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Entertainment Media Analysis Report
A service to His little ones (which includes at-home teens) through you, their parents and grandparents, in His name by His Word

MAR23029
 (2003), R
Analysis Date: March 21, 2003
CAP Score: 28
CAP Influence Density: 2.59

MinMax: -92


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ALERT: To fully understand this report you should first visit the topics suggested by the CAP Site Map (Table of Contents). Further, 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 completely objective to His Word and is the heart of the CAP Entertainment Media Analysis Model applied to this movie.


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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.


 (2003), R -- Maybe he was not of this world?



Cast/Crew Details Courtesy Internet Movie Database
Production (US): NPV Entertainment, Village Roadshow Productions
Distribution (US): Warner Bros
Director(s): Lawrence Kasdan
Producer(s): Bruce Berman, Stephen P. Dunn, Casey Grant, Jon Hutman, Lawrence Kasdan, Mark Kasdan, Charles Okun
Written by/Screenplay: Stephen King (novel), William Goldman (screenplay), Lawrence Kasdan
Cinematography/Camera: John Seale
Music: James Newton Howard
Film Editing: Raúl Dávalos, Carol Littleton
Casting: Sean Cossey, Ronna Kress
Production Design: Jon Hutman
Art Direction: Kendelle Elliott, W. Steven Graham, Helen Jarvis
Viewed At:Driftwood Theater 6, Granbury, Texas


This analysis report is number 700, folks!

Wow! Stepping right out of the analysis of a CAP green light movie (Piglet's BIG Movie) into one of the lowest scoring of the movies we have analyzed is an experience indeed. Dreamcatcher earned a CAP final score of 28! And I was expecting a quality performance from Morgan Freeman, one of the finest performers in Hollywood. Not so in Dreamcatcher. As Mork from Ork would say, disappointment!

For 25 years Abraham Kurtz (Morgan Freeman), now Col. Kurtz has been cleansing America of aliens. Extraterrestrial aliens. Keep this in mind as you read the following brief summary/commentary of Dreamcatcher.

First, a dreamcatcher is legend of the Native Americans consisting of a hoop with an intricate webbing patterned inside the hoop. The image on the top front of the boxart for the film and the images to the right are of dreamcatchers. The movie claims that good dreams would fall into the webbing from the night sky and be carried along the webbing to the feathers at the bottom and trickle into your mind while bad dreams would be captured in the webbing and die with the morning light. But sometimes bad dreams might fall through the hole in the center of the dreamcatcher and become your dream. What that has to do with the story I have no idea, but the story is evidently not correct about a dreamcatcher. While the dreamcatcher is legend from the Native Americans, Lakota then Sioux to be precise, it serves a similar purpose but in a different way in accordance with The Gathering Place.

As children, history professor Gary "Jonesy" Jones (Damian Lewis), carpenter Joe "Beaver" Clarenson (Jason Lee), psychiatrist Dr. Henry Devin (Thomas Jane) and car salesman Peter "Pete" Moore (Timothy Olyphant) meet Douglas "Duddits" Cavell (Donnie Wahlberg) as he was being tormented by older boys who were expressing hatred and intolerance of boys not like themselves. Duddits was a weak boy without much courage but with a heart of gold who developed leukemia as an adult. Duddits was the unfairly "disposable" character in every mean kid's childhood. The boys named Douglas "Duddits" because that is how Douglas pronounced his name due to a speech impediment. After the older boys stripped Duddits to his underwear, they (one was a quarterback for the local high school football team) tried to force Duddits to eat dog manure. Jonesy, Beaver, Henry and Pete stopped the tormenting and Duddits was very grateful. He seemed to have given each of the boys a special gift ... the power of telepathy and mental connection with each other plus an additional special ability or two such as having precognitions of the future [Eccl. 8:7]. Another talent was the ability to wiggle a finger in the air to get images of unseeable and unseen things [2 Chr. 33:6]. That power was used to find a lost girl [Isa. 5:20]. Maybe Duddits was not so challenged after all? Maybe he was not of this world?

