CAP Report MAR-0057, ZEUS AND ROXANNE (1997)

ChildCare Action Project:
Christian Analysis of American Culture (CAP)

Entertainment Media Analysis Report
MAR-0057
Zeus and Roxanne (1997)
PG
CAP Score: 75
CAP ID: 0.45

Thomas A. Carder
CAP President

ALERT: To fully understand this report you should first visit the topics suggested by
the CAP Home Page Table of Contents.

Zeus and Roxanne - let me start with the movie title. Zeus was a Greek mythological god of the sky and ruler of the Olympian gods. Zeus was considered the father of the gods and of mortals and the brother of Hades, the god of the underworld. Bad start! In spite of that, this movie was indeed cute and well made but was typical of a PG/PG-13 movie. A strong presence of arrogance against fair authority (impunity) was well hidden in a theme of compassion, justice, and love. The usual smattering of sexual content was present, and almost entirely by an early teen girl because of the clothes she wore, or rather the lack of clothes -- from the waist down anyway. And to make sexual content even worse, this movie presented three adolescents planning the cohabitation of an unmarried couple! That in the end the couple were married does not make planning of such illicit behavior acceptable.

As expected, adolescent arrogance toward parental and other fair authority was almost as much the theme of Zeus and Roxanne as were Zeus and Roxanne. The producers were able to get a dog (Zeus) to ride atop a dolphin (Roxanne) at sea and to bark and grubble at the dolphin simulating interspecies commuication. But unfortunately one of the two daughters of the marine biologist (Kathleen Quinlan) helping Roxanne was constantly in clothes which cried of "Take me, I am easy." And of course, no matter what mom said, the daughter was always right. And, of course, there was no dad in this plot.

Now you have the largest reasons Zeus and Roxanne received a CAP score of 75: Impunity/Hate⁽¹⁾ (I) and Sex/Homosexuality (S). The findings of all other CAP Investigation Area revealed material which was relatively tame in comparison to the same Investigation Areas in other PG movies. Wanton Violence/Crime (W) suffered a few points because of wreckless driving and planning a crime. Drugs/Alcohol (D) lost points due to enticing with rum. The use of God's name in vain was strangely rare for a PG movie. Thus Offense to God⁽²⁾ (O) did not suffer as much as would be expected from a PG movie. Murder/Suicide⁽³⁾ (M) was free of examples of unacceptable material.

You will need to be prepared to explain to your pre-teen daughters, who usually yearn to emulate teenage girls, why it is inappropriate for an early teen girl (or any other age group) to knowingly risk showing the color of her underwear. AND, if you want to help your kids avoid the consequences of the entertaiment media's pets...too much autonomy too soon and freedom from accountability...be prepared to explain why they cannot talk to you the way these kids talked to their mom, and why they may not have this, why they may not go there, why they may not do that, why they may not have them........

While no unacceptable material was found to be of the extreme nature, unacceptable examples of behavior included:

arrogant expressions, langauge, and wording toward parental authority
inappropriate language
camera angle to maximize view of female breasts
disobeying parental authority
lying to avoid accountability, to achieve unrighteous escape from parental authority, and to gain unfair advantage
entering restricted private property to rollerblade
blaming mother for unfairness of discipline
revealing swimwear
ignoring and flight to escape fair authority (Security)
a son addressing his father by first name
belittlement of parental authority
a woman positioning her body in a somewhat vulgar manner
sneaking to gain access to private belongings
endangerment of a child at sea without a life preserver and near an unprotected platform open to the sea
lustful jesting
a dog urinating on a human

Below is the table showing the scoring in each of the Investigation Areas plus the Final Score drawn from the actual CAP Report. In addition, the CAP Influence Density (ID) figure for the movie and the number of examples per hour of unacceptable material in each of the Investigation Areas is provided.

Zeus and Roxanne CAP Scorecard

In accordance with the comparative baseline data, Zeus and Roxanne was equivalent to R-rated material in Impunity/Hate and Sex/Homosexuality. The movie was equivalent to G-rated movies in Wanton Violence/Crime, Drugs/Alcohol, Offense to God, and Murder/Suicide. Thus, Zeus and Roxanne was equivalent to the comparative baseline data corresponding to 33% R-rated material and 66% G-rated material.

(1) As noted in CAP Special Report-0001, "Investigation Area and Scoring Trend", of the six CAP Investigation Areas, Impunity/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 is incorporated into the Impunity/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 dupication. 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, deaths by police action, and deaths by war are incorporated into Wanton Violence/Crime.

Please remember we believe that if even one of the six Investigation Area scores for a movie is equivalent to the CAP comparative baseline databse scoring range for R, PG-13, or PG material, the entire movie should be regarded as so rated. For example, if only Wanton Violence/Crime earns a score equivalent to R but all other Investigation Areas earn a score equivalent to G, THERE IS R-RATED MATERIAL IN THE MOVIE AND YOUR KIDS WILL SEE IT AND HEAR IT IF THEY WATCH THE MOVIE!

Additional reviews of this movie may be located at "Movie Review Query Engine at Telerama."

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