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A ministry of the ChildCare Action Project: Christian Analysis of American Culture (CAP Ministry) A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Christian Ministry. www.capalert.com/ Entertainment Media Analysis Report A service to His little ones through you in His name by His Word MAR29014  (2008), PG [Hard 13-PG*] (1hr 38min) The #1 Christian entertainment media analysis service on the Internet. We give you OBJECTIVE tools NO ONE ELSE CAN to help YOU make an informed decision for yourself whether a film is fit for your family. Over 1200 analyses for parents, grandparents, pastors, youth leaders and more. |
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(While the Scriptural references are certainly not subjective, my commentary may be and sometimes is somewhat subjective.)
 Cast/Crew Details Courtesy Internet Movie Database Production (US): Internationale Filmproduktion Blackbird Dritte, New Line Cinema Distribution (US): New Line Cinema, Warner Home Video Director(s): Iain Softley Producer(s): Toby Emmerich, Cornelia Funke, Ute Leonhardt, Andrew Licht, Ileen Maisel, Ileen Maisel, Mark Ordesky, Diana Pokorny, Iain Softley Written by: David Lindsay-Abaire (screenplay), Cornelia Funke (novel) Cinematography/Camera: Roger Pratt Music: Javier Navarrete Film Editing: Martin Walsh Casting: Daniel Hubbard, John Hubbard Production Design: John Beard Art Direction: Rod McLean, Stuart Rose Viewed on Warner Home Video DVD  This analysis is sponsored by the generosity of E&HP. With a final score of 58 Inkheart is fully equivalent to a hardcore PG-13 in the comparative baseline database. While Inkheart is indeed "G" equivalent in Sexual Immorality (S), Drugs/Alcohol (D) and Murder/ Suicide (M), it is fully equivalent to many R-rated films in Wanton Violence/Crime (W) and in Offense to God (O). Not so much so because of the intensity or extremeness of individual examples of violence but in the sheer number of them. See our CAP Rule of 1000 publication for more information on this technique of weighting or loading the content of films. Mortimer Folchart (Brendan Fraser), his baby daughter, Meggie (Mirabel O'Keefe then Eliza Hope Bennett) and his wife, Resa (Sienna Guillory) sit around a toasty fire one evening as Mortimer reads a book to Meggie. In spite of Resa's insistence that Meggie is too young for a bedtime story, Mortimer begins to read the story of Red Riding Hood. Soon it becomes a bedtime story to both Meggie and Resa. It is with the reading of Red Riding Hood that Mortimer discovers a hidden power of his. That power is revealed as parts of any story he reads becomes real. A red riding hood that was not there before is now magically draped over the clothesline just outside the window. Mortimer is a Slivertongue -- one who can make books come to life by reading them aloud. While this sounds quite fun and enjoyable, there is a price to be paid ... Book doctor Folchart and Meggie travel the world to find bookstores that might have a copy of a book that took his wife from him. The book, Inkheart, was one Mortimer read nine years earlier when storybook character, Dusfinger (Paul Bettany) appeared ... and his wife disappeared. As Dustfinger was read out of the book, his wife was read into the book. Apparently the price of reading a character out of a book was losing a real life person to the book. Mortimer's hopes are to read his wife back out of the book. At the Alpine Antiquarian Bookshop Mortimer, a.k.a., 'Mo' by Meggie, finds another copy of Inkheart. Now, Mo is set to read his wife back out of the book. But Dustfinger has another idea ... for Mo to read him back into the book. Also read out of the book but loving it here are Capricorn (Andy Serkis). Basta (Jamie Foreman), Flatnose (Steve Speirs) and a plethora of evil storybook characters which were read out of books by another Silvertongue at the dictate of Capricorn. Each is bent on staying in our world and out of the book. One character was not evil, Farid (Rafi Gavron) who was one of Ali Babba's 40 Thieves whose heart was not into thievery who also took a liking to Meggie. Capricorn, with Meggie's life as leverage, extorted Mo to read the 40 Thieves treasure into our world. As gold and jewels from Babba's cave rained from the air, so did Farid. Farid was swept up in the torrent caused by Capricorn's greed for treasure. Along for the "ride" and much to her chagrin is mouthy and acidic Elinor Loredan (Helen Miren), great aunt to Meggie. Elinor, who owns a great library of rare and antique books, lives and breathes books. Mo sought her out to see if she had a copy of Inkheart. But no. She does not. As failure after failure plaque Mo and Meggie, they resort to seeking the author, Fenoglio (Jim Broadbent) who lives in Alassio ....... There is much more to the story but again I must remind myself the main reason so many of you come to this ministry is to discover the truth about the content, not the story or plot. I will get to that now. As always, the