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Entertainment Media Analysis Report
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MAR2011.029

(2008), Not Rated [Ultra lite R-NR*] (1hr 25.3min)

Final Score
Analysis Date
Date Posted
Influence Density
MinMax
March 21, 2011
March 22, 2011
54
0.82
-82

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Christian Long Distance

SUMMARY / COMMENTARY:
(While the Scriptural references are certainly not subjective, my commentary may be and sometimes is somewhat subjective.)

If Scriptural references appear, the full text appears at the end of the Summary / Commentary.



(2008), Not Rated [Ultra lite R-NR*] ... is not necessarily a "Christian" film.


Cast/Crew Details Courtesy Internet Movie Database
Production (US): Daws Brothers Studios, Life Is My Movie Entertainment Company
Distribution (US): Cloud Ten Pictures
Director(s): Jeremiah Daws, Josh Daws
Producer(s): Heather Duffie, Ronald English, Nathaniel Thomas McGill, Vincent Vittorio
Writing Credits: Jeremiah Daws, Josh Daws
Cinematography/Camera: J. Christopher Campbell
Music: Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion, Lolita Ritmanis
Film Editing: Jeremiah Daws, Josh Daws
Viewed on Cloud Ten Pictures Home Entertainment DVD



Wow! A true thriller in every sense of the word! And by a Christian distributor.

Dangerous Calling is set in the world of small town church politics. Y'know? The politics of the one widow who thinks she controls the pastor and the church because she donates so much money? Too many of us have met such a person. Pastor Evan Burke (Stephen Caudill) and his wife Nora (Carrie L. Walrond) meet their version of the controlling widow as Pastor Burke assumes his leadership role of the First Baptist Church of Willit Springs, Georgia after the questionable death of Pastor Wilder (Frank Roberts).

The controlling widow in this case is Pat Hinton, a.k.a., Miss Patt (Jackie Prucha), the one whom Pastor Wilder always consulted ... or was pressured into consulting ... in all church decisions, major and minor, at least until shortly after the day Pastor Wilder informed Miss Pat that he will no longer let her pressure him into doing things he did not feel led to do. That evening Pastor Wilder died ... of suffocation by a plastic bag around his head.

Miss Pat is the community spearhead and welcome wagon, at least she forced herself into the lives of anybody of any authority or community importance. She was happy to let the new pastor Burke and his wife Nora stay at her opulent mountain home while she renovated the parsonage kitchen and bathroom. Was Miss Pat being neighborly and sacrificial or was she playing deadly politics? Hint: a month later when the Pastor Burke and Nora were almost ready to move out of Miss Pat's home and into the parsonage, Pastor Burke was told that Miss Pat decided to renovate the whole parsonage ... which would take six more weeks.

In the background lurks Elijah (Brandon O'Dell who was excellent in this role), the intensely sheltered and abused dim son of Miss Pat who, for 17 years, has been suspected of causing the drowning death of expert swimmer Laura Jennings (Melissa Weyn) who, at the time, was possibly his only friend. An accidental drowning death of an expert swimmer? It is Nora who, after a time alone in the Hinton home with Elijah, first begins to question the whether there is more to Elijah than meets the eye.

Note that at the heart of the story is Matthew Chapter 13 where Jesus tells a number of parables, starting with the parable of the sower. Whether planting Matthew 13 in the story was intentional, you might want to familiarize yourself with Chapter 13 of the Book of Matthew before you watch the movie. Indeed, then email me with your take on what connection the film has with Matthew 13.

Note also that while this film is centered around the church and quotes Scripture it is not necessarily a "Christian" film. It would be advisable for you to know whether you are hot or cold [Rev. 3:16] before watching the film because it uses a large number of counterfeiting and other abuses of Scripture such as "It was the Lord's Will..." to make the points that evil must make.

Please feel free to browse the content discussions by investigation area below or the detailed listing of findings in the Findings/Scoring section (the heart of the CAP Analysis Model).

Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - 18 out of 100
While not an intensely violent or criminal story, a couple instances of violence and criminal activity might warrant your attention before deciding for which audience this film is fit. Some of the violent/criminal content includes: Elijah dumps a pile of bloody chicken remains into a grave; Miss Pat beats Elijah with a dowel rod; by involuntary manslaughter Elijah is killed by shotgun and the moulage is fairly accurate ... and gory; Miss Pat attempts to murder Nora by drowning; more.

While none of the violence and/or criminal activity in this film reaches the intensity of the typical violence content of R-rated films, violence is violence and it all, when seen in and as entertainment, takes its toll. I did not make that up. Not only does God warn us of such an influence [Prov. 16:29, 1 Cor. 15:33] four professional public health agencies have, probably unintentionally, finally come around to jointly agreeing with God.

Impudence/Hate (I) - 34 out of 100
The one time Nora utters the euphemism for the human posterior was noteworthy but the long sequence of Elijah appearing to stalk Nora, even into a bathroom was expensive to the original 100 points in this investigation area. Other matters of impudence and/or hatred portrayed in this film included attempted abduction at knife point, abuse of Elijah by his mother, confinement of Nora by Elijah at knife point and the lying. "So? Everyone lies!" If every being on the planet who has ever drawn a breath lied, it would still be a sin to lie ... every time. And the second time of a lie does not excuse the first. Nor does the third, fourth or thousandth time excuse the first ... or the thousandth. God is very stern about lying, so much so that He not only made a Commandment to address lying [Exo. 20:16] He warns that the [unforgiven] liar will not make it through the gates of Heaven. [Rev. 22:14-15]

Sexual Immorality (S) - 84 out of 100
I am an EMT and have been for years so I know how important knowing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) can be. One scene of water rescue of Nora by Evan involved portraying CPR. But the touching of Walrond's chest portraying chest compressions by Caudill was not CPR. It was acting. So, his hands on her breasts in and as entertainment is inappropriate touch. And Caudill is not Walrond's husband -- even if he were big screen entertainment is not the place for such touching. I wonder how Walrond's husband felt when Caudill did that? A few other matters challenging sexual humility involved Walrond taking a shower and seeing the image of her nude body through the steamed shower doors, the peeping by O'Dell at Nora taking a shower and a hole three or four inches in diameter in a teen girl's jeans very near her crotch. [1 Cor. 12:23 - 24]

Drugs/Alcohol (D) - 100 out of 100
There were no uses or possessions of illegal drugs or alcoholic drink noted nor were there any abuses of prescription drugs noted.

Offense to God (O) - 30 out of 100
Here is where it gets tricky. While God's name is not abused even once, a number of times Miss Pat, who is portrayed as a deeply deceptive anal Christian, abuses and counterfeits the Scriptures to "fill her own belly." [Rom. 16:17 - 18] She builds smooth-sounding arguments using Scriptures to serve her own interests. [Col. 2:4]

Murder/Suicide (M) - 61 out of 100
There are three murders portrayed in this film. One murder is by suffocation, another by drowning and another by fireplace iron impalement into the skull. There is not a lot of gore as seems to be typical of Hollywood-generated movies such as guts spilling out and pounds of flesh being blasted on the wall but the murders were rather brutal. There is an additional admitted murder by nothing of it is seen.


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SCRIPTURAL APPLICATION(S)
If needed to focus or fortify, applicable text is underlined or bracketed [ ] or bold. 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.

