Led Astray!
| By: Dr. Ted Baehr; ©2000 |
| Can you get a true picture of movies by reading or hearing the critics in newspapers, radio or television? What areas are they missing? Does it matter? Dr. Baehr answers this question, and gives a source for a more complete guide. |
Contents
LED ASTRAY!
Quite often, MOVIEGUIDE® will get calls from people who say they saw a movie which got rave reviews, but when they saw it, it ended up just awful. The day before I wrote this, somebody was complaining about the nude scene in Topsy Turvy. Then, there are the Golden Globes, which, in spite of a few rare bright spots, emphasized such horrors as Sex in the City and American Ugly/Beauty, the homosexual take on American family life. Of course, the insignificant foreign critics association backs the Golden Globes.
There are two problems here. One, as the LA Times has pointed out, is that the Golden Age of criticism is over. Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel reduced criticism to a mere policeman-like singular opinion, thumbs up or thumbs down. In the Golden Age of criticism, Pauline Kael and other great critics, delved into the literary and philosophic and entertainment qualities of the film to explore the movie. Today, critics just let their bias hang out. Often their politically-correct bias is anti-Christian, anti-family, pro-homosexual, pro-cultural Marxism.
The second problem is that people rely on these critics. As a friend of mine at Harvard said, “Jesus gave him back his mind.” It is the fallen world that confuses the mind and prevents common sense thinking. To rely on the opinion of fallen critics is a denial of the mind renewing process that takes place when Christ comes to live in relationship with us.
The solution is MOVIEGUIDE®.
You won’t read the likes of MOVIEGUIDE® reviews in the New York Times, or the LA Times, nor will you get it in USA Today or The Wall Street Journal. Surprisingly, you won’t even get it in Christianity Today, Moody or even The Christian Digest.
Why? Because MOVIEGUIDE® has the most complete reviews of movies from a balanced and detailed Christian perspective. Our reviews are complete and comprehensive. They separate the wheat from the chaff, the family friendly from the toxic. Unlike other reviewers, especially secular critics, we not only look at the superficial semantic (language, sex, etc.) and syntactical elements (action, special effects, narrative structure, etc.), but we also look at the underlying worldview, philosophy, politics, and moral elements.
MOVIEGUIDE® also includes insightful essays, provocative editorials, media news, and special reports…what every intelligent, media-wise person should know.
We always welcome comments and suggestions from our readers, of course. Furthermore, if the rest of your family, friends and colleagues, or your church, are not getting MOVIEGUIDE®, then please ask them to write to me and place an order. They, and you, will not regret it.
Help us redeem the values of the mass media. Don’t be led astray by the pop-criticism in your local newspaper or the glitz and glamour of the award shows.
