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

Entertainment Media Analysis Report

MAR02098
Holy Man (1998), PG
CAP Score: 75
CAP ID: 0.46

Thomas A. Carder
CAP President

BECOME A
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Holy Man (1998) CAP Thermometers FINDINGS/SCORING:
Wanton Violence/Crime (W) lost no maximum level points but earned the intermediate level point loss once due to testing of a bullet proof vest failing while seeing the shotgun loads hitting the victim.

Impunity/Hate (I)(1), Sex/Homosexuality (S), Drugs/Alcohol (D), and Murder/Suicide (M) (2) lost no intermediate or maximum level points.

Offense to God (O)(3) lost the maximum level of points twice due to the use of God's name in vain with the four-letter expletive.

Additional examples of unacceptable programming included:

  • talk of money as a living thing with emotional and sustinence needs
  • talk of suicide as a relief of troubles
  • sensual talk, sexual innuendo, and a very senual kiss with body movements suggestive of lust
  • fifteen uses of God's name in vain without the four letter expletive
  • fifteen uses of the three/four letter word vocabulary
  • cheap shots at the sovereignty of God
  • presentation of adult male underwear, and worn very low
  • talk of drinking urine in a herbal tea
  • suggestive eye movements
  • camera angles to maximize cleavage and to focus viewer on private parts and brief dress
  • talk of the male organ and manipulation of it
  • the use of hypnosis as spiritual/emotional reparative therapy
  • "At one with God." and guru worship
  • "If you got it, flaunt it."
  • glorification of zen Buddhism, transcendental meditation, and the self above God's Grace
  • lies for money, personal gain, and unfair advantage
  • a tease of male nudity
  • talk of being Dalai Lama in spiritual supremacy
  • spiritual fulfillment through earthen objects/material
  • promise of vast material gain for questionable favor
  • manhandling of a woman fleeing from a man

    In accordance with the numeric comparative baseline database of the CAP Entertainment Media Analysis Model, Holy Man (1998) presented programming equivalent to R-rated material in Impunity/Hate and Offense to God. The movie is equivalent to PG-rated programming in Sex/Homosexuality and G-rated programming in Wanton Violence/Crime, Drugs/Alcohol, and Murder/Suicide. Thus, Holy Man is equivalent to 33% R-rated programming, 17% PG-rated programming, and 50% G-rated programming.

     


    EXECUTIVE SUMMARY/COMMENTARY STATEMENTS:

    Holy Man (1998) -- what do I tell you? It was a PG show. Just like the PG shows of 1995 and 1996 with the same examples of ignominy at the same rate and with the same influence density. Holy Man received a CAP final score right square inside the range of scores earned by PG movies between 1995 and 1996. And I liked it!

    Eddie Murphy, who played G. - yup - his name was "G [period]", was a monastic bald-headed, homeless, smiling street guru in Ghandi pajamas on a spiritual journey with nothing but the clothes on his back, and they came off only once. One issue that will need your guidance was the aphoristic misleading of the listener: the spouting general guru truths and astute observations with all 'credit' for the truths going to man and none to God. Transcendental meditation made popular by the hippie-freaks of the seventies was also present. And the use of God's name in vain both with and without the four-letter expletive tainted the movie.

    The reason I liked the movie was that it presented accountability for wrongdoings in a righteous way: that to use another human for selfish gain is wrong and must be atoned. Holy Man imparted this truth well. However, there was the frequent sexual innuendo and references and the heavy load of foul language typical of PG movies. Some violence occurred when a woman was grabbed by the man from whom she was walking away. While no examples of the use/abuse of Drugs/Alcohol were noted and while the movie was free of Murder/Suicide, there was one reference to suicide being a relief from troubles. There were also a few cheap shots at God and His sovereignty.

    That I liked the movie is meaningless to your assessment of it. That I especially appreciated the ownership to wrongdoings presented in this movie is not justification to let your kids watch it. Its acceptability is entirely up to YOUR judgment. Holy Man was still a PG movie in every sense with the usual dumping of ignominy on that which is proper and wholesome. It could be a moral development risk for some.


    (1) As noted in CAP Special Report-001, "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) 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.

    (3) 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 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.


    Please remember we believe that if even one of the six Investigation Area scores for a movie is equivalent to the CAP comparative baseline database 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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    Thomas A. Carder
    President
    ChildCare Action Project: Christian Analysis of American Culture (CAP)

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