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Entertainment Media Analysis Report
A service to our youth though you,
their parents and grandparents, in His name by His Word

MAR21056
The Others (2001), PG-13
CAP Score: 73
CAP Influence Density: 0.71

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NOTE: If you do not want the plot, ending, or "secrets" of a movie spoiled for you, skip the Summary/Commentary. In any case, be sure to visit the Findings/Scoring section -- it is purely objective and is the heart of the CAP Entertainment Media Analysis Model applied to this movie.





SUMMARY / COMMENTARY:

If Scriptural references appear, the full text appears at the end of the Summary / Commentary likely using a mix of KJV and NIV.


THE OTHERS (PG-13) -- no, the kids did not sleep in coffins.

Grace (Nichole Kidman) and her two children, Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley) live in a manor on British Jersey Island. Their father was off to fight in a war that had ended some time ago. The house caretakers disappeared one night without word or wages. Three new caretakers, matronly Bertha Mills (Fionnula Flanagan), very elderly Mr. Tuttle (Eric Sykes), and young introverted mute Lydia (Elaine Cassidy) arrive in answer to Grace's advertisement that never made it to the newspapers.

Anne and Nicholas are so photophobic they must exist under no more light than candle or oil lamp light -- sunlight could kill them. (Without spoiling this subplot, let me just drop the names Bella Lugosi and Vincent Price.) Every room in the mansion was shielded from any environmental light with heavy curtains and drapes on every window. No, the kids did not sleep in coffins (I would like to drop a hint here but won't), they slept in regular beds.
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A practice of Grace and a rule for the new caretakers, violations of which would draw the most heinous reprisal from Grace, was to lock the door through which they entered a room before opening another door. While a bit eccentric, Mrs. Mills had no problem with compliance. She knew the entire house like the back of her hand since she had, by her claim, been caretaker there for years before Grace occupied the mansion.

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Upon finding an old photo album, Grace noted that everyone in all the pictures were asleep. Mrs. Mills told Grace all the people were not asleep but were dead: that it was a common practice of the time to take photos of departed friends and relatives to help do something with their souls. However morbid the practice, Grace accepted Mrs. Mills explanation ... until she found a photo of Mrs. Mills, Mr. Tuttle and Lydia -- dead.
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About three fourths through the movie was when the pace of the yawning slowed to make a sliver of room for excitement. Shattering the boredom of the first three quarters of the movie are a couple explosive startles and evil-looking flash imagery. It is not a movie for which you can check your brain at the door. There is a twist at the end of *The Others* atypical of most movies portraying the possession of a house by spooks. No, I am *certainly not* trying to entice you to see this or any other movie. I am trying to stay as respectful as I can by not spoiling the whole plot for the movie goers who choose to watch this movie.
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Some of the more invasive programming in *The Others* included much speaking to death and the dead. While Leviticus 19:28 uses scars, tattoos and other permanent body markings to make a fine point, it focuses on not celebrating and ritualizing or personifying the dead as did the pagans. Deuteronomy 14:1 and Luke 20:38 reinforce the admonition against fussing over the dead. Let us not entertain thoughts of divining and communicating with the dead which cannot speak or reasoned with or even toying with thoughts of such. Jesus will quicken the dead in His Day [1 Thess. 4:16-17].

While this film lost all the starting 100 points in Offense to God due to unholy and evil portrayals, its final score *and* influence density were equivalent to a middle-of-the-road PG. The listing of findings in the Findings/Scoring section will help you formulate a more rounded informed decision.

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SCRIPTURAL APPLICATION(S)
If needed to focus or fortify, applicable text is underlined or bracketed [ ]. 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.

  • Lev. 19:28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
  • Deut. 14:1 Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
  • Luke 20:38 For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.
  • 1 Thess. 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

    *******Food for Thought*******
  • 1 Cor. 15:33 (KJV) Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. (NIV) Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character.
  • Jude 4 For certain men* whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. [*men: anthropos {anth'-ro-pos}, generic, a human being, whether male or female]
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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 Others (2001) CAP Thermometers

    NOTE: Multiple occurrences of each item described below may be likely, definitely when plural.

    Wanton Violence/Crime (W):
  • gunfire to kill
  • close-range gunfire with no consequences

    Impudence/Hate (I)(1):
  • adolescent arrogance against mother, repeatedly
  • a single use of the three/four letter word vocabulary
  • an older child daring a younger child to take dangerous risks
  • mother to daughter: "I'm no wiser than you are."

    Sex/Homosexuality (S):
  • adult in underwear
  • man on woman in bed, clothed in sleepwear

    Drugs/Alcohol (D):
  • accounting of the mother killing her kids than committing suicide

    Offense to God (O)(2):
  • claim of children being condemned (up to the age of accountability, children are blessed)
  • many images and suggestions of unholy presences, some graphic
  • smooth talk, even by an adolescent, to counterfeit and confuse perception of the Bible and faith in God
  • much speaking of death and the dead
  • one use of God's name in vain without the four letter expletive
  • dialogue of disbelief in the Scriptures as the Word of God
  • servitude to unholiness
  • children being told to talk to the dead
  • story of unholy possession
  • organized ghost inhabitation
  • suggestion that children can see the dead
  • seance
  • entire theme of the dead manipulating the living

    Murder/Suicide (M)(3):
  • none noted



    NOTE: The CAP Analysis Model makes no scoring allowances for trumped-up "messages" to excuse or for manufacturing of justification for aberrant behavior or imagery, or for camouflaging such ignominy with "redeeming" programming. Disguising sinful behavior in a theme plot does not excuse the sinful behavior of either the one who is drawing pleasure from the sinful display or the practitioners demonstrating the sinful behavior. This is NOT a movie review service. It is a movie analysis service to parents and grandparents to tell them the truth about movies using the Truth.


    "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 five-year 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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    (1) As noted in CAP Special Report-001, "Investigation Area and Scoring Trend," of the six CAP Investigation Areas, Impudence/Hate was the strongest presence in all four movie classifications. It has a strong revelation about the entertainment media.

    (2) The use of the three/four letter word vocabulary without God's name in vain is incorporated into the Impudence/Hate Investigation Area. The use of God's name with or without the four letter expletive is incorporated into the Offense to God Investigation Area. There is no duplication.

    (3) Only portrayal of successful murder or suicide are incorporated into Murder/Suicide. Portrayal of attempts to commit murder or suicide and deaths by police action or war are incorporated into Wanton Violence/Crime.




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