Movie content (Transformers specifically)

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Christoffer

Christoffer

Puritan Board Sophomore
I thought I'd watch transformers with my 9-year old son yesterday. I couldn't imagine that to have any inappropriate content

The violence is pretty harmless. Mostly explosions and spectacular things.

There were other things however that struck me. Small things. For example:

1) at one point the lead actress said she has a thing for sexy guys. Our 9-year old reads the subtitles so he read it. I don't want him to read expressions like that.

2) The main character at one point studies the female lead actress lustfully and makes no secret of it.

3) The whole dialogue between the leading actors is shallow with no spiritual reference points. They do not represent redeemed humanity, and do no strive for what we ought to strive for.

Humans are impressionable. When others break the boundaries, we become encouraged to do it ourselves. I want to protect the kids as far as I can. At some point I won't be able to anymore.

Am I overreacting?
 
Hi Brother

I do not know if this movie was a "Christian" movie or not. What we did is abandon secular TV altogether. We now only watch educative documentaries no more than 3 times a week.
 
We have abandoned TV. We were watching this through netflix, and no it wasn't a christian movie.

I do think there are non-christian movies that have some value for kids, Star Wars, LOTR etc.

Thank you for your comment!
 
I don't think you are overreacting. I think that is par for the course. I also have an 8yo. He is into Geranimo Stilton. That is a little more tame. The sexy part would bother me. As for the lustful look, my 8yo wouldn't notice. So, while I would prefer it not to be there, there are worse things.
 
I will admit I have been a fan of Sci Fi since I was a child. But as I get older I get this niggle in the back of my mind that many/most portray a universe vastly different from that which we read of in the creation account. One without the God who we know of and one with more of an evolution process than a creation one. Its like they say "imagine this, we were not the only created beings when the universe was created by God, there may be superior created beings than us, other life out there" and others "there is no God". I often get the feeling they help promote a Godless existence and or a creation that does not involve the Biblical account.
 
Free Christian said:
I will admit I have been a fan of Sci Fi since I was a child. But as I get older I get this niggle in the back of my mind that many/most portray a universe vastly different from that which we read of in the creation account. One without the God who we know of and one with more of an evolution process than a creation one. Its like they say "imagine this, we were not the only created beings when the universe was created by God, there may be superior created beings than us, other life out there" and others "there is no God". I often get the feeling they help promote a Godless existence and or a creation that does not involve the Biblical account.
Click to expand...

I get this feeling also.

I personally can handle it, but with children it is different. They imitate what they see, and when they are young they cannot necessarily tell the difference between good and bad role models
 
Well, I think you can bring up children without seeing any movies. It's been done in the past, anyway. :D

Your son will not be missing much, when you think about it, and you won't have to be on your guard about it.

Simple solution, but sometimes they are the best.
 
Christoffer said:
We have abandoned TV. We were watching this through netflix, and no it wasn't a christian movie.

I do think there are non-christian movies that have some value for kids, Star Wars, LOTR etc.

Thank you for your comment!
Click to expand...

If it has Michael Bay attached to it (he was the director in the case of Transformers) stay far, far away. He loves glorifying sin (adultery, lust, rebellion, crudeness, etc) in all of his movies.

My kiddos stick to Transformers: Rescue Bots (too young for your kid) and the original 1980's cartoon (a 9 year old would like it).
 
You are right. I watch maybe 1 movie a year, so I was probably kind of naive about what to expect. I probably reacted more as I had my son next to me.
 
Christoffer,

May I offer you a resource that has been helpful to me and my family in recent years?

PluggedIn is a website that offers reviews of movies, music, TV shows, videos and games from a Christian perspective. It's helpful because in the review it covers positive elements, spiritual content, sexual content, violent content, crude or profane language, drug and alcohol content and any other negative elements. Finally, it gives a conclusion of whether the movie is even worth watching.

