Counterfeit Cures and Quantitative Confusion

COUNTERFEIT CURES AND QUANTITATIVE CONFUSION

Imitation has been called the most sincere form of flattery… and it may be so, as long as it doesn’t miss the point. For 15 years, MOVIEGUIDE® has been counting the semantic and syntactical elements in movies such as profanities, obscenities, sexual situations, and acts of violence. In the process, we have built up a tremendous research database, and we have made the point that the facts win the case, especially with children and teenagers.

Recently, we discovered the good news that a few other media pundits have begun to copy our method of quantitative analysis, but regrettably they seem not to understand that the facts only win the case if the law is on your side. Thus, to provide helpful media analy­sis for parents and children you not only need quantitative analysis, but you need discern­ment and wisdom.

To illustrate the problem of pure quantitative criticism, there are two prestigious univer­sities in Southern California that have been hired by the federal government and the enter­tainment industry, respectively, to research violence in the media. Both have faculty mem­bers who are friends of ours, so I will not mention names. One school simply counts the incidences of violence in a television program and, by doing so, has found that the many children’s cartoons are the most violent programs on TV (evoking hilarious comments from the press). The other university says that it not only counts the violence, but also examines the context of the violence. Looking at the context and not just the quantity helps clarify that the fact that the cruel violence in Natural Born Killers is a powerful influence on children and teenagers in the concrete and reflection stages of cognitive development, while the pratfalls in Roadrunner cartoons, though more frequent, will not elicit the same reaction in these susceptible groups.

Newspapers are now touting the Internet sites of the new media pundits who are into counting the words and acts of violence. This may be tongue in cheek, but reporting that South Park has more than 340 obscenities and 14 profanities means little unless you understand the context of these semantic elements in relation to the extreme violence, rebellion against authority and scatological perversity. In fact, the count itself means little unless you have a moral perspective. Thus, to compare the extreme violence in South Park with the extreme violence in Saving Private Ryan is foolishness without an informed moral perspective.

Perhaps, these new rating services are afraid of morality. Are they nervous about saying that this is bad in one case and serves the storyline in another? Have they looked at the psychological, philosophical, sociological, and other ramifications of the storyline. If not, then Hollywood can point to them and snicker because they appear to be stuffy old Victorians, and, as one young boy said to me on a national radio program, “I know that the movie contains all of this bad stuff, and I know that it is bad, that is why I know I can see it without it hurting me.” Clearly, he needs to understand the influence of the “bad” on his cognitive, psychological, sociological, and spiritual development so that he will be moti­vated to choose the good.

At MOVIEGUIDE®, we have been doing this type of in-depth analysis for fifteen years and have a tremendous library of reviews since we review every movie released.

Unlike the other sites, we not only look at the superficial semantic (language, sex, etc.) and syntactical elements (action, special effects, etc.), but we also look at the underlying worldview, philosophy and moral elements.

While it is true that for many years I have been proclaiming the legal dictum that the facts win a case, the facts alone are insufficient. You need to help the jury understand the facts; and, you need the law on your side!

Thus, as far as the entertainment media is concerned, you especially need to help parents, children and teenagers understand the why of the law (or the moral and cognitive imperative) so that they can move from discernment to a desire to choose the good.

Thus, other entertainment analysis services, that just list the proscribed words, do not provide the necessary insight to provide wisdom to children and teenagers who need it so badly. Families need the in-depth analysis, like the reviews we alone at MOVIEGUIDE® provide.

The same is true for the counterfeit media-wise movement. Several groups use this word, but they offer little more than media literacy. Media literacy rarely helps children make clear decisions by motivating them to chose good and reject bad. These media literacy groups rely heavily on psychology, which offers some accurate descriptions of the problem, but usually fails to offer substantive solutions.

At a meeting of the American Psychological Association in Cambridge, Massachusetts, several years ago, 90% of those present voted that psychology never really cured anyone. After the Columbine High School shootings, some of the children said they actually had to counsel the psychologists who came to counsel them from around the nation, because the counselors were clueless about the answers that would set these children free from the pain and suffering of the horrific event.

In fact, the solution to the problems that psychology often describes is only to be found in religion. And, the true solution is found only in Jesus Christ. All the rest are counterfeit cures.

So watch out. Don‘t be deceived. Don’t be confused. Counting words is not enough. Media literacy is not enough. Discernment is good, but it is not enough. Wisdom is the answer. And, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom, while a personal relation­ship with Jesus Christ is the culmination of wisdom.

Only if you know the truth can you make the truth known, which is why Movieguide® and THE MEDIA-WISE FAMILY book are quantitatively and qualitatively different – be­cause they have the answers!