Posted on 08/17/2006 12:50:14 PM PDT by shield
CBN.com – RATED “PG” FOR USE OF JESUS?
Michael Catt is the pastor of the 3,000 member Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. He is also Producer and Director of the football movie, Facing the Giants. The movie was written, directed, produced, financed and cast by volunteers from his church. Only five professionals were paid for work on the movie.
Facing the Giants is about a high school football coach who draws up a new game plan after running a losing team for six years. The coach dares to trust God to do the impossible, and through Him, he and his team discover how faith plays out on the field and off. Together they learn, with God all things are possible.
On September 29, Facing the Giants opens in 400 theaters in 86 markets nationwide.
This family-friendly movie has stirred up some controversy and received attention from both religious and secular media. Although the movie doesn’t contain sex, violence or profanity, the family-friendly movie has received a PG rating rather than a G rating. Why the warning flag? The makers of the movie say it is rated PG because of its “explicit religious content;” however, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) cites discussion of infertility and depression for the PG rating.
The spokesperson for Provident, the film company releasing this movie, told Scripps Howard News Service that the MPAA used the word "proselytizing" in its explanation for giving the film a PG rating. The red flag PG rating acts as a warning to parents that the movie advocates a particular religion, in this case Christianity, and that parents might want to beware.
Michael Catt says that 135,000 people, not associated with his church, have contacted the MPAA, demanding an explanation. United States Majority Whip Roy Blunt also stepped in, pointing out that—according to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health—the MPAA’s standards for onscreen sex and violence have dramatically weakened in the last decade, “This incident raises the disquieting possibility that MPAA considers exposure to Christian themes more dangerous for children than exposure to gratuitous sex and mindless violence," Blunt wrote.
The MPAA denied that religion had anything to do with the PG rating, but Provident Film's Nancy Lovell insists that it was the MPAA that changed its position, not Provident. "The first communication from the MPAA was that religion was a factor in the rating. Since then, the MPAA has revised those factors to no longer include religion," she told Daily Variety.
Michael Catt says they didn’t appeal the PG rating because by doing so they may have had to make changes to the movie and they were not willing to change the content. Instead, he takes the PG rating as a blessing in disguise. He says that anything that puts God in the conversation in secular culture is a blessing. It can’t be bad to get people talking about God.
ASK FOR THE “HIM-POSSIBLE” The buzz surrounding this movie has led many communities to ask for its release in their area. A booster club program, described on the movie Web site, allows organizations that buy 1,000 tickets by September 8 to see the movie at a theater near them. In addition to small communities, in some larger metropolitan areas organizations are also pre-buying tickets. For instance, in Atlanta, one pastor has bought out all show times at a movie theater on opening weekend and is planning to give away half of the tickets to lost and unsaved people throughout the community. He has also worked out an agreement to use the time between showings to minister to those who have just watched the movie.
Catt says five years ago he was wondering how he could change the world from Albany, GA. When the media director from his church expressed the desire to make Christian movies, Catt saw God opening the door. He and his church prayed through the entire process producing Facing the Giants, and God is accomplishing big things through them. The church already has plans in the works for future projects. What started as a desire in Catt’s heart to make a difference from Albany, Georgia has turned into a major ministry for Sherwood Baptist Church. Catt says each paster and church should seek God for His will for them, and to not to pray for the impossible, instead pray for the “Him-possible.”
Good for them, I'll buy a ticket to support them.
Good!!!! Who cares? I mean really. We are fighting War on Terror and you are complaining about G or PG. Disgusting.
It's part of what we're fighting...if you don't think hollyweirdo is part of the WOT...
Wait until this site and others you visit are labelled "R-estricted" due to conservative thought.
"Are you now or have you ever been a visitor to FR?"
I was listening to Michael Medved a few days ago. He, an observant Jew, believe that the presence of folks who take their Christian faith seriously is somewhat of a protection against radical Islam, vs Europe where Bible based Christianity is ebbing.
Yes, the War on Terror is critical. A part of the fight is how Christianity is viewed and treated in our country. The politically correct would like to eliminate Biblical Christianity in its entirety, as it makes a claim to exclusivity - only those who believe that Jesus is our Savior and the one and only Son of God can be Christians. The horror!!! (sarcasm alert)
Blessings,
Absolutely. That stuff will have your kids blowing themselves up in Israeli pizza parlors and shooting up their high schools.
France? It that is what you meant than I have been 12 years ago.
I don't want Jesus or God taken out of society. I am just so glad that when I was growing up I went to Catholic School and did not have to worry about people screaming and yelling about the use of God in anything. I am just saying that worrying about a G or PG movie which parents allow children to see both is just a bit much.
if you don't think hollyweirdo is part of the WOT...
Hollywood has been assisting in the War on Terror lately. First, that awesome movie World Trade Center was a boost for morale. Second, the actors signed a letter to President Bush in support of the War on Terror in Israel and Lebannon. Third, Adam Sander is selflessly giving his personal moneies through gifts to the children of Israel. It think that they are really trying lately.
"Hollywood has been assisting in the War on Terror lately. First, that awesome movie World Trade Center was a boost for morale. Second, the actors signed a letter to President Bush in support of the War on Terror in Israel and Lebannon. Third, Adam Sander is selflessly giving his personal moneies through gifts to the children of Israel. It think that they are really trying lately."
All that is great to hear, you won't hear these stories in the msm. That said, I'm sorry but this little bit of good does not erase the sewer filth Hollywood has been spewing for the past 30 years. Some of the ones that scream tolerance the loudest come from Tinseltown, yet when the shoe is on the other foot we're all of a sudden living in the Dark Ages again. I am mad about this, because this is not about ratings, this is about freedom, and I for one am getting sick and tired of Hollywood as whole. The WOT is ALL about freedom, including freedom of relgion. So who cares you ask? I care and you'd better care too. This may be a "small" thing, but if we as Christians and Americans had never quit caring abou the "small" things we wouldn't need to be worrying about the big things now.
They are now on the move to produce movies for families
I must respectfully disagree with you in the extreme. Let's just say that I happen to 'know' someone and I can assure you that they make movies based on the statistics. Currently the largest group of movie-going public is male age 14 and THAT is the target. It's all about $$$. NOTHING more, I assure you. There is NO conscience in the board rooms that control Hollywierd, be assured of that.
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What on earth have we come to? This is insane.
http://www.christianfilmmaker.com/
http://www.cyberxian.com/MediaX/xfilm.html
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