 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 MAR27032  (2007), PG-13 [R-13*] (2hr 37min) 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 1100 analyses for parents, grandparents, pastors, youth leaders and more. |
"http://www.capalert.com/ now_playing.htm" Target="_Blank"  Click it to try it! |
  (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): Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Walt Disney Pictures Distribution (US): Buena Vista Pictures Director(s): Gore Verbinski Producer(s): Jerry Bruckheimer, Bruce Hendricks, Peter Kohn, Eric McLeod, Chad Oman, Pat Sandston, Mike Stenson Written by: Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio Characters: Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Stuart Beattie, Jay Wolpert Cinematography/Camera: Dariusz Wolski Music: Hans Zimmer Film Editing: Stephen E. Rivkin, Craig Wood Casting: Denise Chamian, Priscilla John Production Design: Rick Heinrichs Art Direction: John Dexter, William Ladd Skinner Viewed At: Driftwood Theater 6 Once again we ware blessed with being able to view a film before opening day but this-n-that prevented getting the analysis report package built and posted until opening day. Since this report is being distributed and posted on opening day, I am not going to spoil the plot or story by discussing them in any great detail in case you deem this genre and caliber of entertainment as fit for your family and decide to watch it. Arrr! Dangers abound, me lads and lasses! The devil-may-care, hearty swashbucklers of yesteryear can be mighty fun for the daydream. Arrr! But when Disney et al start showing characters shoving swords to the hilt with the blade protruding through and stabbing out the back of the victim, the fun becomes dangerous. Cap'n Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) teams up with the other eight lords of piracy including Cap'n Hector Barbosa (Geoffrey Rush), Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightley) and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) to do battle with Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) to rescue Will's father, Bootstrap Bill (Stellan Skarsgård) from eternal condemnation to the twilight world of the undead who become infested with sea creature features, barnacles, every little nibbler in the sea and just about any other oceanic undesirable known to the writers. This film presents some of the most outstanding make up and costuming ever seen on film. But that can be a problem. For example, the squid-head Davy Jones looks about as real as can be. The movements and appearances of the squid flesh that has consumed Jones' head are realistic enough to lead the younger viewer to believe it real. It must be remembered that, as Dr. Karen Nelson, Psychology Department head and practicing counselor Dr. Larry Gilliam agree with me, it would be unusual for even a 16 year old to be able to fully separate fantasy from reality: that such skills do not typically plateau until the early 20s. Now to the reason most parents and grandparents visit our pages. By the scoring data comparative below this third (2007) Pirates of the Caribbean installment is just about another pea in the same pod as the 2003 and the 2006 versions. Each is intense in violence and unholy matters. It is all fantasy, to be sure, but a bad influence does not have to be real to influence badly.  With a final score of 50, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End falls into the range of scores earned by R-rated films (54 and below out of 100) in the comparative baseline database, not a "hardcore" R but more like an "average R." While Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is equivalent in content to G or PG films in Impudence/Hate (I), Sexual Immorality (S) and Drugs/Alcohol, it is intensely violent and likewise intensely unholy, so intense it earned equivalence to R-rated films in both Wanton Violence/Crime (W) and Offense to God (O) with a zero score in each. Murder/Suicide (M) is the only investigation area which found programming to be equivalent to the PG-13 the film is rated, "Hardcore" PG-13 but PG-13 nonetheless. Wanton Violence/Crime (W) The lucrative and violent life of the pirate is magnified by the larger-than-life bigscreen, making the Buccaneer violence a real concern as found by the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and others, including God. [1 Cor. 15:33]. The trouble is that cutthroat criminals are made heroes and the law is made evil. [Isa. 5:20, Ezek. 22:12, Hab. 2:9] Remember, a bad influence does not have to be real to influence badly. The film starts out with multiple hangings, including of a young boy. Killings and deaths in intense action violence fill the 157 minutes of the film. There is little gore but that does not serve well to minimize the depth of violence soil in this film. As we discovered (which has since been fortified by other professional services - see Joint Statement...), it is not so much the gore, the weapons or the actual killing that so indelibly influences, whether intended, the target audience of the most morally vulnerable age stratum. It is rather the attitude of the one doing the killing that possesses the strongest influence. See ATTITUDE: In Perspective ... for more information. In this film, characters kill in individualized murders with triumphant joy and lust in their eyes. It has been a long time since I have seen performers be as able to express cold apathy for life and hunger to kill as efficiently as seen in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. It is that presence that bears the most dangerous influential mark. [Again 1 Cor. 15:33] Impudence/Hate (I) While there is much threatening talk there is only one use of the three/four letter word vocabulary in the entire 2 hours and 37 minutes of story. [Col. 3:8] Massive tattoos stereotypical of the "bad guy" image are displayed. Lies and treachery round out the content applicable to the Impudence and/or Hate investigation area. [Isa. 13:11] Sexual Immorality (S) As far as sexual content is concerned, there was no nudity noted and no one gets in bed with anyone though there is a strong suggestion of it plus a touch of inappropriate touch after the event. There are prostitutes shown and a man tries to force himself on Elizabeth. The use of women as toys and/or ornaments did not help the film's scoring. The most vulgar sexual matters in the film include some men hiding under a wooden plank floor with wide-spaced boards looking up between Elizabeth's legs as she walked by. While looking up between Elizabeth's legs is a bad enough image, the crazed lust comments and expressions of the male characters made it vulgar. A bad guy demanding that Elizabeth remove her clothes (not seen) after removing all the weapons hidden in her clothes did not help the scoring. [Matt. 5:28, Eph. 5:5] Drugs/Alcohol (D) In several instances the want of rum is portrayed. Booze was noted only once and drinking was noted only twice. But such "minimal" portrayal is not to be heralded. There are probably more instances of drinking/drunkenness but, if so, were embedded so deeply into the flow and action that I missed them. 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-13 age stratum. 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. Harvard University and even the University of Connecticut agree with the CAP R-13 finding, Harvard University four years after us. As a sidebar note, consider this, too. If the MPAA is going to make all films with smoking in them R-rated, why not make R-rated any films which present booze and/or drinking and/or drunkenness? [Eph. 5:18] Within the ACP study population of 4544 middle school students, 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. I can add to the ACP study that reveals films which present drinking and drunkenness contribute to underage substance abuse. I submit that it is not so much the presence of alcohol in films that embolden youth to abuse it, but is rather the attitude portrayed. 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) Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is intensely saturated with matters of unholy nature such as ungodly beings, a witch and witchcraft, evil as having the power to control the weather, false god worship, existence in an unholy limbo between life and the afterlife and more. [2 Chr. 33:6, Rev. 21:8] The film presents "Free from death itself" and "There is more than one way to live forever" (immortality). [Heb. 9:27] There are numerous examples of partnering with the evil and the unholy and the use of evil to do good. [Isa. 5:20] One of the unholy beings had its "brain" exposed to the air, fondled it and then lost it. Well, I know how he felt. I once developed an open mind to the enlightenment provided by much modern entertainment ... then my brain fell out. Though there were no transplant brains available as good as the one I had, God found one for me. Murder/Suicide (M) As noted above, murder was indeed graphic in some cases, especially the impalement murders by sword. In one case a woman is murdered by gunfire and the hole in her forehead is seen as she falls to the ground. Some killings (murders) are portrayed as by cannon fire. And in one case, Jones sends some of his tentacles down the nose and throat of a victim to kill him. [Rev. 22:15] 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) 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. |
| In the name of Jesus: 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. 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. |
