CAP Report MAR-0064, VOLCANO (1997)

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

Entertainment Media Analysis Report
MAR-0064
Volcano (1997)
PG-13
CAP Score: 67
CAP ID: 0.79

Thomas A. Carder
CAP President

ALERT: To fully understand this report you should first visit the topics suggested by
the CAP Home Page Table of Contents.

Volcano was another Dante's Peak but set in a large city rather than a mountain town. While not as creative as and with less technical pagentry than Dante's Peak, the makers of Volcano must have tried to make up for the lack of creativity and technical pagentry by saturating it with the three/four letter word vocabulary -- about every two minutes. One visitor to this website argued "that is the way people talk, why do you have to condemn it?" I contend that movies like this are one of the reasons some people talk that way -- probably the biggest reason!

Wanton Violence/Crime (W) suffered only due to graphic burns and deaths by fire. Impunty/Hate (I)⁽¹⁾ lost every single one of the starting 100 points due to some form of flippant and arrogant three/four letter word language. Impunity/Hate also lost points due to promoting teen arrogance against parental authority. Sex/Homosexuality (S) lost points due to the father (Tommy Lee Jones) being exposed to his daughter while wearing only his underwear and a heterosexual couple in bed with skin showing. In addition, Sex/Homosexuality also lost points due to a 13-year old girl wearing clothing to maximize exposure of space between her breasts. Too many young girls try to use sex appeal to be attractive to boys - why must a movie promote such behavior and make the problem worse? If a girl uses sex appeal to get a boy, that is all she will get - sex! Not love and compassison. Not understanding and respect. Just sex. While not incorporated by the CAP analysis model, this movie also had the daughter acting what I feel was just a bit too helpless.

Examples of unaceptable behavior regarding Drugs/Alcohol (D) were not found. Offense to God (O)⁽²⁾ lost points due to, as one could expect from a PG or PG-13 movie, the use of God's name in vain both with and without the four letter explicative. Murder/Suicide (M)⁽³⁾ lost no points -- all human deaths in Volcano were accounted for in Wanton Violence/Crime.

Below is the table showing the scoring in each of the Investigation Areas plus the Final Score drawn from the actual CAP Report. In addition, the CAP Influence Density (ID) figure for the movie and the number of examples per hour of unacceptable material in each of the Investigation Areas is provided.

Volcano (1997) CAP Scorecard

In accordance with the comparative baseline data of the CAP Entertainment Media Analysis Model, Volcano presented material equivalent to R-rated material in Impunity/Hate and Offense to God, PG-rated material in Wanton Violence/Crime; G-rated material in Sex/Homosexuality, Drugs/Alcohol and Murder/Suicide. Thus, Volcano was equivalent to the comparative baseline data corresponding to 33% R-rated material, 17% PG material, and 50% G-rated material.

(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) 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 dupication. 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.

(3) 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.

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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