One of the most baffling things to me about parenting in this day and age is the fact that many moms and dads who would take a bullet for their children don’t think twice about “abusing” their kids when it comes to entertainment. I put “abusing” in quotes because culturally we don’t consider it child cruelty. But I do. More specifically, I’m talking about parents who take their young children to movies that could cause some serious emotional and spiritual damage, and influence their children in untold negative ways.
At a recent screening of a film that I knew was going to push the envelope, I actually asked the mom next to me something along these lines, “Since you haven’t seen this film, do you worry that the content will be detrimental to your child?”
Her response was telling. Instead of saying, “Oh, yes, I’m very concerned about how the messages and visuals in film might affect my child; I’m just pretty sure this isn’t one of those types of films,” what I got was something very different. The mother motioned with her hand in a sweeping gesture and said, “Look at all the children here at this movie.” In other words, her justification had nothing to do with the welfare of her child, but simply the fact that she wasn’t alone in her decision.
My wife and I were super-conscious of what constituted acceptable entertainment for our children (we leaned this way even before I became the director of Plugged In). Perhaps the most difficult time regarding film choices were those years when our kids were outgrowing VeggieTales videos, but weren’t ready for the (mostly) family-friendly yet more mature-leaning films such as The Truman Show. We got through those years, but how I wish we would have had more help from Hollywood.
Well, back in March I blogged about Walmart, Procter & Gamble, and Walden Media teaming up with the Hallmark Channel to carve out a family movie slot on Fridays at 8 p.m. ET. (Link to “A Phoenix Rises: Walden Family Theater.”) They’re committed to the end of the year at least, and hopefully beyond. Most of their films have been acquired for this purpose, but a half-dozen are original. And so tomorrow night the second original Walden Family Theater movie debuts on Hallmark. It’s a film titled Space Warriors, and I’ve screened it in advance.
I’ll put it this way: This is exactly the type of film my wife and I were looking for during those years between Adventures in Odyssey and Runaway Bride. While it’s certainly no Oscar threat, it is all but guaranteed to keep a 10-year-old engaged. More important, it’s a film with several positive takeaways. For instance, a main character declares, “The single most important thing to learn is humility.” Wow! You sure won’t find that line in Fast & Furious 6. So if you have children in that hard-to-find-suitable-entertainment age group, check out the trailer for Space Warriors on YouTube.
By the way, not every character in this film displays virtuous character. On the contrary, there’s deception, lying and bullying. But by the time the credits roll, these less-than-stellar behaviors have been dealt with. Abusive? Hardly. Consider movies like Space Warriors the antithesis of something that might prove harmful to children!
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