CHAPTER/VERSE

  • Rev. 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm -neither hot nor cold -I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
  • Prov. 16:29 A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good. [The issue is the violence, the 'way that is not good' no matter how "small" or "justified" the violence might seem, and its "leading" effect on the observer. "A violent man" ["man" here is enowsh {en-oshe"}: man (collective), mortal, person, mankind; contracted for iysh {eesh}: whosoever, each] can be any character of any age, any gender, human or not since the cinematic display is at the hands men and women, in the act of committing (demonstrating in the case of entertainment) violent behavior/action whether for good or evil or the violent behaviors/actions themselves. Such exposure can and does embolden the viewer into aggression, especially youth. It took years for American professional health community to finally affirm, probably without knowing it, that which God told us in 1 Cor. 15:33 below. See also Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children: Congressional Public Health Summit for more information. Further, God speaks darkly of violence 56 times in the Old and New Testament of the KJV.]
  • Rev. 22:14-15 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city [eternal life in Heaven]. For without [outside Heaven] are dogs [dogs (animals) and metaphorically an unforgiven man of impure mind, an impudent man], and [unforgiven] sorcerers [pharmakos: pertaining to the magical arts; those who practice evil magic including witches, warlocks, wizards, sorcerers, spiritists, diviners, necromancers, etc.], and whoremongers [the sexually immoral], and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie [all liars - see Rev. 21:8].
  • Exo. 20:16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. [This is the 9th of the Ten Commandments.]
  • 1Cor. 12:23 - 24 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable [atimos: without honor, base, of less esteem, "private parts"], upon these we bestow more abundant honour [time: deference, reverence, special modesty]; and our uncomely [askemon: indecent, unseemly, unpresentable] parts have more abundant comeliness [eushemosune: decorum, modesty, charm or elegance of figure]. For our comely [euschemon: honorable, graceful, becoming modesty] parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour [plenty of modesty, e.g., clothing in this case] to that part which lacked [husterea: inferior, to suffer want (as in want of cover)]: [Jesus is using parable format to describe covering the "unpresentable" parts of the body with modesty by figuratively using both the body as a unit and a body as a group of individual parts in harmonious unity.]
  • 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; and by good words and fair [smooth] speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
  • Col. 2:4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.

    ***Selected Scriptures of Armour against the influence of the entertainment industry***
  • Jer. 37:9 This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, 'The Babylonians [the destroyers from within] will surely leave us.' They will not!
  • Ps. 12:8 The wicked freely strut about [e.g., create progressively vile/offensive entertainment with impunity and no consequences and present it to younger and younger audiences every year] when what is vile is honored among men [when enough people continue to defend it, embrace it, enjoy it, want it, submit to it. I call attention to Ps. 12:8 to warn of the creeping desensitizing power of "entertainment."]
  • Col. 2:8 Beware lest any man [by his influence] spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
  • 1 Cor. 15:33 Be not deceived: evil [kakov: of a bad nature, not such as it ought to be] communications corrupt good manners.
  • Rom. 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
  • Jude 1:4 For there are certain men* crept in unawares [secretly slipped in among us], who were before of old ordained to this condemnation [whose condemnation was written about long ago], ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness [a license for immorality], and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. [*men: anthropos {anth'-ro-pos}, generic, a human being, whether male or female]
  • Matt. 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
  • Luke 17:2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. [Offend: skandalizo {skan-dal-id'-zo} - scandalize; to entice to sin; to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey; to cause to fall away.]
  • Ps. 119:133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me [let no sin rule over me].
  • John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
  • 1 Thess. 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. ["Evil" includes all things that are sinful.]


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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:
    (The objective heart of the CAP Analysis Model, independent of and insulated from the Summary / Commentary section.)


    Dangerous Calling (2008) CAP Thermometers

    Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - 18 out of 100
  • animal remains gore
  • staging murder by poisonous snake
  • animal attack
  • abduction
  • mother beating son with a dowel rod
  • assault with injury, repeatedly
  • attempted murder by drowning
  • firearm to kill
  • repeated gunfire to kill
  • involuntary manslaughter by shotgun
  • defensive killing by large fan hit to the head

    Impudence/Hate (I) - 34 out of 100
  • one euphemism for the human posterior
  • apparent stalking - long
  • attempted abduction at knife point
  • confinement at knife point
  • lies, repeatedly
  • abuse of son
  • accusing another for own guilt
  • false accusation to implicate

    Sexual Immorality (S) - 84 out of 100
  • flash of woman in shower
  • peeping
  • hole in teen girl's jeans near crotch
  • inappropriate touch for the sake of acting

    Drugs/Alcohol (D) - 100 out of 100
  • none noted

    Offense to God (O) - 30 out of 100
  • portrayal of "Christian" as deceptive and anal, repeatedly
  • abuse and counterfeiting of Scriptures to satisfy one's own interests, repeatedly

    Murder/Suicide (M) - 61 out of 100
  • murder by suffocation
  • murder by drowning
  • admission of murder
  • murder by fireplace iron















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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 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.



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