own sin with the sin of another, running away, excusing sin with youth and using IOUs to excuse theft rounded out the most of the impudence and.or hate content found by this investigation area. Sexual Immorality (S) As is typical of PG-13 films, somebody has sex. First, 15 year old David snags a prostitute from a bar. Later as an adult David ends up in bed with Millie while cohabitating with her. That is about all there is to the sexually immoral content, but isn't that more than "enough" for your 13 year olds kids? Really! Who does the MPAA think they are to slap a "teen flick" rating on this film and in doing so implicit;y broadcast it is fit for your 13 year old kids and up. Well, little do they know they do not have the authority to say a film is fit for your kids. You do, though. That is why we brutally tell you the truth about the content of films so you might be in a better position to make an informed moral decision whether a film is fit for your kids. There is no law that requires you to let your 13 year old kids and older, indeed any age, watch a PG-13 film or any other film. Drugs/Alcohol (D) As with most teen flicks, this one presents booze, drinking and drunkenness. And some wonder why there is such a teen drinking/alcoholism problem with our youth. The American College of Physicians (ACP) has found that exposure to booze and drinking in and as entertainment emboldens the viewer, in particular the middle school age stratum, the PG and PG-13 age stratum, to challenge and experiment with alcohol. Though the ACP study used R-rated films since it was believed R-rated films contained the most drinking, the focus is on the influence of exposure to alcohol in and as entertainment regardless of the film rating. Besides, the ACP researchers were not aware of R-13 which defeats the assumption that R-rated films present the most drinking and drunkenness. A finding by Harvard University agreed with our R-13 finding, four years after our finding. As a sidebar note, consider this, too. The MPAA is apparently going to consider all films with smoking in them as R-rated, clearly announcing without trying that smoking in and as entertainment is indeed a negative influence. If so, why not make R-rated any films which present booze and/or drinking and/or drunkenness? [Eph. 5:18] We incorporated smoking into a film's scoring distribution long before the MPAA. Even other film rating websites have plagiarized our methodology. Might that imply others are following our lead? That we are doing something right? Within the ACP study population of 4544 middle school students (90% were under fourteen years old), the prevalence of having tried alcohol without parental knowledge was Rather revealing of the influences of the entertainment industry wouldn't you say? And emboldening children to sin with drink in and as entertainment screams of violating Luke 17:2. But there is more to this "picture" than "meets the eye." It is not so much the presence of alcohol in films or the rating of the films that embolden youth to abuse it, but is rather the attitude portrayed; the attitude of freedom from authority, freedom from accountability and freedom from consequences. Films rated PG-13 and R are typically thick with attitude, most prevalently so in PG-13 films (go figure) and even in lesser rated films but not typically as much. Our report on this, ATTITUDE: In Perspective -- Investigation Area Scoring and Trend in CAP Entertainment Industry Investigations, Special Report-001 may provide more understanding of the point. Offense to God (O) None of the five uses of God's name in vain included the four letter expletive, but that does not excuse violation of God's Word to not abuse His name, even in that three syllable sentence with His name trailing it that is ever-so-popular with teens. [Deut: 5:11] And the transporting of a human not by God's power is unholy. Murder/Suicide (M) The single observed murder in this film is brutal, graphic and nauseating. Roland enjoys shoving his machete into the gut of a young jumper who is hog-tied to a tree with electrical cables. While there is no blood seen, the viewer is treated to the depression of flesh under the pressure of the machete as it penetrates through the skin. 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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