New Advent recently began offering a service I think is incredibly useful.They offer a "current movies" rating... from a Catholic point of view using letter grades (such as public schools use for tests) of A-F.
But what really makes a movie bad or good?
Today, people seem obsessed with sex, pride, etc.
What pushes things such as sex, vanity, or violence into our children? Why do they focus on, say, violence instead of peace?
People called cool hunters exhist for the sole purpose of earning their living by examining what kids, and adults, think is the "coolest" modern thing.But cool hunters can also cause kids to think the way they want them to simply by making something (such as sex) appear "cool" in the child's eyes.
Say a new trend suggests that kids like bright green and orange tenis shoes... all they have to do is make TV advertisements for these shoes in which "sexy" girls are wearing them.
Sex then becomes ingrained into culture and people can't figure out where it came from.
Why do these "cool hunters" do this? Well, quite simply, sex - along with violence, dirty language, etc... it all sells. Why don't companies such as "Gap" advertize clothing, say, such as girls dressed in long modest dresses talking to boys who are wearing business suits?
Probably that kind of advertizing would drive Gap bankrupt...
No! Instead, Gap advertizes girls wearing horribly immodest clothes showing off in front of guys wearing muscle shirts.
Now.... by now you are wondering.... how does this have anything to do with movies?
Did I get off track? Well, not exactly.
If companies such as Gap push sex on kids, rap artists push dirty language, etc... it's no wonder that kids think this is normal behaviour.
If kids think this is normal... then if Hollywood wants to sell movies, they have to include sex, violence, and dirty language in their movies. Or at least that's how most of Hollywood thinks.
There are some, Mel Gibson for example, who, despite their private failings, put up great movies, such as the Passion of Christ.
How many kids haven't seen the Wizard of Oz?!? What about Star Wars? (oh ok, there is some not-so-nice things in Star Wars, but generally it's a great movie).Who can't resist the charm of the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz? Ok, the movie isn't for everyone, but why not watch that, instead, of... say, turning on the TV and getting your kid indoctrinated by MTV or some other corporation.
In other words, what I'm getting at is: violence, sex, and bad language exhist because the parents of the kids who watch that kind of movie simply don't care. I think New Advent will really help modern society with its new movie rating system since now parents can allow their kids to watch a movie that has been recommended - or at least reviewed - by a good known Catholic (Kevin Knight).
And if movies with sex in them don't sell anymore, Hollywood, grinding its teeth all the while will do what is in their own best interest: try to please the public.
I think instead of complaining about Hollywood, we've got to offer our children better options.
I once attended a talk by Barbara Nicolosi, a screenwriter, and she said something along the lines of, "If you don't allow your kids to watch movies with some romance in them, they will turn to pornography."
She didn't mean movies with people kissing for hours on end... she meant more movies in the style of Gone with the Wind, there's some suggestion in that movie... but not blatant sex, and what is more, the suggestive themes in that movie don't distort marriage in the way that many modern films do.
So... keep it up Kevin Knight! I support your initiative, and I hope others will encourage your new work.
Let's all work for the end of immorality and blasphemy on the TV and movies by simply not watching and not buying them, if we can help it.
Go to New Advent now, scroll down to the bottom of the website, and read which movies you can watch! Don't worry, they haven't screened out all movies, just the worst ones, and they tell you why they screen them out too.
:-)