Jonesy, Beaver, Henry and Pete had developed such a strong friendship as children. The friendship carried into adulthood and vaulted the social and professional barriers that sometimes develop among adults. Each year, the four guys got together for a weekend in a cabin deep in the woods of Maine to cut loose and lay back, get drunk [Eph. 5:18], have a cussfest [1 Pet. 4:3] and solve the world's problems. But this weekend outing would take a turn for the worse when they met a lost woodsman Rick McCarthy (Eric Keenleyside). Poor Rick was suffering a bad rash on his face and a very bad case of indigestion manifesting as flatulence and burping. But the guys noticed something else about Rick. A protrusion in his abdomen. A protrusion that moved!

After leaving the cabin for a while, Beaver and Henry returned to find a trail of blood to their restroom from the bed on which Rick was resting which was covered with blood. Knocking on the bathroom door Rick mumbled something. But after some noises not typical of using the restroom the boys broke into it to find Rick setting on the commode ... dead. And when Rick's body toppled off the stool it was obvious something had exited his body through his anus. No, it couldn't be like all the other alien infestations ripping out of the stomach wall or out the throat. It had to be the anus. And you'll see it if you watch this show. A snake- or worm-like like creature with a mouthful of teeth exited Rick's body and was deposited in the commode.

Only Beaver and Henry were in the cabin at the time. Henry decided to go get help while Beaver tried to contain the beast in the commode by sitting on it until help arrived. After several minutes of setting on the commode lid to keep the beast in it, Beave was not successful. He tried to fetch a toothpick he dropped and in doing so reduced the weight on the commode lid enough for the critter to break out. The beast, with a most curiously shaped mouth, proceeded to chomp four fingers off four of Beave's right hand then chomp on his face. One down and three to go.

In another subplot, Pete gets left behind with a woman (the woman the guys nearly hit with the truck in the trailers) suffering the same conditions Rick McCarthy suffered. Soon enough a beast exited her (but apparently not through her anus) leaving her dead as it did Rick. Now Pete is left by himself, drunk, to fend off the critter. After a few nips here and there the alien boa chops Pete ... you guessed it ... in the crotch. Filmmakers sure seem to be taking a strong interest in the below-the-belt region of human anatomy in entertainment lately. Two down, two to go.

It seems an alien spaceship had crash-landed nearby 25 years ago and the occupants, unable to take off and leave, decided to make the best of a bad situation and take over the Earth by inhabiting people. Now enters Col. Abraham Kurtz and his band of merry soldiers. Including his new second in command, Captain Owen Underhill (Tom Sizemore). This was just another episode in the 25-year hotdog service of Kurtz and his GI Joes in saving the world. But that is enough spoiling of the plot.

There is much more to the plot and I have not revealed much more of it than is revealed in the trailers and advertisements. But what are always not revealed in the trailers, advertisements and MPAA ratings are matters of assault on decency and morality. I have shared with you a few of them above. But there's more. Lots more. That which the trailers, advertisement sand the MPAA won't or can't reveal.

There are 48 uses of the three.four letter word vocabulary, Thirty uses of the most foul of the foul words [Col. 3:8, Prov. 8:13]. Six uses of God's name in vain with the four letter expletive and nine without [Deut. 5:11]. Samples of all of them except God's name in vain with the four letter expletive are spoken by adolescents including the most foul of the foul words -- more than once [Luke 17:2]. A gun at a character's head for suicide [Ex 20:13]. The movie is a gorefest as well [Phil. 4:8]. There are anatomical references, sex stories, crude humor, a vulgar gesture [Eph. 5:4], and many examples of unholy powers. There is even murder, graphic impalement and mass killings. Maybe the mass killings is of the bad guy aliens,but it is still mass killings [Prov. 3:31-32]. Please refer to the listing in the Findings/Scoring section for a complete annotation of the findings.


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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.

  • Eccl. 8:7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?
  • 2 Chr. 33:6 ...also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
  • Isa. 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
  • Eph. 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. ["...wine" can be any intoxicating substance.]
  • 1 Pet. 4:3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
  • Col. 3:8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
  • Prov. 8:13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.
  • Deut. 5:11 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain [shav' {shawv}: emptiness, nothingness, vanity]: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. [With or without the four letter expletive, the use of God's name in any way other than respect, reverence or thoughtful discussion is in vain. That includes the popular three syllable sentence with His name trailing it.]
  • (KJV) Ex 20:13 Thou shalt not kill. (NIV) You shall not murder. [Suicide is murder of the self.]
  • Phil. 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
  • [Eph. 5:4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. [I call attention to Eph. 5:4 (and Ps. 12:8 below) to warn of the creeping desensitizing power of this sort of "entertainment" and just to let you know that God knows about "vulgar" and "obscene."]]
  • Prov. 3:31-32 Do not envy a violent man or choose any of his ways, for the LORD detests a perverse man but takes the upright into his confidence.

