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Reel World Reality 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 MAR2012.068  (2012), PG-13 [R-13*] (98.25min) 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 1500 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.)
 Production (US): Warner Brothers Pictures in Association with Roadshow Pictures, a DiNovi Pictures Production, a Scott Hicks Film Distribution (US): Warner Brothers Home Video Director(s): Scott Hicks Producer(s): Kerry Heysen, Ravi Metha, Alison Greenspan, Bruce Berman, Denise DiNova, Kevin McCormick Screenplay by: Will Fetters Based on the Novel by Nicholas Sparks Cinematography/Camera: Alar Kivilo Music: Mark Isham, John Bissell Film Editing: Scott Gray Casting: Ronna Kress Production Design: Barbara Ling Viewed on Warner Brothers Home Video DVD Is Logan the lucky one? Or is Beth Green? And how is it that one of them (or each?) is the lucky one? During a melee in Iraq Marine Sgt. Logan Thibault (Zac Efron) finds a snapshot of a woman in the rubble. The woman in the snapshot is a blonde Caucasian, not at all commonplace in the warfields of Iraq. With the woman's picture in his possession Logan escapes death a number of ways such as from a mortar shell explosion just feet away from him. His buddies suggest that the woman in the picture is his guardian angel: that Logan should thank her one day; that she is the reason he is still breathing ... and Logan buys it. Now Logan is bent on finding the woman in the snapshot to thank her for the protection her snapshot afforded him. After three tours of duty in Irag, Logan goes to his brother's home in Colorado but ghosts from the battles he had suffered caused Logan to react violently to innocent rousing from sleep by his nephews. Leaving Colorado for their sake, Logan travels to Louisiana to search for the woman in the snapshot. A lighthouse in the background of the snapshot leads him to her. She is Beth Green (Taylor Schilling). Logan finds Beth in Camden Parish, Louisiana operating the Green Kennels with her grandmother, Ellie (Blythe Danner). Unknown to Logan at the time, Beth is the sister of one of his fellow Marines, Sgt. Drake "Aces" Green (Kendal Tuttle) who was killed in the melee that introduced us to Logan. The story offers a rather clever connection between Logan, Beth, Aces and the snapshot of Beth. It was difficult watching this film staring Zac Efron without being haunted by flashbacks of Efron as a central figure in High School Musical. But slowly, the Efron image became more in tune with the story, leaving behind High School Musical. While Efron was indeed a quality performer as was Schilling, Danner, with her years of big screen experience, took the prize. Jay R. Ferguson as Sheriff's Deputy Keith Clayton played Beth's ex-husband well. He even looks like a grown-up spoiled and pouty child. While all the talents were of respectable quality, the quality of the parts were not all respectable. Please inspect closely the individual content investigation area discussions below and the listings in the Findings/Scoring section before you decide which age stratum, if any, for which this film is fit. Following are brief discussions of the content per individual content investigation area. As always the Findings section of this report, the heart of the CAP Analysis Model, is the best source for discovering the full accounting of the content of this film. Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - 15 out of 100 Violence consisted mainly of warfare violence and assaults by Deputy Clayton. The warfare scenes present six graphic killings of American marines. Bullets are seen hitting the men. The violence content of this film is clearly equivalent to the violence content found in many R-rated films. How invasive is the influence of violence in and as entertainment? Would boys cheering as a youth plummets 25 feet to the rocks below then pelting rocks at him give any perspective? The following are from Toying with Death, March 2004 by Berit Kjos: "Visitors at a beauty spot near Glasgow watched helplessly as three boys [aged 18, 17 and 15) forced a terrified schoolboy to fall 25 feet over a cliff and then cheered as their victim plunged on to rocks below, a court heard yesterday."[a] [a] Arnot Mc Whinnie, Youths forced boy to jump over cliff, The Scotsman, 3-3-04. "After the Jonesboro shootings, one of the high-school teachers told me how her students reacted when she told them about the shootings at the middle school. 'They laughed,' she told me with dismay. A similar reaction happens all the time in movie theaters when there is bloody violence. The young people laugh and cheer and keep right on eating popcorn and drinking pop. We have raised a generation of barbarians who have learned to associate violence with pleasure, like the Romans cheering and snacking as the Christians were slaughtered in the Coliseum."