 RED does not mean "stop." GREEN does not mean "go." Click on the CAPCon Alert image for explanation |
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 MAR2011.090  (2010), PG-13 [Hard R-13*] (1hr 55.3min) 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 1300 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.)
 Production (US): New Song Pictures Distribution (US): Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Director(s): Brian Baugh Producer(s): Steve Foster, Jim Britts, Nicole Franco, Scott Evans, Christina Lee Storm Written by: Jim Britts Cinematography/Camera: C. Clifford Jones Music: Timothy Michael Wynn, Christopher Lennertz, Charlie Peacock Film Editing: Dan O'Brien, Brian Baugh, Sarah Sanders Casting: Elizabeth Lang Production Design: Rachel Britts Art Direction: Sarah Sanders Viewed on Sony Pictures Home Entertainment DVD  This is a long one and I git to thumpin' my Bible in a couple places but you may just find it worthwhile in spite of the length of it. This is certainly atypical -- a teen faith-based film rated PG-13. The world is infecting every aspect of Christian faith nowadays. Job would have been most displeased. By His Word I know God is. That some good things were expressed in To Save A Life does not excuse the assaults on morality and decency and their influence on the young who will watch this film. In other words, a noble destination does not excuse an ignoble path. And though "redemption" abounds, that does not insulate the young observer from being influenced negatively by the moral assaults. The MPAA says "PG-13 for mature thematic elements involving teen suicide, teen drinking, some drug content, disturbing images and sensuality." I watched some of the DVD as I waited to go to sleep last night and was flabbergasted. "Sensuality?" Great day in the morning! The "sensuality" is teen intercourse! "Teen drinking?" There were at least two teen drinking parties with guzzling and beer pong. Girls were wearing short shorts to high school. These matters and more were in the first 20 minutes. Jake Taylor (29 year old Randy Wayne) and Roger Dawson (Robert Bailey, Jr.) of Oceanside, California are great pals. BFs. From elementary school to high school. But something happened their Freshman year. Jake had become a six-foot basketball "phenom" and captain of the Pacific High School Pirates basketball team with 22 points and 11 assists in a single game. Cheerleader Amy Briggs (28 year old Deja Kreutzenberg) became smitten with Jake and asked him to a party. Roger was standing there when Amy asked Jake. He expected to go with Jake since he and Jake had just talked before the game about hanging together that evening. But Amy disapproved of Roger and Roger could not go because "There's only room for one more in the car." Amy was judging Roger based on mere appearances [John 7:24]. A social fault she hated in others. Let me put in a plug for our Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged publication that reveals how we may and indeed must make judgments. Judge behavior we must but likewise we must not be judgmental. As Roger limped away he told Jake "I get it" and that "Things are gonna be different now." I wonder if Jake knew how different things would really be. Roger had experienced some strong bonding with Jake, not only because of the two of them spending so much time together as they grew but because Roger had saved Jake's life by pushing Jake out of the path of an on-coming car, Roger taking the hit for Jake and suffering a permanent knee injury as a result. But when Amy convinced Jake that Roger could not go with them to the party, something changed and everything was different. By the time of Senior year, Roger became intensely depressed, depressed enough to take his own life by gunfire. That set the stage for the story to be used as a backdrop for Jake to save the life of Jonny Garcia (Sean Michael Afable): for Jake to learn to hear as well as listen. "... Roger taking the hit for Jake ..." There is a "sermonizable" point! While we generally focus on the negative aspects of film content so you might be in a better position to make an informed moral decision whether a film is fit for your family, many films present fine and noble positive content. The positive content does not excuse the negative content any more than a noble destination excuses an ignoble path so we do not typically reveal the positive aspects of most films. If we were to do so in addition to revealing the level of detail we provide about the negative content we would spoil the whole film. Often when a film presents positive and noble content it may seem to be or is so deeply buried under immoral garbage that it disappears in the cinematic smoke. But almost all films with a story to tell have some positive content ... such as this film ... Roger taking the hit for Jake. Roger pushed Jake out of the path of an on-coming car and was hit himself in the