    ***Selected Scriptures of Armour against the influence of the entertainment industry***
  • Ps. 12:8 The wicked freely strut about [e.g., create progressively vile/offensive entertainment with impunity and no consequences to younger and younger audiences every year] when what is vile is honored among men [when enough people continue to defend it, embrace it, pay for it, enjoy it, want it]. [I call attention to Ps. 12:8 to warn of the creeping desensitizing power of "entertainment."]
  • 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 [warp, distort, falsely represent] 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]
  • Matt. 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto [or for] one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto [or for] me.
  • Luke 17:2 It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. [cause by teaching or example]
  • Ps. 119:133 Direct my footsteps according to your word; 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.


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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:


    Dreamcatcher (2003) CAP Thermometers

    Wanton Violence/Crime (W)
  • gun to head for suicide
  • graphic near fatality pedestrian hit
  • graphic injury gore, repeatedly
  • threat to kill
  • graphic car wreck
  • blood trail
  • massive amount of blood strewn about
  • human bloody gore, repeatedly
  • evil/dangerous presence, repeatedly
  • graphic gory alien animal attacks, repeatedly
  • alien beast biting off a man's fingers
  • alien beast chomping on man's face with crunching
  • other examples of alien beast chomping of people, repeatedly
  • gory alien
  • alien invasion of human
  • gunfire injury to control
  • warfare gore
  • human mutilation
  • massive killings
  • breaking and entering
  • auto gunfire to kill
  • bloody murder victim
  • graphic alien beast actions
  • graphic impalement

    Impudence/Hate (I)
  • 48 uses of the three/four letter word vocabulary
  • 24 uses of the most foul of the foul words
  • six uses of foul language by children, including the most foul of the foul words twice
  • bullies trying to force an adolescent to eat dog manure
  • rude comment
  • vulgar gesture
  • urination
  • flatulence, repeatedly

    Sex/Homosexuality (S)
  • vulgar anatomical reference
  • adolescent in underwear, repeatedly
  • sex story
  • crude humor
  • adolescent sex talk, repeatedly
  • rear male nudity, brief
  • vulgar talk, repeatedly
  • attack by alien to a man's crotch

    Drugs/Alcohol (D):
  • drinking, repeatedly
  • drunkenness

    Offense to God (O)
  • six uses of God's name in vain with the four letter expletive
  • nine uses of God's name in vain without the four letter expletive, two of which were by an adolescent
  • psychic implications of visions and other unholy powers, repeatedly
  • telepathy

    Murder/Suicide (M)
  • autogunfire murder




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    NOTE: While the Summary/Commentary section of these reports is precisely that -- a summary in commentary format which can be and sometimes is subjective, the actual CAP Analysis Model (the Findings/Scoring section) makes no scoring allowances for trumped-up "messages" to excuse, for manufacture of justification for, or camouflaging of ignominious content or aberrant behavior or imagery with "redeeming" programming. Disguising sinful behavior in a theme/plot does not excuse the sinful behavior of either the one who is drawing pleasure or example of behavior or thought from the sinful display or of the practitioners demonstrating the sinful behavior. We make no attempt to quantify the "artistic" or "entertainment" value of a movie -- whether a movie has any positive value or "entertainment" value is up to mom/dad. The CAP analysis model is the only known set of tools available to parents and grandparents which give *them* the control they need, bypassing the opinion-based assessment of movies by others and defeating the deceit of those who would say anything to convince their parents otherwise. The model is completely objective to His Word. Our investigation standards are founded in the teachings and expectations of Jesus Christ. If a sinful behavior is portrayed, it is called sinful whether Hollywood tries to make it otherwise. That the sinful behavior is "justified" by some manufactured conditions does not soften nor erase the price of sin. Whether there is application of fantasy "justification" or "redemption" is up to mom/dad.


    "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 more than eight 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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