A COLUMN BY Dick Rolfe Chairman, THE DOVE FOUNDATION
GUEST SPEAKS OUT FROM MY SOAP BOX
As I began developing my column this month, I
thought I would write something profound about my disappointment
with the Academy Awards nominees this year. Then, after reading
the article below which my friend, Phil Boatwright penned for the
Baptist Press, I decided to loan him my "soap box"
since his observations are so similar to my own.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
THE 69TH ACADEMY AWARDS - WHAT A (disappointing) DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES!
by Phil Boatwright, The Movie Reporter
Last year, the five films up for Best Picture each embraced
positive messages. "Apollo 13," "Babe,"
"Braveheart," "The Postman" and "Sense
& Sensibility" beat out the heavier and often depressing
themes of "Leaving Las Vegas," "Casino" and
"Nixon." This year, however, the tides have changed.
The five nominees for the Oscar lean toward the darker side.
"The English Patient," "Fargo," "Jerry
Maguire," "Secrets & Lies," and
"Shine" were well made, and in several cases contained
a strong message, but they were each so congested with profanity,
mental and physical abuse and somber subject matter, it made
going to the movies a rather unpleasant experience.
Each film was populated with one or more of the following
characters: kidnappers, adulterers, fornicators, abusers,
hypocrites, pornographers etc, etc. Even "Shine," which
boasted an uplifting ending, sort of, had a father figure so
abusive, you'd think you were watching all of Charles Dickens'
antagonists rolled into one. If there is a lesson to be learned
from these people, doesn't the oppressive material counter any
positive we may have gained? If we sit through two hours of
vituperation to get to the 5 minute cheery epilogue, what happens
to our psyche during the process?
For example: The dark comedy "Fargo" - Siskel &
Ebert's favorite film of the year - received its R-rating for
lots of profane, obscene and crude language throughout. There
were also sexual situations, murder, extreme brutality, including
whippings, beatings, close-up gun shots with lots of blood, an ax
murder, and a body disposed of in a wood chipper. That's not all.
Let's not forget the kidnapping, where we saw a blindfolded woman
falling on her face in the frigid snow, as she attempted escape,
with her abductors bemused at the tableau. Several members of the
audience were doing the same. Ok, ok it's only a movie, but I
found little humor in watching a terrified woman treated like a
piece of meat.
A frightening trend in pictures began with Scorsese's
"Goodfellas," and was soon copied by "Pulp
Fiction," where the filmmakers' ability to incorporate
insensitive humor just after a visual brutality made the violent
act palatable and strangely hypnotic to the viewer.
"Fargo" carried on in this vain, making it a brutal,
cynical and desensitizing film.
If this were an anomaly, I might find some value in the quality
of the film. What's happening to us, when 4 out of 5 films up for
the Best Picture Oscar are rated R? Is this the only way we can
be amused?
Lastly, I counted five nominated films in several categories
containing characters that deny the existence of God. What's that
all about? Hollywood seems so pleased with itself in denigrating
people of faith, aiming their hostility at the sanctimonious, but
seldom elevating those who practice what they preach. True,
positive examples are harder to find, but I get the impression
from my hundreds of yearly visits to the local cineplex, that the
Entertainment Community isn't even looking.
There were exceptions this past year such as "Big
Night," "Emma," "Mother," "That
Thing You Do," and "Looking for Richard." But, if
you wanted to see serious subject matter, you had to allow
yourself to be pummeled with violence and objectionable language.
If you're looking for uplifting, nourishing entertainment on home
video, you had better rent last year’s nominees.
- - - - - - - - - -
Phil Boatwright is editor of The Movie Reporter, a biweekly
newsletter that critiques most major films from a Christian
perspective. To subscribe, send your check for $16.95 ($14,95 for
e-mail version) to Central Christian Publications, P.O. Box 7178,
Thousand Oaks, CA 9135.
Subscribe to our FREE 
newsletter and quarterly video list.
Dick Rolfe is Chairman of The Dove Foundation a nonprofit organization whose mission is to encourage and promote the creation, production and distribution of wholesome family entertainment. For more information about wholesome films and videos, write: 535 E. Fulton, Suite 1A, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, or call (616)454-5024.
Return to our home page | Dick's bio | past columns
to
dickrolfe@dove.org
Updated by: Scott RolfeCopyright © 1997, The Dove Foundation. All rights reserved.