Movie and Game Ratings: A Useful Guide?

ArcticFox

ArcticFox

New Member
Last night my son and I were discussing the way some people approach the whole 'R' rating on movies. He was apparently debating a friend on whether or not a Christian should watch movies rated 'R.'

The two examples used in the discussion were the movies Equilibrium and Austin Powers.

Equilibrium is rated 'R' while Austin Powers is rated 'PG-13.' Some folks would conclude that Austin Powers is suitable to watch while Equilibrium is not.

One side of the argument: If a movie is rated 'R' then it has content that is spiritually useless at best. At worst it could lead a person down the road to sin. A Christian, therefore, should avoid them, period. Sure, there may be worthy movies that receive an 'R' rating but onel's life is hardly going to be ruined for missing them, is it?

The other side: The MPAA ratings on movies may or may not be consistent with Christian values. Equilibrium is rated 'R' because of moderately violent action scenes and it has a small amount of profanity. Austin Powers, on the other hand, is chock full of adult humor, suggestive themes and scantily clad women to the point of borderline nudity. Which of these movies, honestly, is more spiritually bankrupt? Movies should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

What say you?
 
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We had a robust discussion of this earlier this year - let me try to track down that thread. I thought it was here - but apparently not.

Here is the thread about R rated movies.
 
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I recommend finding a good review site (Example) and then making a wise decision yourself based on the content, not the rating.
 
I'd say once you go R most (certainly not all) movies lack strong morals. Morals get overshadowed with shock or fan service taking precedence over any point it might have. Some PG 13 and R movies even blatantly add just enough content to get the higher rating and wear it like an advertisement to all the immature people of the world. Reminds me of people in the contemporary art world who will say the nude body is a beautiful thing but constantly depict it in a erotic way (I can see what really drives you people >.< ). To be clear I have seen R rated content used for moral effect but more often than not it is used in the hedonistic way because that's what secular people want and that's what makes money. As such we default to no on R rated movies and if we have a specific desire to watch one we look it up to see what content it has. Though long ago we did watch some R rated movies on TV when they edited out a lot of that stuff and you could watch something else and not be out a rental fee XD .

As a matter a fact with declining moral standards we look up all modern movies for reviews before we watch them regardless of rating. I wouldn't want to sit through an hour of immoral tripe even if the movie is G much less my kids (not that I have any). In fact G rated movies can be like poison coated with sugar for young kids. While they might feel guilty about watching a R rated movie, because it's so far out there and they know they shouldn't, a G movie is supposed to be "safe". Madagascar 2 comes to mind with it's thinly veiled agenda to get kids to accept homosexuality as good. Regardless of how funny it was or wasn't that strong immoral theme ruined any enjoyment of it too.

That's why 90% of what we watch is 30 to 80 years old. Movies and TV are largely much better back then if you know what to look for.

I look up a lot of new movies at the same spot Patriot does http://www.pluggedin.com/ .
 
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"I have a high tolerance for violence, high tolerance for bad language, and zero tolerance for nudity. There is a reason for these differences. The violence is make-believe. They don’t really mean those bad words. But that lady is really naked, and I am really watching. And somewhere she has a brokenhearted father." -- John Piper

Agree, I do.
 
The first R rated movie that comes to mind is The Hiding Place. Would I encourage my grandkids to watch it? Not for years to come. Age and Christian stance should be the driver for what we watch, not a set of arbitrary rules, set by a secret secular panel. Just try to get information on the rating persons, hard to do. Biased? I hope all Christians are when it comes to living our personal lives. And GIGO works in our daily lives too, Garbage In, Garbage Out. There are some wonderful R rated movies, but not always appropriate for Christians, some are, some aren't. If confused about one pray about it, then decide if you would like to take Jesus to see it. Because as a Christian that is what you are doing.
 
For myself, I agree with the consensus here. My son's friend adamantly refused to watch anything labeled with an 'R' while Austin Powers was one of his favorite films. My son (17) finds Austin Powers to be crass and offensive but LOVES the movie Equilibrium (as do I).

A couple of years ago I went through my DVD collection and threw out any disc that I would feel embarrassed to have on my shelf if my Bishop came over for a visit. The main thing I wanted to avoid was having content available to my kids that they might watch when I wasn't around. What that meant to me was to purge all films with nudity in them. It wasn't easy. Some of the films I had to dispose of were some of my favorites. Conan the Barbarian, Braveheart, The Terminator all had to go away. Meanwhile, there are still a few titles in my collection that have an 'R' rating like Saving Private Ryan, Equilibrium, Aliens and Schindler's List (I know there's nudity in Schindler's List, but I think in this case, context is everything.)
 
I also cleared out a lot of things in my life when I had kids and stopped to think about their well-being before my own pleasures. Funny how that works.

The R vs. PG-13 dichotomy has too many gray areas to be a hard and fast rule at my house, too. One of the roughest films I've seen in the last ten years or so was The Passion of the Christ. R rated - not for little kids or the squeamish - but an important film. There are others like that.
 