The site is sponsored by Focus on the Family, which I don't think is Reformed in any sense, but they are most definitely sensitive to helping families avoid many of the dangers of the sin-infested culture we live in, and the exposure of our children to godless content that arises from the effects of the fall.

The site is below, and I pray that you find it helpful. Our family has benefitted immensely from this, and my wife and I will normally pray and consult this website before we even think about what we tune in to.

Plugged In

In Him,

Craig
 
Thanks for starting the thread - I believe this is an important question to discuss.

Personally, my wife and I have eliminated all television and/or movies, with the exception of college sports and news. This, largely due to a powerful sermon we heard on Psalm 101:3, where the Psalmist proclaims with conviction - I will set no evil thing before my eyes. The minister applied the text in part to movies and television. The fact that a website such as "Plugged In" exists is a strong indication of the evil that abounds in films and television.

In addition, while certainly the Bible does not expressly prohibit the use of a television, in other words it is lawful, I leave it to you to determine whether taking in a film is expedient (I Corinthians 10:23). For my wife and I, we have decided that it is not expedient.
 


If it has Michael Bay attached to it (he was the director in the case of Transformers) stay far, far away. He loves glorifying sin (adultery, lust, rebellion, crudeness, etc) in all of his movies.

My kiddos stick to Transformers: Rescue Bots (too young for your kid) and the original 1980's cartoon (a 9 year old would like it)


I was thinking you were referring to the old cartoons. If referring to the recent movies, my 13 YO hasn't even watched that, and he was a huge transformers fan. Nor have my kids watched batman, Spider-Man or even the 80's Superman. They have watched the Star Wars trilogy, but not the new 3. There are lots of movies I watched in my youth that I enjoyed, Indiana jones for instance, that in don't feel like my children should be watching now that I am a parent. Though they may not have scarred me, or I may not have even recognized things I would now, as their parent and as an influence in their lives, I chose to keep them away from it.
 
Regarding Transformers, if I recall, the movie was really targeted towards adults who were fans of the series as kids as well as a new audience of teens. I'm not sure it was really intended for children (which may seem strange for a movie about a toy).
 
Transformers has the same age rating as for example LOTR here, and I think LOTR is a lot more family friendly than Transformers. Sure it has a lot more violence, monsters and jumpscares but those kind of things don't leave lasting marks as I think sexual content does.

Thanks all for your input!
 
LOTR type violence can have lasting effects on kids/young adults too. I think we are more inclined to give it a pass, but I'm not sure why.
 
Christoffer said:
I thought I'd watch transformers with my 9-year old son yesterday. I couldn't imagine that to have any inappropriate content

The violence is pretty harmless. Mostly explosions and spectacular things.

There were other things however that struck me. Small things. For example:

1) at one point the lead actress said she has a thing for sexy guys. Our 9-year old reads the subtitles so he read it. I don't want him to read expressions like that.

2) The main character at one point studies the female lead actress lustfully and makes no secret of it.

3) The whole dialogue between the leading actors is shallow with no spiritual reference points. They do not represent redeemed humanity, and do no strive for what we ought to strive for.

Humans are impressionable. When others break the boundaries, we become encouraged to do it ourselves. I want to protect the kids as far as I can. At some point I won't be able to anymore.

Am I overreacting?
Click to expand...

When I was in youth group I would hear people say, "Well if you can't handle it you shouldn't watch it," the implication being that others might not be as soft and tender as you, and therefore have more liberty. But John tells us not to love the world or the things in the world because of what's in it: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Sounds like the Transformers movie nailed at least two of them.

My wife and I considered going to see The Theory of Everything. I love hearing stories about people with unusual levels of intelligence, incomparable mental abilities, or who overcame severe obstacles, and so a movie about Stephen Hawking would have fascinated me. This would have been the first time I stepped into a theatre since 2010. We decided to forego it because of two particular scenes that we read about. We don't know how short the scenes are, but all David needed was one look, and I know I'm not godlier than he was.

So I do not think you are overreacting.

Along with other brothers and sisters in this thread, we do not have a television either.
 
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