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Tuesday June 20, 2006
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Facing the Giants Rated PG for “Mature Themes” Not Christianity: MPAA
By John Jalsevac
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 20, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After several weeks of controversy surrounding the PG rating of the film “Facing the Giants”, the MPAA has stated that the furor was caused by nothing more than a misunderstanding.
On June 7 Kris Fuhr, vice president for marketing at Provident Films (owned by Sony), was quoted by Scripps Howard saying that she was told by someone at the Motion Picture Association of American (MPAA) that “Facing the Giants” was awarded a PG Rating because the film “was heavily laden with messages from one religion and that this might offend people from other religions.”
Conservative news sources, organizations and politicians across the United States, puzzled by the report, expressed their concern with the MPAA’s reasons and called on the Association to explain why the movie merited the PG rating.
“This incident raises the disquieting possibility that MPAA considers exposure to Christian themes more dangerous for children than exposure to gratuitous sex and mindless violence,” House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) wrote in a letter to MPAA Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman.
On June 13, Catholic League president Bill Donohue wrote to Dan Glickman, chairman and CEO of the MPAA, requesting that he investigate why an “overtly” Christian film like “Facing the Giants” merited the PG red flag.
Joan Graves, chairman of the MPAA ratings board, contacted the Catholic League, admitting that she was the MPAA official who originally spoke to Fuhr. According to Graves, she told Fuhr that the PG rating was given to the movie, not for being overtly religious, but because of mature issues, e.g., depression, matters relating to pregnancy and sports-related violence.
In a statement Graves indicated the MPAA’s “long-standing policy not to comment to the press about individual films other than to give the rating and the rating reasons,” but owing to the “misunderstanding that this film received a PG rating for its ‘religious viewpoint,’” she felt obliged to respond. She added, “This film has a mature discussion about pregnancy, for example, as well as other elements that parents might want to be aware of. There are many religious films that have been submitted for rating, and they have garnered ratings from G to R, depending on the graphics and intensity of various elements in the film.”
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Christians Urged to Take Action Against PG Rating for "Overtly" Christian Film
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06061401.html
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