THE APPOINTMENT (Not Rated): ChildCare Action Project (CAP) Media Analysis Report MAR21SP06

ChildCare Action Project (CAP): Christian Analysis of American Culture
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Entertainment Media Analysis Report
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MAR21SP06
The Appointment (1990), (Not Rated)
CAP Score: 87
CAP Influence Density: 0.23

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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.

THE APPOINTMENT (Not Rated) -- ...as more and more signals were placed in her life...

On September 10th, Liz Watson (Karen Jo Briere) prepared a scathing article for her weekly newspaper on what she felt was the uselessness and hypocrisy of religion: that religion is nothing more than a bunch of preachers milking the public for money (more on this below). On a sidenote, of the hundreds who have emailed me with accusations of hypocrisy within the CAP ministry, not one has been able to explain and only one has tried to explain how they felt hypocrisy applied to this ministry. Neither did the antagonists in The Appointment give any explanation how hypocrisy fit into their conclusions about faith and religion. Sound familiar?

In a particularly brutal fashion, Liz asked the same questions and made the same conclusions made by many who are not humble enough to accept any authority save their own. Her hatred of those who have abused the trust of the people in the name of religion was convincing. She let that hatred extend to anyone who displayed any sort of faith. Then, on September 11 around 10:15 AM a "kook" arrived with a message from the Lord that she will die on September 19 at 6:05 PM.

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Discarding the warning which she felt was a threat, Liz went on to verbally brutalize callers who expressed disgust in her grossly generalized hatred of that she was trying to condemn. The movie portrayed our Lord placing in her daily path signals of death and how easily it can happen. The Lord even placed Eric (Art Oden) in her path to try to help her let go of the bondage to lies she suffered. But nothing worked. Liz maintained her arrogance and rebellion. But as more and more signals were placed in her life, she began to wonder. Then, as September 19th arrived, Liz decided to change her plans so she could exercise more control over things to prevent being killed. She even turned down a special 10-day assignment in Hawaii to prevent death by plane crash. At about 6:00 PM Liz had taken the warning to heart but still feared only being killed, not eternal damnation.

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Many of the popular arguments against servitude to our Lord and in favor of supreme independence were used to establish the plot. And that may be of concern for some parents: to hear such arguments by children (which includes uncleaved teens) who may still be building a spiritual foundation may be confusing and even proselytizing against our Lord. Due to experiential immaturity our youth often carry away only the surface of lessons, failing to grasp or capture the depth of the meaning vital to complete understanding. Dangerous thoughts about 'maybe they are right' may rise from comments such as "I can't see being condemned to Hell for the rest of your life for being good on earth." Nihilistic defeatism may be stirred by comments such as "I guess I'll go to Hell with all the rest of the sinners." Such a comment as serves only the appetite of the nihilist who says it [Rom. 16:17-18].

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Our Lord admonishes us to stay away from such strange teachings and smooth talk [Hebr. 13:9] and it is your job as parent to help your kids find the spiritual tools needed to cast away such influences which will come. It is inevitable. While it is rare that a secular movie can be used as a teaching tool in righteousness, The Appointment may be very successful in helping you expose the ways and thinking of the world. But that is YOUR call to make. I just tell you of the possible dangers and of sinful behaviors in movies so YOU can make an informed decision whether a movie is fit for your kids. Providing such talk in this movie provides example of what to avoid but it may take the authority of your parental maturity to place such programming in the proper perspective. It is clearly not the intent of this movie to place spiritual obstacles in our way but rather to provide examples of obstacles to help you teach your children about them before they experience them on their own. Further, The Appointment may serve as that little extra prompt needed to help a non-believer, child or adult, over the threshold into believing in His Grace.

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A very strong statement is made by The Appointment: that refusal to accept His Lordship and denial of His Sacrifice as payment of our sins can be devastating -- eternally; that to wait to chose until it is convenient or more comfortable can be damning. Another strong statement is made: that as Jesus told us, no amount of works (good or bad) will get Salvation for us (nor keep it away); that many people claim all they have to do to secure a reservation in Heaven is to live a life of goodness. And though not as openly stated in the movie it could also be understood that by not choosing, we make our choice.

About "religion" from the first paragraph: I am going to seize this opportunity to speak for a moment on "religion" so you'll know what you are getting when you open your mind and heart to this ministry. I, to a point, somewhat in a roundabout way and with reservation and a definite maybe completely partially agree with what Liz had to say about "religion." Religion can be many things. Man decides what is religion. To me, religion is man's concoction subject to man's weaknesses and whims. Satanism is religion to the Internal Revenue Service. Taoism, Buddhism, and many eastern spiritually oriented organizations are each a religion. With that in mind, I am not a "religious" man. I am a Christian. I love and worship Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus IS God and that there is no intermediary between God and man: that there is none other who spent three days in Hell so we would not have to spend one moment there; that even though He could have stopped all His suffering He let His back be ripped to ribbons and Himself to be killed so we may have eternal life; that He would have gone through with it all if doing so would have saved only the likes of me. I am a Christian, loving His Word as He spoke it, not as situationally redefined and conditionally applied by so many to suit personal agenda. I reject being pabulum fed and pabulum feeding others with watered down Scripture to avoid invading the comfort zone. I further reject attempts to rationalize noncompliance with and counterfeiting of His Word by claiming it to be poisoned by the mortal perspective of they who penned it. Bottom line: I love Jesus AND His Word. With all that I am I thank God for His Son, for what He did for you and I. If that makes me "religious", then so be it.

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If needed to focus or fortify, applicable text is underlined or bracketed [ ].

Rom. 16:17-18 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly [appetite]; and by good words and fair speeches [eulogia: in a bad sense, language artfully adapted to captivate the hearer] deceive the hearts of the simple [akakos: fearing no evil from others, distrusting no one (describes children well)].

Hebr. 13:9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace [by God's Word and love], not by ceremonial foods [e.g., entertainment ignominy], which are of no value to those who eat them.

*******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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FINDINGS / SCORING:

Wanton Violence/Crime (W):

implied vehicular fatality

Impudence/Hate (I)⁽¹⁾:

lie about age to manipulate decision

arrogance against fair authority

Sex/Homosexuality (S):

none noted

Drugs/Alcohol (D):

none noted

Offense to God (O)⁽²⁾:

long monologue of smooth talk and strange rationale against God and faith

conversation belittling faith

"I guess I'll go to Hell with the rest of the sinners" and other similar argumentation

Murder/Suicide (M)⁽³⁾:

none noted

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 aplaud 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.

(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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