process. While Roger did not die he was willing to give up his life to save Jake. Maybe sixth graders cannot fathom the scope and breadth of such a risk but Roger's heart is the point. Jesus told us in John 15:13 that "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Roger indeed laid down his life for Jake but fortunately Roger did not lose it. There is more positive content in this film such as Amy not murdering the unborn child through abortion but rather deciding to give up the baby for adoption There is one other point brought up in the film I feel led to "semonize." Regarding all the evil and atrocities in the world, "Why doesn't God stop it?" I have noticed this point brought up in a number of films I have viewed recently and I somehow think these "reminders" won't stop until I share with you what God has taught me about the point. I suspect He is going to keep "reminding me" until I do. God has given each of us the freedom of choice. Take for example the little girl killed by the drunk driver. It certainly is not God's Will that the little girl be killed. Nor is it God's fault that the little girl is killed. Her death was by the driver's choice to drive drunk. God would have had to take away the driver's freedom of choice to drink then drive to stop it from happening. In other words, the little girl's death was not God's fault by not stopping it. It was the drunk's fault by choosing to drink then drive. Likewise the all evils and atrocities caused by man are likely because of someone's freedom of choice. While God certainly could stop them all, He would have to take away the freedom of choice of those who perpetrate the evils and atrocities. He gave us the freedom of choice so that we could decide on our own whether to love Him. He does not want puppets. He wants our love but He wants it to be our own choice. Though He could force us to love Him, He will not. So, if you want all the evils and atrocities stopped, stop man from causing them. It is all about personal accountability. What spurred me to preach the matter was the response of Pastor Chris (Joshua Weigel) to Jake's question about why doesn't God stop the evils: "I wonder if God wants to ask us the same question?" No one wants to hear this, especially in this "I want it all and I want it now" culture but we are each accountable for our choices. Whether we believe it or not. Whether we like it or not. Whether we care our not. This story places teenagers in dark and far-reaching situations beyond what is typically manageable by teens. And much of it without adult guidance. Though the teens reading this won't want to hear it and won't likely believe it, Dr. Karen Nelson, head of a top ten university psychology department and Dr. Larry Gilliam, a practicing counselor agree with me that it would be unusual for even a 16 year old to be able to fully separate fantasy from reality or be able to fully anticipate the consequences of his/her actions. Such behavioral skills usually do not plateau until the early 20s. But yet we feed our teens with such proselytizing, emboldening, enticing and value-challenging entertainment behavioral lures as this. God will One day take away all freedom of choice and will stop all atrocities and evils caused by man by sending the evil ones to Hell where they will truly have no choice. They will have had their chance, many times over, and chose not to choose. And by not choosing made their choice. So, the answer to "Why doesn't God stop it?" is He will. Completely and utterly. Just not yet. And if we want the evils stopped before then, we have to stop the evils ourselves since we are the cause. Yes, God loves us. Each and every one of us. Unconditionally. He will not take back His gift of freedom of choice. We are accountable for abuse of that gift. Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - 16 out of 100 Probably the most violent content of this film was when Roger fired a handgun three times at the ceiling of the densely occupied high school then once through his head (unseen). Flashbacks of that sequence plus images of a teen boy cutting his wrists, scars of previous wrist cuttings, planning feticide plus a number of "lesser" matters of violence such as fighting and threats to harm were enough to steal nearly all of the starting 100 points in this investigation area. God is stern about His admonitions against violence. From Genesis to Revelation God notifies us of His hatred of violence. He further warns us in Proverb 16:29 that violence is "catching": that violence can lead one "into the way that is not good." Two thousand years later Man has plagiarized God's warning about violence by four professional public health agencies publishing a finding that "viewing violence may lead to real life violence" and children who view violence in and as entertainment may "assume the acts of violence are acceptable behavior." How many more have to tell us about the dangers of violence