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Christian Analysis of American Culture (CAP Ministry) www.capalert.com/ Entertainment Media Analysis Report A service to His little ones (which includes at-home teens) through you, their parents and grandparents, in His name by His Word MAR24028  (2004), PG-13 |
Written/Prepared by:  T. Carder |
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 (2004), PG-13 -- If ... have the potential to influence decision-making ... so does ...  Cast/Crew Details Courtesy Internet Movie Database Production (US): Grand Slam Productions, Columbia Pictures Corporation, Pariah Entertainment Group Distribution (US): Sony Pictures Entertainment, Columbia Pictures Director(s): David Koepp Producer(s): Gavin Polone, Ezra Swerdlow Written by: Stephen King Screenplay: David Koepp Cinematography/Camera: Fred Murphy Music: Philip Glass, Geoff Zanelli Film Editing: Jill Savitt Casting: Andrea Kenyon, Pat McCorkle, John Papsidera, Randi Wells Production Design: Howard Cummings Art Direction: Gilles Aird Viewed At: Driftwood Theater 6 If you let your kids watch this "feet on seat backs, backwards hat and bare midriff" manner of entertainment, don't expect them to speak cleanly and responsibly in your absence. We reap what we sow. God knows what He is talking about [Job 4:8]. And if we had a donation for every time I was told in email "That's the way we talk anyway" and "So what? They're just words" and "I hear worse at school every day" we wouldn't need financial support. From where do you think kids who talk that way got such a habit? To hear it in and as entertainment with your implicit approval by letting them see it only serves to encourage, embolden and perpetuate such chosen behavior by lowering their wholesome threshold by desensitizing them to the vulgarity of "filthy communication" [Col. 3:8]. Whether they believe it or not. Whether they admit it or not. Whether you OR I believe it or admit it or not. God KNOWS what He is talking about [1 Cor. 15:33]. Yes, it made me very angry to see all the young teens and preteens in the audience soaking it up, every sin, and laughing it up as they were morally raped [Luke 17:2]. (I'll get to the Summary/Commentary for this movie soon enough.) Is there no thought given to the millstone (in Luke 17:20) let alone the children themselves? Is there no though given to Jesus [Matt. 25:40]? The One who spent three days in Hell so you and I would not have to spend one moment there? Also pray that your impressionable ones who watch this show do not, in a moment of social/emotional/puberty fire, use a shovel to cut someone's head off. If the heinous graphic brutality of The Basketball Diaries, Valentine and Natural Born Killers can have the potential to influence the decision-making skills of youthful assailants, so can the scenery of a man coldly and lustfully chopping off the head of another with a shovel. God knows what He is talking about. Secret Window was one of the furthest from a PG-13 I have ever seen. And I have seen more than 800 films. With a final score of 36 and an Influence Density of 1.64, this is more proof that the MPAA is morally dead and are blind servants to worldly morality. I always thought they were there to provide a means for parents to be informed of vile and invasive content but I have been wrong before. Well, if that is true, they have failed. Miserably. Secret Window is completely R-13. Morton Rainey (Johnny Depp) is being sued for divorce [Mal. 2:16] by his wife Amy (Maria Bello). He lives in a remote cabin in the woods in Tashmore County, New York away from Amy as therapy and to continue his work as a writer. While working on a story, Mort is visited by an evil man from Mississippi named John Shooter (John Turturro). Shooter is not really from Mississippi but is from some place much closer to Mort. Shooter claims Mort stole his story, "Secret Window." It doesn't add up since Shooter's story was written in 1997 and was titled "Sowing Season" while Mort's "Secret Window" was published in 1995 in the _Ellory Queen_ magazine, pages 83 to 98. But both stories were almost identical. This movie is based on Stephen King's "Four Past Midnight: Secret Window, Secret Garden." There is even a subtle reference to King's "Children of the Corn" in this film. To corn anyway. The "secret window" is a small casement-style window in the upper floor of Mort's cabin, easily hidden by a chest of drawers, which overlooks a place where Amy had planned to plant a garden. Shooter will not let go of his claim that Mort stole his story and makes a plethora of demands of Mort -- threats that if Mort does not make amends for his "crime" of plagiarism he would do harm of many kinds, such as burn everything in Mort's life like weeds in a high wind. In fear for his life, Mort hires a private investigator, Ken Karsch (Charles Dutton) to intimidate Shooter into leaving Mort alone. But it doesn't work. Quickly it becomes clear that Shooter is not about to leave without the amends he demands. This film is a fetching way to portray the schizophrenia Mort suffers. His schizophrenia is used to excuse many sins. Beating his wife with a shovel. Stabbing her with a screw driver. Murdering a local man with that screw driver in his head. Murdering Karsch with a small hatchet. Murdering Amy's paramour, Ted (Timothy Hutton) who, by the way, is from Shooter's Bay, TN using the shovel as a blade to cut off his head. [Gal. 5:21; Rev. 21:8] Even murdering his own dog - err, his wife's dog Chico - with that screw driver. And this is PG-13? You be the judge since it is your kids who will be victimized by it if you let them see it. There are also 38 uses of the three/four letter word vocabulary [Col. 3:8] plus 8 uses of God's name in vain with and without the four letter expletive [Deut. 5:11], once with the four letter expletive in a most bold and bitter way. And there were several images of Bello and Hutton nude but covered in a motel bed practicing adultery [Prov. 6:32; Rev. 21:8]. PG-13 huh? Please refer also to the listing in the Findings/Scoring section (the heart of the CAP Analysis Model) before deciding whether to let your kids see this film. Please.
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. ***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) |
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| 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 more than eight 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. |