[b] [b] Dave Grossman, Trained to Kill. And then there is the school shooting at Columbine where Klebold and Harris watched Natural Born Killers over and over. And the stabbing of a 14 year old boy by another 14 year old boy, both had just watched Valentine where a blade was the weapon of choice in portrayal of many bloody murders. Don't even try to fall back on "Those films are rated R! Those kids should not have watched them." The "R" label does not prevent underage viewing. I wish I had a dollar for every time I saw underage youths in the audience at R-rated features. All this from exposure to violence in and as entertainment. Be afraid. Very afraid. For our kids. God warns us distinctly about the influence of violence in many verses from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Proverb 16:29 addresses the issue rather succinctly. In Proverb 16:29 God warns that violence is enticing: that it is "catching"; that it can lead one into the path that is not good. Since God "published His findings" man plagiarized God by four professional public health agencies publishing that violence in and as entertainment can, among other things, lead the viewer, especially the young, to real life violence and can lead the viewer to believe violence is an effective means of settling conflict. When are we going to listen? Impudence/Hate (I) - 22 out of 100 Sixteen times someone uttered some form of profanity, two of them before a child. [Col. 3:8, Luke 17:2] Fortunately, the most foul of the foul words was not noted. God's name was used in vain but that matter is incorporated by the Offense to God (O) content investigation area. Other demonstrations of impudence and/or hatred included adolescent disrespect of his mother, an arrogant and abrasive police officer, a lie and extortion of a man's ex-wife using their son as leverage. In 1 Cor. 6:9 - 10 God warns that [unforgiven] extortioners will not make it into Heaven. Sexual Immorality (S) - Zero out of 100 After Logan establishes himself to Beth and her grandmother, he works his way into Beth's bed (or she into his). More than once. Though no gender-specific parts are seen, strategic covering by the sheets and clever maneuvers by the camera do not absolve the scenes of what is obviously going on. At times the camera is used to force the viewer onto Beth's private parts covered by revealing clothing. Additional instances of sexually immoral behavior, too many to summarize here, are demonstrated in this film but I ask that you inspect the listing in the Findings section to discover the extent of the sexually immoral content of this film. [1 Thess. 4:1 - 5] Many do not want to hear it but God's Word regarding sexually immoral behaviors can be summed up as any any sexual contact (including sight, sound and touch), conduct or activity outside of a monogamous heterosexual marriage is sinful. "Adult" does not excuse sexual sin no matter what the world says. A recent finding by Dr. Ross O'Hara of the University of Missouri, published in the Journal Psychological Science, has found that sexually suggestive content in movies profoundly affects the future sexual habits of adolescents so exposed at 12 to 14 years old -- the PG-13 age stratum. According to Dr. O'Hara's findings, adolescents who are exposed to more sexual content in movies start having sex at younger ages, have more sexual partners and engage in riskier sexual activities. Please consider God's admonition against sexual immorality and Dr. O'Hara's finding when you consider which age stratum (if any) for which this film is fit. Drugs/Alcohol (D) - 25 out of 100 Booze. Drinking. Drunkenness. They are all there, making this film particularly dangerous for adolescent viewers. According to the American College of Physicians, (AC), anyway. 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 report 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 Offense to God (O) - 68 out of 100 Five times someone abuses God's name, one of them with the four letter expletive. The thing of it is that the sin of using God's name in vain does not depend on including the four letter expletive. It is sinful to utter His name in vain for any reason. Yes, that includes the so-popular three syllable sentence with His name trailing it. [Deut. 5:11] In addition to the abuse of God's name, the soldiers are seen in a session of revelry with a band playing an arrogant song. Murder/Suicide (M) - 100 out of 100 While the killings found in the warfare violence might be considered murder by the enemy, the CAP Analysis Model does not include deaths due to acts of war, police action or defensive killings in this content investigation area but rather in the Wanton Violence/Crime investigation area. Likewise with portrayal of attempted murder/suicide. Thus, there were no portrayals of murder observed in this film. 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 --> 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.] 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 objective heart of the CAP Analysis Model, independent of and insulated from the Summary / Commentary section.)   Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - 15 out of 100 Impudence/Hate (I) - 22 out of 100 Sexual Immorality (S) - Zero out of 100 Drugs/Alcohol (D) - 25 out of 100 Offense to God (O) - 66 out of 100 Murder/Suicide (M) - 100 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. |
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| 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 |