in and as entertainment for us to believe it? Maybe a better question would be when are we going to listen? Impudence/Hate (I) - Zero out of 100 Seven times a teen used profanity and an adult used it once. [Eph. 5:4] Amy had rejected Roger from coming with her and Jake to a party. The reason appears to be because Roger is black. But later in the show Amy is seen giving a greeting kiss on the cheek to a black teen boy at a party. The matter which initially seems pointed at racial discord may simply be an error on the part of the filmmakers or it might be that Amy rejected Roger for some other reason but I am going to stay with her rejecting him because of race. The bottom line is that Jake abandoned Roger because of Amy's disapproval of Roger coming along. Amy and Jake skipped her calculus class. One of the teens showed the ever-popular movie teen countenance of "It ain't good enough no matter what 'it' is." Hypocrisy was noted when Jake looked down his nose at someone smoking dope when just a day earlier he was drunk. Pastor Chris was heard praising Jake when Jake used profanity. [Prov. 6:16 - 19, Isa. 13:11] Lying was rather frequent as well. Please look to the listing in the Findings/Scoring section (the heart of the CAP Analysis Model) for a complete accounting of the content found. Sexual Immorality (S) - Zero out of 100 I don't know what the California public school officials allow as dress in high school but most of the shorts and skirts worn by the girls, especially Amy were far too short to be permitted in any school I know. In addition, filmmakers must think or want us to think teens are sex fiends. Jake and Amy end up in bed together (though no nudity is seen). Yes, it happens. Maybe more so now that every teen film I have seen lately includes teens getting in bed together. Such exposure emboldens. It is unavoidable. In another scene, Jake tickles Amy in such a way as to conveniently touch the bottom of her right breast. Amy places her hand near Jake's crotch in another scene to coax him. Some of the outfits Amy wore in this film were clearly to maximize display of her skin. Indeed, Amy seemed to be more of the Biblical adulteress who uses sex and sex appeal to lure and tempt than a good friend. [Prov. 30:20] And because of the immoral sex between Jake and Amy, Amy becomes pregnant. While a baby is a blessed matter and must be regarded as such, the unmarried intercourse is not. [1 Cor. 7:1 - 2, Hebr. 13:4] Drugs/Alcohol (D) - Zero out of 100 Numerous times there is teen drinking, teen drunkenness and even smoking of marijuana. And this film is rated PG-13 which invites adolescent viewing. Let me share with you what the American College of Physicians (ACP) has to say about viewing of drinking in and as entertainment by adolescents. A 2002 study by the ACP revealed that adolescent exposure to drinking in and as entertainment undeniably leads to abuse of alcohol among underage viewers. The finding entitled Relation Between Parental Restrictions on Movies and Adolescent Use of Tobacco and Alcohol reports that of 4544 youths from grades 5 through 8 of fifteen Vermont and New Hampshire middle schools (90% of the youths were under fourteen years old) only 16% were completely restricted in their entertainment diets. Within the ACP study population, the prevalence of having tried alcohol without parental knowledge was There is nothing to say that smoking in and as entertainment does not carry the same danger of influence as drinking. Actually, the same matter of influence applies to any behavior demonstrated in and as entertainment, including good behavior. Offense to God (O) - 83 out of 100 Not one use of God's name in vain was noted, with our without the four letter expletive but teens are seen gambling, one teen excuses his choice to smoke dope with "There's nothing in the Bible about smoking weed." And Jake's parents get a divorce [Mal. 2:16] because of Jake's dad being caught in adultery by Jake's mom with another woman [Exod. 20:14, Mark 7:21, Ezek. 16:58]. Murder/Suicide (M) - 91 out of 100 There was one suicide by gunfire that was rather graphic though no gore was seen. The cast were excellent in portraying the desperation and hopelessness of suicide. *** Besides all that, the subtitlers put ending quote marks inside sentence periods ("Text".). 
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 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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(The objective heart of the CAP Analysis Model, independent of and insulated from the Summary / Commentary section.)  Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - 16 out of 100 Impudence/Hate (I) - Zero out of 100 Sexual Immorality (S) - Zero out of 100 Drugs/Alcohol (D) - Zero out of 100 Offense to God (O) - 83 out of 100 Murder/Suicide (M) - 91 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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