listing in the Findings/Scoring section (the heart of the CAP Analysis Model) is the best place to go for a complete itemization of the content of this film. But for those who do not like lists, below is summary discussion of the content found in each of the six investigation areas (W, I, S, D, O, M) Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - Zero out of 100 As said above, the reasons Inkheart earned a Wanton Violence/Crime investigation area score of zero is not because of the intensity or extremeness of any individual acts of violence but is because of so many of the "lesser" examples of violence and related displays of behavior. A knife to the throat, abduction of a child, a blow to the head, captivity of a child, thugs wielding swords as threats and much more were very expensive to this investigation area score. [Prov. 16:29] Please look to our CAP Rule of 1000 for more information on this technique of weighting or loading content often used in G, PG and PG-13 films. Impudence/Hate (I) - 59 out of 100 Only twice the three/four letter word vocabulary was used but a number of lies, abrasiveness and arrogance of the daughter toward her father took enough of a toll on the scoring in Impudence/Hate to drag it into the PG-13 scoring realm (55 to 68 out of 100). While using profanity is clearly against God's Word [Col. 3:8], using it before children is even more severe. Enough so to effectuate Jesus' warning that whomsoever should teach/cause one of His little ones (which includes at-home teens) to sin would be better off if a millstone were tied about his/her neck then cast into the sea. [Luke 17:2] Even the flippant use of one of the examples of profanity in an attempt to be humorous is against His Word. [Eph. 5:4] About the lying when, might I ask, is a lie not a lie? Answer: never. God is quite stern about lying. So much so that He guarantees that the unforgiven liar will not have a place in Heaven. [Rev. 21:8] So, how important is it to you to have a couple hours of entertainment at the risk of emboldening your kids to utter "small" or "humorous" lies? God even warns us about lying in the Old Testament [Prov. 6:16 - 19] These are only two of hundreds of admonitions God gives us against lying. Sexual Immorality (S) - 86 out of 100 The only content related to sexually oriented matters were the repeated exposure of the audience to Bettany's below navel skin and the brief female upper nudity of what I believe were fantasy water sprites (one was Jessie Cave). All be the scene very small it was of an actresses baring her bosoms. Drugs/Alcohol (D) - 93 out of 100 Drinking an alcoholic beverage was noted once. No smoking nor consumption of illegal drugs or abuse of prescription drugs was noted. Offense to God (O) - 8 out of 100 Here is the other area which earned a very poor score, making the content found by this investigation area clearly equivalent to the same area found in some R-rated films. Again not in intensity or extremeness but in sheer numbers of examples. The film is filled with magic. Some would call it childhood fantasy magic. Who says? What makes "magic" okay for kids? There are two kinds of "magic": the power of God and that which is not of God. If it is not from God it is unholy. For example, Jesus used "magic" to heal the sick, make the lame walk and to raise the dead. Jesus also used "magic" to turn water into wine. Even Moses used "magic" from God to turn the Nile River to blood and to change his staff to a snake (And so did the Pharaoh but his "magic" was not of God). Further, if Jesus had jumped off the pinnacle of the temple at Satan's tease the angels (or He Himself) would have used "magic" to keep Jesus from being dashed on the rocks below. The also Bible speaks of witches, sorcerers, diviners, necromancers, etc. using "magic" but their "magic" is not from God (such as in the Pharaoh's example above). Even Satan used "magic" to display the world to Jesus and to possess the swine with demons. The bottom line: if the "magic" is not from God it is from Satan. If it is from Satan the use of it is sinful whether for good or evil. So, it is not the user of the magic nor the use of it that makes magic good or evil, the source of the "magic" does. And not in one case was God portrayed as being the source of the "magic" used in this film. Murder/Suicide (M) - 100 out of 100 There were no murders or suicides noted in the entire 98 minutes of the film. 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 ***Selected Scriptures of Armour against the influence of the entertainment industry*** 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. |
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 Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - Zero out of 100 Impudence/Hate (I) - 59 out of 100 Sexual Immorality (S) - 86 out of 100 Drugs/Alcohol (D) - 93 out of 100 Offense to God (O) - 8 out of 100 Murder/Suicide (M) - 100 out of 100 |
| 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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