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Entertainment Media Analysis Report

MAR01299
The Cure (1995), PG-13
CAP Score: 48, CAP ID: 1.66

Thomas A. Carder
CAP President

Executive Summary / Commentary
Findings / Scoring
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY / COMMENTARY:

Jamie: This one is for you. Because of my appreciation of Jamie that she has such wisdom as a young teenage lass about the ignominy of the entertainment industry, I just could not say no to her special request for a CAP analysis of "The Cure."


This movie was exceptionally difficult to analyze due to the heavy emotional content of it and implied messages in it. Please understand that we make no allowances of any kind for Hollywood sensationalism in the form of a trumped up "message" or justification for presenting ignominy in entertainment media. Also understand that "The Cure" was nothing more than a movie just like all the rest. The adolescent boy did not have AIDS. The sadistic mother was not the mother of her victim son. They were all actors playing in a script. Nothing more, nothing less.

"The Cure" (1995, PG-13) was no cure at all. This movie was a very dark and bitter tour through emotional guided imagery and was indeed emotionally brutal for the viewer. It was saturated with an adolescent using the three/four letter word vocabulary. Some say that is the way kids talk. Maybe it is movies like this one that cause kids to talk that way? On top of the foul language, a stage mother in a dress laid on the floor face up with her knees in the air and permitted her adolescent son to wrestle his way between her legs with her buttocks showing. Great day in the morning! What kind of signal do you suppose this kind of vulgarity sends to kids?

Two adolescent boys, in search of a cure for AIDS, guided by the suggestion of another movie, experimented with making tea from plant leaves, resulting in plant poisoning of one of the boys. Ultimately the boys ran away to go to Louisiana to find a tabloid doctor who claimed to have the cure for AIDS. The impetus that led them to running away was abuse of parental authority. Also, a violently abusive mother wreaked evil hatred in more than one scene. And seven times one of the two boys used God's name in vain, although without the four letter expletive. Play in the form of burning toys, hanging them by the neck, and skewering them on poles made from pencils plus suggestion of animal torture gave this movie a bizarre twist.

Amidst many corruptive influences in "The Cure" the general theme of "It ain't good enough, no matter what 'it' is" anchored the unacceptable elements of this movie. It should have been rated R.




FINDINGS / SCORING: The Cure (1999) CAP Thermometers

Wanton Violence/Crime (W) lost intermediate level points six times due to very dangerous escapades by two adolescent boys, dangerous experimentation with consumption of plants, a violently abusive mother, endangerment by running away, and threats of and by adolescents. Wanton Violence/Crime lost maximum level points once due to brutal abuse of a son by a mother.

Impudence/Hate (I)(1) lost intermediate level points 25 times due to the use of the three/four letter word vocabulary by an adolescent and by adults before children, and a hateful correction by a mother. Impudence/Hate lost maximum level points four times due to the most foul of the foul words, an exceptionally foul verbal expression by an adolescent, a series of homosexual insults, and a general "It ain't good enough, no matter what 'it' is" theme.

Sex/Homosexuality (S) lost intermediate level points three times due to a mother wearing a dress permitting her adolescent son to lie on top of her between her legs with her buttocks showing, and display of adult underwear before a child. Sex/Homosexuality lost no maximum level points.

Drugs/Alcohol (D) lost no intermediate nor maximum level points.

Offense to God (O)(2) lost intermediate level points seven times due to the use of God's (without the four letter expletive) name in vain by an adolescent. Offense to God lost no maximum level points.

Murder/Suicide (M)(3) lost no intermediate nor maximum level points.

Other examples of entertainment ignominy, each warranting the loss of the minimum point level, included

  • an adolescent carving on a school chair
  • single homosexual references
  • burning toys, possibly as a violent expression
  • threats of violence to and by adolescents
  • intimidation by a group of boys
  • arrogance toward mother
  • slander of grandmother
  • the use of God's name in vain without the four letter expletive
  • bizarre play (skewering and hanging by the neck of toys)
  • suggestion of animal torture
  • theft of a shopping cart
  • assault with a rock
  • vulgar gesture
  • presentation of alcoholic beverage
  • use of fire (torch) by unsupervised adolescents
  • trespassing of adolescents onto private property to effect theft
  • lies to mother to deflect accountability and to coerce
  • impatience of an adolescent with an elderly woman
  • dangerous experimentation
  • tattoos (Lev. 19:28 Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.)
  • sexual overtones with a child
  • camera angle to force viewer on private parts of a body
  • emotionally difficult material
  • creating upheaval by "crying wolf" in a hospital
  • threat to kill
  • an unrelated adult meddling in the relationship of a mother with her son


    (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 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.



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




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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)

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