: To fully understand this report you should first visit the topics suggested by the CAP Table of Contents.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY / COMMENTARY:
The Prince of Egypt... good job, Spielberg!
At the beginning of The Prince of Egypt, the producers included a caveat that they had taken advantage of "poetic license." So did Cecil B. De Mille in the 1956 Ten Commandments. The producers made no guarantee about the accuracy of the movie and advised viewers to find answers in Exodus of the Bible. (A nice touch!) That some points in the movie might not have been 100% accurate is not really that significant. That no one knows whether, e.g., crocodiles actually attacked the three month old baby Moses while adrift in the basket is not important; that the movie presented Yoshabel, the mother of Moses, setting her baby adrift on the river to save him from death at the hands of Seti, the Pharaoh at the time, IS important. And most important in this movie is that it portrayed God not as a convenience companion or someone to question and ridicule, but as our omniscient and omnipotent God, as the ONLY True God.
The most severe loss of points was due to violence: slavery, beatings, murder, infanticide, and babies used as food for crocodiles (in a mural). Though these things are not just based on a true story, but ARE a true story, they are still violence and can have an impact or influence on your children. Next in severity of loss of points were matters of unholy reality such as the demonic doers, calling on power from unholy gods, and belittling remarks about the power of prayer and God's sincerity. And, believe it or not, there was sexual material in The Prince of Egypt: an "under-skirt" scene of the posterior of the young Pharaoh with unmistakable reference to it, shadows of a nude female on a curtain, and old women bathing a nude Moses with Moses uttering an implicating remark. The Bible says nothing about these three ignominies, so I guess they are elements of "poetic license." But why are they in the movie at all?
There are additional examples of light ignominious material (see the full report) which also might influence your child's behavior choices or might alter or misdirect his/her perception of the Holy Father and His expectations of us -- each may require your guidance -- but the bottom line is that this movie presented God as He should be presented, at least the way He should be presented to children; that this movie presented God as omnipotent and omniscient. Good job, Spielberg!
FINDINGS / SCORING:
Wanton Violence/Crime (W) lost no intermediate or maximum level points.
Impudence*/Hate (I)(1) lost no intermediate or maximum level points.
Sex/Homosexuality (S) lost no intermediate or maximum level points.
Drugs/Alcohol (D) lost no intermediate or maximum level points.
Offense to God (O)(2) lost no intermediate or maximum level points.
Murder/Suicide (M)(3) lost no intermediate or maximum level points.
Other examples of questionable programming, each warranting the loss of the minimum point level, included
brutality of slavery, whipping
beating of an old woman by a soldier
grief of loss - mother abandoning her baby in a wicker basket and setting it adrift in a river
animal attacks on the abandoned baby
scene of the posterior of the young Pharaoh with unmistakable reference to it
reckless horseplay causing damage and danger
calling upon unholy gods and upon Ra (the Egyptian Sun god)
shadows of a nude female on a curtain
brutality on babies
painting of drowning babies as food for crocodiles (twice)
"gods, grant me a vision"
murder of a soldier by Moses
lies to cover up the murder
old women bathing a nude young Moses
scant dress on slaves revealing the lower folds of the posterior
portrayal of the death of children at the hands of soldiers
"prayer proved in vain"
an order to kill (by Pharaoh of the Israelites)
drowning of thousands
* "Impunity/Hate" is being changed to "Impudence/Hate."
(2) The use of the three/four letter word vocabulary without God's name is incorporated into the Impudence/Hate Investigation Area. The use of God's name with or without the three/four letter word vocabulary is incorporated into the Offense to God Investigation Area. There is no duplication. As required of the Holy Scriptures, unless God's name is used with reverence to His glory and praise, its use is considered in vain, whether literal or euphemistic.
(3) Only portrayal of successful murder or suicide are incorporated into Murder/Suicide. Presentation of attempts to commit murder or suicide and deaths by police action or war are incorporated into Wanton Violence/Crime.
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In the name of Jesus:
Lord, Master, Teacher, Savior, God.
Thomas A. Carder
President
ChildCare Action Project: Christian Analysis of American Culture (CAP)
