Parents Movie Guide

July 1, 2008 by Christian Parenting Daily · Leave a Comment

The back of each DVD box at many movie rental places has a ‘Parent’s Guide.’ The guide generally has four categories: Sex/Nudity, Drugs/Alcohol, Violence/Scariness and Objectionable Words/Phrases. Following each category is a brief description of what could be objectionable.

The idea, of course, is to help parents judge if the movie is suitable or not. Although I appreciate having this information, it is not all I need to make a decision. As Christians, we need a few more categories like ‘The Moral of The Story’, ‘World View’ and/or perhaps ‘Worldly/Non Christian Ideas and Behavior Supported as Right and Normal.’

Take as an example the hit family flick that started Disney’s animated movie comeback, ‘The Little Mermaid’. Most parents of very young children scan the rating (also based on the above mentioned categories) and plug it in thinking that their job is done. There’s no swearing, nudity or drugs but wait, what is the movie teaching with its storyline and character development? In the original book version the Little Mermaid dies in the end and although that’s a bit of a downer, the moral of the story is abundantly clear.

In the movie version, Ariel disobeys her Father and does things she knows that she shouldn’t in order to get what she wants. Yet in the end she gets her ‘happily ever after’ and her Dad is the one who is painted with the brush of wrong doing.

Now I’m not saying don’t let your kids watch the movie but I am saying that we as Christian parents need to watch what our children are watching and talk with them about things that contradict and undermine what the Bible teaches.

So the purpose of ‘Movie Night Ideas’ on this website is to equip you with the tools and ideas you need to engage your children in meaningful conversation about the movies you watch. Sometimes we’ll take on new movies and sometimes we’ll talk about old favorites. Either way, we’ll try and be the Christian extension to the ‘Parent’s Guide’ on the back of each DVD box.

Please click on a below movie to read Christian Parenting Daily’s “Parents Movie Guide”.