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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

MAR21080
Training Day (2001), R
Analysis Date: October 5, 2001
CAP Score: 35
CAP Influence Density: 5.47




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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.


TRAINING DAY (R) -- All in a "real life" day's work.

Another "real world" movie about how "real life" really is. How all police officers are corrupt and everyone certainly has a way with word. Really! The movie says so.

I have heard s-o-o-o many times in defense of such entertainment as Training Day that movies portray "real life": that movies are a reflection of "real life"; that movies teach us about "real life"; that movies ....... Supposedly, that these things happen in "real life" excuses the sin of them in entertainment: that they really happen gives justification for putting them on film. But not in one single case could I find any way to excuse the sin of such behavior just because it is "real life" OR the portrayal of it in entertainment. To they that feel movies portray real life I ask. How many of you as a part of your routine life personally know on a first name basis anyone who has stood in the middle of a highway in the middle of the night and used a machine gun to kill a corrupt cop? Five? No? One? No? None? That's what I thought. How many of you have even seen such an act in real life? How many of you even know an adjudicated corrupt cop? Maybe such things as those in Training Day happen because of movies such as Training Day? God knows what he is talking about [Hab. 2:12; 1Cor. 15:33]. To learn about real life, use real life not the movies. To learn how to handle or even know about life's myriad of miseries, it takes much more reality than can be provided by filth in film. Life rarely happens "just like in the movies."

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Denzel Washington is not the wholesome family man Herman Boone he was in Remember the Titans. He is Det. Sgt. Alonzo Harris, professional cop. A professionally corrupted cop trying to teach narcotics rookie Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) the ropes about street justice in Los Angeles. Harris has climbed the street cop ladder earning to his credit more than 15,000 man-years in prison sentences. Though an admirable record, by becoming comfortable in dealing with street dogs, Harris has become a street dog [Is. 59:7].
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Harris gave Hoyt one day, one training day to prove he could tow the line as a street cop. But in that one day, Hoyt becomes intoxicated while on duty with hallucinogens forced on him by Harris, has a gun pointed at his head twice, survives attempted murder twice (once by Harris), foils a rape attempt of a 14 year old girl, gets beat up twice, witnesses a murder by Harris, learns high level police administration and Harris are corrupt, and puts a bullet in a buttock of Harris. All in a "real life" day's work.
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As supervisor to five other cops, Harris sets the tone for training Hoyt in a coffee shop. Arrogant, abrasive and real good at it, Harris pastes Hoyt with a false image of laid-back confidence [Prov. 14:5]. Soon, Harris is teaching Hoyt how to consume illegal drugs in order to enable Hoyt to effectively make busts -- gotta sample the stuff if you are gonna buy it. Harris levels his semi-automatic 9 millimeter handgun at Hoyt's brain to tell him if he (Hoyt) was a drug dealer, he would be dead. I am sure that is a typical teaching method among all modern and progressive police supervisors nowadays.

High wattage screen veteran Scott Glenn joins the bad guys as Roger, an intellectual drug dealer who is one of Harris' major suppliers of tribute, graft and payoff. Finding Roger has accumulated $3 million, Harris just cannot resist snatching it [Hab. 2:9]. But in the process, Harris murders Rodger and threatens to frame Hoyt for it if he doesn't go along with the take [Neh. 6:13]. And, of course, since this movie is like "real life", this movie is repetition of routine since everyone knows personally a corrupt cop on a first name basis just like nice-guy Harris.

There is more in Training Day about the way "real life" is for the street cop, but the genre is the same. Since it is "real life" we can all use our experiential maturity and imagination to figure out the rest of the show.

Training Day is hard core R. In addition to the above ignominy, among the line items on the three full recording log pages of aberrant behavior findings are lots of use of derogatory slang as well as intense use of the three/four letter word vocabulary, including a massive dose of the most foul of the foul words. God's name is not respected. The extensive listing in the Findings/Scoring section will tell you all the findings made so you can decide whether to take you four and five year old sons if you decide watch this like the father in the theater when I saw it. And there is the answer to the ever-present question of "Why do you analyze R-rated films?" "I didn't know/think it would be that bad" can no longer be an excuse.

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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.

  • Hab. 2:12 Woe to him who builds a city [a guarded thing such as place or organization] with bloodshed and establishes a town [a collective such as mob or gang or regime] by crime!
  • Eccl. 8:11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong.
  • Is. 59:7 Their [from Is. 59:4, they who trust in vanity, speak lies, conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity] feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.
  • Prov. 14:5 A truthful witness does not deceive, but a false witness pours out lies.
  • Hab. 2:9 Woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain to set his nest on high, to escape the clutches of ruin!
  • Neh. 6:13 He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.

    *******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: Training Day (2001) CAP Thermometers

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

    Wanton Violence/Crime (W):
  • firearms, many
  • forcing another to consume illegal drugs
  • drinking while driving
  • vulgar threats
  • threat with a knife by a cop
  • attempted rape in progress; two males, one female, no nudity noted
  • brutalization of alleged criminals - repeatedly
  • gun battles
  • gambling
  • cop planning murder
  • police corruption - repeatedly
  • cop threatening to murder cop
  • beatings, some graphic
  • threat of homosexual rape
  • threats with firearms, many
  • gunfire to kill
  • trying to use toddler son as human shield
  • offer of pay to kill
  • gunfire injuries
  • automatic gunfire assault with injuries

    Impudence/Hate (I)(1):
  • 113 uses of the most foul of the foul words
  • 149 uses of the three/four letter word vocabulary separate from the most foul of the foul words
  • repeated use of derogatory racial slang
  • vulgar lashouts
  • vulgar background songs (with vulgar language separate from the items above)
  • massive tattoos (as expressions by criminals) - repeatedly
  • "open your eyes" (to corruption)
  • "It takes a man to kill"

    Sex/Homosexuality (S):
  • lesbian insult
  • sex talk, innuendo, comments, some vulgar
  • immoral relationship
  • cohabitation
  • inappropriate touch
  • excessive cleavage
  • intercourse (unseen)
  • woman with shirt open and no underwear on bed after man leaves
  • vulgar gestures
  • nude female in bed with man getting dressed
  • full female nudity

    Drugs/Alcohol (D):
  • smoking - repeatedly
  • drinking - repeatedly
  • booze = medicine
  • drug dealing
  • cops smoking dope
  • drug intoxication

    Offense to God (O)(2):
  • one use of God's name in vain with the four letter expletive and three without

    Murder/Suicide (M)(3):
  • graphic shotgun murder (by a cop, not a police action)
  • graphic street murder of a cop by automatic gunfire



    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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