I don't think we should judge the movies based on mere rating, but spiritual and moral content. The same is true for any form of media.

I have even seen G movies which should have been about PG-13. (containing nudity and adult jokes)

Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.


Ask yourself if the form of entertainment you are doing contains these elements.

As a general rule, anything over PG-13 usually contains spiritual and moral content which is not inspiring good thoughts. Excessive violence, pornography, etc. I guess one way to look at it is whether you would feel safe if Jesus Christ were sitting next to you during the movie. :eek:

Even if it seems hard to let go of it at first, I suggest we as Christians start. There's plenty of movies which are uplifting, see PluggedIn.com (as before mentioned), ChristianMovies.com, etc.

For video game reviews there is WhatTheyPlay (secular w/ moral content), Guide2Games, CCGR, and CGM. There are also Christian game developers such as ChristianGamesNow and former Wisdom Tree.

There are even some services such as TVGuardian to block foul language for your children and Feature Films For Family’s which edits movies making them clean for the entire family. There are alternatives, it's just how much we care to pursue them.

Also I would suggest listening to the "shocking youth message" by Paul Washer. He made some very good statements on this type of thing. We are setting examples for others, and this is - I think - the most important issue. When others come over or see what we watch they will try to mirror us, if we are not an example of Christ we are setting a bad example for them. :(
 
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I'm trying to wean myself from using this forum since it's supposed to be called "What does God say about...?" and not "What does Neirai say about...?" but I figured I should try actually doing this from a more Bible-based foundation. So here goes:

A couple of foods for thought:


1) If you took a camera in a time machine and started filming the Bible, what rating would it get? I'm not just thinking about the violence, but more things like: Filming a family spilling their seed after having sex; Shoving a tent post through a man's temple; Dashing babies on the rocks -- or even just saying things like that; Women sleeping with their own father; Cutting a woman into quarters and then mailing them to the other parts of the nation.

Clearly, the Bible would be rated R.

Now, as a Christian, I'd still want my kids to hear about it. So, as an adult, I'd guide them through it, speak with them about it, and perhaps even tame it down or gloss over parts until they are old enough to understand (although the nice part about not being old enough to understand is that you don't get it, so you don't need it tamed down or glossed over.)

But this brings us to a point: If the Bible is rated R, but we want our kids to see it, can other things be rated R and yet can we want our kids to see them? Good question -- I'm still thinking it through.


2) The Bible repeatedly warns us about what we put before our eyes -- and by this I mean women. Job says he made a covenant with my eyes, that he would not look with lust on a woman. While I believe that we are under grace, not law, bear in mind that Job was highly favored by God. I want to be highly favored by God! Jesus similarly warned that if you look with lust at a woman, you are doing the same thing as sleeping with her out of wedlock. Strong words indeed!

Let's face it. Many movies, even PG movies, portray women for the sake of or in ways intending arousing our lust. I can think of Megan Fox in Transformers I & II, Scarlett Johansson in Iron Man 2, and a load of other movies. If you have a movie containing these elements, maybe you should throw it out!


3) Intriguingly, the Bible does not seem to condemn the viewing of violence or of profanity, despite the fact that in Jesus's time, theater was already popular (I'm extrapolating this from Jesus's use of the word hypocrite, from the Greek word for actors. Jesus was one of the first to use the Greek word for actor in this way.) This is not to say that it condones it, but it is certainly less of a worry than looking at a woman lustfully.

Also, a little-known fact (because it doesn't or hasn't been translated well) is that the Bible contains a fair bit of profanity itself. Calling people "the Brood of Vipers," referring to men as those that "pee against the wall," or calling them "Hypocrites" all amounts to invective and profanity -- yet they are all quotes from God Himself.


4) So finally, what am I saying here? Well, first, to answer the question in the Title of the post, no, I don't think movie and game ratings are all that useful -- at least, not as a straight guide of "PG is good, R is bad." They allow much of the wrong thing through and ban a lot of the right stuff. I think the only real use for movie ratings is that, when you're looking at seeing or renting a movie and you don't know anything about it, they give you a ballpark for what kind of things you might see in them.

Many parents use the rating system as a guide for what the child should or should not see when they aren't around. But if you applied that system to books, your children would not be allowed to read the Bible!

My argument is such: you ought to train your children to be discerning, themselves. The Proverbs say that if you train a child up in the way they should go, they won't leave that behind when they are older. As parents, you have a responsibility not only to train your kids to go to church or to tithe, or to be kind to others and to be Christians, but also in what they allow themselves to watch.

Frankly, I believe that a parent that simply sets a "no-R" limit on their kids is somewhat abdicating their responsibility. Your kids will benefit more from being trained -- by you -- in how to plot a wise path through the cinema than being left to someone else's fairly ineffective system. At the right age, your kids may need to be taught the difference between Saving Private Ryan and Saw.
 
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