Baptist-backed Film Draws 'PG' Rating

It has been generally held by the movie industry that a G rating was doom for a picture. Directors would slip in some nefarious incident or conversation designed to generate a PG rating. They believed this would draw more attendance and they would cite statistics to justify the tactic. Now there is a new activity that has been added to the list of questionable deeds that will cause the coveted PG rating, evangelism.

The good people down at the Motion Picture Association of America who are charged with protecting our children from negative influences in film, were shocked by the blatant Christianity displayed in the movie "Facing the Giants." The story of a football coach who's life is turned around by divine means just unsettled the poor souls so, that they gave it a PG rating. They felt it important to warn unsuspecting parents of the dangerous message the film presented, that Jesus Christ can change lives.

"What the MPAA said is that the movie contained strong 'thematic elements' that might disturb some parents," said Kris Fuhr, vice president for marketing at Provident Films, which is owned by Sony Pictures. Provident plans to open the film next fall in 380 theaters nationwide with the help of Samuel Goldwyn Films, which has worked with indie movies like "The Squid and the Whale."...

The MPAA, noted Fuhr, tends to offer cryptic explanations for its ratings. In this case, she was told that it "decided that the movie was heavily laden with messages from one religion and that this might offend people from other religions. It's important that they used the word 'proselytizing' when they talked about giving this movie a PG. ...

"It is kind of interesting that faith has joined that list of deadly sins that the MPAA board wants to warn parents to worry about."

I don't read fiction and seldom look at movies except on cable or NetFlix. I find the stories to be contrived or implausible. Real life is so filled with true tales of great heroism, appalling depravity and stunning miracles that fiction pales in comparison. This is just one example. If one were to write a story such as this, where officials warned people of the possible exposure to virtue, readers would be dubious at best. But this is real life.

Nehring The Edge

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