You Bet I Want the Jumbo Size Pop-Corn

With mid-August, school, and pre-season football getting kicked off there’s also another staple of the end of summer that will soon be upon us…the last summer, early fall movie release. Several blockbuster hopefuls are set to hit the Silver Screen very shortly. A quick Google search of fall 2009 releases will yield a lengthy list of all the cinematic pictures getting ready to be released.

Despite the variety in genre, actors and actresses’ and even content, all movies share at least one thing in common. They all are given a rating by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Ratings ranging from G to NC-17 are awarded to deserving movies for their content, theme and screenplay.

But what exactly do those ratings mean? To read exactly what the MPAA says about their rating system click here to visit the official MPAA website. While I strongly recommend you visiting this site here are my summaries for each category.

G (General Audience)—All ages are allowed to come see the show. However, a G rating does not signify a children’s film nor guarantee zero content that parents may find offensive. As a general rule of thumb, G’s are pretty safe.

PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)—PG movies typically have the markers of safe and family friendly. Although, while this may be true in a general sense even the MPAA recommends all parents investigate PG movies before allowing their children to view. Under the PG banner a movie can contain “some profanity, brief depictions of violence and brief nudity.”

PG-13 (Parents Strongly Caution)—Ok, Mom’s and Dad’s you really do have to read the MPAA description of this rating. It uses the word nudity, a lot, lays out specifics as to how and how often the “F-Word” may be used and is the longest of the rating descriptions.

R (Restricted Audience)—Very plainly stated by the MPAA, R-rated movies contain “adult material”. Specifically an R-rated movie contains “adult themes, adult activity (veiled language for sex), hard language, intense or persistent violence, sexually-oriented nudity, and drug abuse.” The MPAA counsels parents to take this rating very seriously.

NC-17 (No One under 17 Permitted)—Typically we do not see this rating given very often. It comes with some pretty heavy stereotypes and movie makers choose to stay within the boundaries of R-rated movies instead of having to deal with the negative press that this rating would generate. A good of thumb for this rating is simply to stay away.

Movies always seem to be a very interesting topic for debate among people. From what my parents tell me two generations ago Christians wouldn’t be caught dead in a theater, and if you did get caught you would have rather died than suffer the embarrassment of people seeing you at the show. Fast forward to today and even Christians my age and younger are way too permissive about what we watch. Even when movies clearly challenge biblical morals and doctrines you’ll here statements such as “that’s the culture, we can’t get away from it so we might as well watch it.”

I’d like to call, Community Grace and all Believers, to a biblical and balanced perspective towards all media and in the context of this article specifically movies. Is watching a movie a sin? No it’s not. Is turning away from our God-given ability to think, reason, investigate and make wise decisions the best way to use our time? No it’s not.

So let’s let God, through the Apostle Paul, guide our thinking about film and media. Philippians 4:8 says, “ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Where movies fit these categories I say “watch away”, where they don’t, biblical wisdom leads us to stay away.

Here are two valuable resources that the Clothier’s use to determine a movies Philippians 4:8 credentials.

www.screenit.com –This site is extremely valuable in breaking down the brass tax of movie content. It will itemize and give a detailed list of all areas of a movie’s content. The one drawback is if you do not pay for a subscription you’ll have to wait a week after a movie opens in the box office to read its review.

www.pluggedinmag.com – This is a very conservative media review site that explores not only movies but all media. Published by Focus on the Family you’ll find good synopses from a Christian perspective. The site does not break down brass tax facts for all categories but rather gives a commentary about the movie.

As school looms ever nearer I would encourage you to have a family discussion about movies and media. Read the rating descriptions and Philippians 4:8 together and decide how your family will process and filter movies specifically and media in general. Teenagers are never too young to be given some “guided ownership” over what they watch and fill their minds with. In fact, they need you Mom and Dad to help them biblically balance convictions and culture.

For His Glory,

Timothy C.