Good Media
Movies to Replenish Our Souls
Andrea Rock, contributing editor
Summer is over, school has begun, and the new season for media is unfolding. As always, Hollywood is pushing the envelope, continuing to define smut down, making it more and more difficult for parents to allow their children to choose their own TV viewing. In addition to the Parents Television Council, www.parentstv.org, there is a wonderful, newer website that alerts us to media offerings that threaten our family values: www.onemillionmoms.com. This site exposes entertainment media that exploit our children, and send them messages we don’t want them to receive. It provides easy links to producers and/or sponsors, making it easy for us to take action.
Fortunately, in this increasingly libertine atmosphere, there are quality films, imbued with values to replenish our souls, now available on DVD. Here are a few to consider:
The Laughing Pizza Family Band is a “docu-concert” that follows the Schlosser family, which has formed the Laughing Pizza band, with which they tour the United States, performing original, family-friendly music. The Sclosser parents, professional musicians both, were dismayed at the music available to their children, so they formed this band, wrote the music, and committed themselves to touring the US to perform kid-friendly popular music with positive messages. Behind the scenes, we see the family rehearsing, traveling, and even talking about their passion for fighting world hunger.
Squanto: A Warrior's Tale, is a historical drama, recounting the legend of a Native American Indian who escapes the English traders who enslaved him. Squanto manages to return to his native New England, where he risks his life by teaching the Pilgrims how to survive the harsh winters of the early 1600s.
Big Miracle tells a tale, inspired by a true story, of disparate Americans who overcome their differences and collaborate to save three whales, stranded in northern Alaska. Parents should know that there is some light foul language, and some politically charged rhetoric about oil drilling.
The Adventures of Tintin is a Steve Spielberg, animated film for the whole family. The story opens with Tintin, a curious young reporter, buying an antique scale model ship of the “Unicorn” at a thrift market. Tintin refuses a stranger’s offer of an extremely large sum of money for it, but the ship model is later stolen from his home. Tintin sets off on the great adventure to discover the secret of the unicorn. Tintin is a playful, action-adventure film with a strong moral worldview. Some of the action, and the length of the film, might make it less desirable for very young viewers.
The Muppets is a great adventure that reunites our favorite Muppets—Kermit, Gonzo, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and others. A family from a small town goes to Los Angeles in order to meet the Muppets. They overhear an oilman discussing plans to buy the studio for $10 million so that he can drill for oil. They seek out the Muppets to help them stop this from happening. The film cleverly makes the case that it’s time for Hollywood to start producing more family-friendly stories, and is filled with good, clean laughs. It does take an anti-oil drilling stance, so know that in advance. In a few scenes, the Muppets hit each other, if that is a concern for young children.
Enjoy!
If there is an area of media you’d like to learn more about, please contact me at editor@recipesforgoodliving.com".