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A service to parents and grandparents
MAR20049
U-571 (2000), (PG-13)
CAP Score: 49
CAP Influence Density: 1.00
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A service to parents and grandparents MAR20049 U-571 (2000), (PG-13) CAP Score: 49 CAP Influence Density: 1.00 |
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SUMMARY / COMMENTARY: U-571 (PG-13) -- another R-13. Yes, another R-13. With a CAP Final Score of 49 this PG-13 movie was clearly equivalent to R-rated movies of 1995 and earlier. More evidence of the slipping of standards of acceptability. Note that the use of God's name in vain without the four letter expletive did not appear even once -- all of the uses of His Name in vain (14) were with the four letter expletive [Lev. 19:12]. And each was scattered around 29 uses of the three/four letter word vocabulary [2 Tim. 2:16]. Granted, wartime language is not likely to be ice cream social quality, but this is a movie. It is "entertainment." And not all "truths" need to be portrayed in an entertainment medium. And though the stimuli for using such language is, I am sure, quite different when dodging torpedoes from when dodging teachers and parents, using foul language is still a sin. And to saturate the viewing range of a child with such language in the name of entertainment will, beyond any shadow of a doubt, affect his/her choice of words when under emotional and social fire. Not only is it a sin to encourage aberrant behavior by example [Luke 17:2], it is a sin for the performers to use such language [Prov. 8:13]. Note that I noted no uses of the most foul of the foul words. There were at least two subplots in U-571, one of wartime espionage to capture the German Enigma, a very special communications coding system and another of an unseasoned Naval officer maturing as a commander. In the plot of espionage combining fact with fiction, a US submarine, adapted to look like a German U-boat and its inexperienced crew are dispatched into chess-like warfare with the German navy to capture the crippled U-571 to possess its Enigma machine and code book. The adapted US submarine was to reach U-571, capture its Enigma machine, then sink the U-571 before a German rescue destroyer reaches it. One of the subplots of this movie was a bit fanciful: an untested commander and an inexperienced crew becoming battle-hardened warriors trained by a marine officer on board -- in one week. When the US sub does reach its objective, nine crew members board it and capture the Enigma after some cold and brutal killing and gore. Such killing and gore maybe useful to condition soldiers and sailors in a military training film but not in a kids movie [Ps. 101:3; Prov. 3:31, 32]. Before the nine men can get back on their sub the German rescue destroyer arrives and sinks it. Now, a crew of 9 American warriors are on board a German submarine, in German uniforms, staring at a German destroyer greeting "fellow" warriors standing on the deck of a ship of the fatherland. Now what? With some rather far-fetched ordnance deployment, the destroyer is deprived of its communications and sunk. What to do with a German crippled U-boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean? Well, fix it and proceed through heavily guarded waters to safety. And that is what the nine men did. In the second plot, the untested Lt. Andrew Tyler (Matthew McConaughey - EdTV) is passed up for a command of his own by his own commanding officer, Lt. Commander Dahlgren (Bill Paxton - Twister). Dahlgren feels Tyler is not ready for a command of his own. His reasoning, though macabre as it may be, is revealed in no uncertain terms: that he is unsure Tyler could order a man to his death. Even the seasoned Chief Petty Officer played by the veteran actor Harvey Keitel gets into the act of admonishing the young Tyler command responsibilities: "Don't you ever again say to these men 'I don't know"). A common thread of the two plots is that it is unwise to toss ill-prepared warriors into such heavy battle without extensive training, study, and practice in the specialty that is appropriate for the battle waged. The same applies to Spiritual battle. We are each involved in Spiritual battle in one way or another [2 Cor. 10:3, 4]. Even the unbeliever is engaged in this battle with us. Compare the unbeliever with the untrained and ill-studied warrior of the US submarine crew which had never studied face-to-face combat tactics or were simply given token understanding of such warfare. They were being thrown into hand-to-hand combat with seasoned adversaries, expected to be victorious without the benefit of knowledge and skills needed to wage manual war. It is just as fatalistic to engage in Spiritual warfare without the Armour in the Word of God to shield you during trails [Prov. 30:5], to protect you from yielding to temptation, and to give you wisdom when others seek your counsel [Eph. 6:13]. Without His Truth to shield you, your own understanding [Prov. 3:5; Matt. 22:29] may permit you to adapt your heart to accept and even embrace that which is and they who are unGodly and evil [Ps. 1:4, 5]. Please see the Findings/Scoring section below for a full accounting of this movie: for the best representation of the CAP Entertainment Media Analysis Model applied to this movie. FINDINGS / SCORING: 
NOTE: Multiple occurrences of each item described below may be likely. Wanton Violence/Crime (W): Impudence/Hate (I)(1): Sex/Homosexuality (S): Drugs/Alcohol (D): Offense to God (O)(2): Murder/Suicide (M)(3):  |
