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Barabbas, Twisted & Dirty Dancing

By Apostle Cedric Moss

Last week I began discussing the “The Haitian Situation” and promised to continue with part two today. Instead, I have decided to discuss the arbitrary and inconsistent rating practices of The Bahamas Films & Plays Control Board (the Board).

Give Us Jesus!
Three new movies debuted in local theatres during the week of February 23rd: The Passion of the Christ, Twisted and Dirty Dancing. The Board gave a “C” rating to each one, meaning only persons 18 years and older can be admitted. Having previewed the contents of these movies on www.screenit.com, I agreed with the Board’s ratings, even for The Passion of the Christ. However, the local press reported widespread outcry for the Board to lower their “C” rating for The Passion of the Christ to enable children to view it with their parents. The pressure was so intense, I felt certain the Board would yield. Therefore, imagine my amazement when I saw that, instead of lowering the rating for The Passion of the Christ, the Board lowered the ratings on the other two movies, Twisted and Dirty Dancing, to “T”, as evidenced in the newspapers. In so doing, they lowered the admittance age from 18 to 15.


Who Requested It?
On the face of it, the lowering of the ratings for Twisted and Dirty Dancing seems rather odd. It is illogical to think the Board just had an unprompted change of heart to re-rate these two movies, so it raises questions: Who requested the moral rating bar to be lowered to admit movie-going minors into these two movies? And why was the rating for The Passion of the Christ not lowered as well?

This rating change is most revealing, considering that there was public outcry for only one movie’s rating to be lowered - The Passion of the Christ. Yet, the Board ignored that request and instead lowered the rating for the other two, for which there were no public requests.

A Closer Look
In addition to having 25 “F” words and other profanity, Twisted, is laced with graphic on-screen sexual encounters (with movement and sounds), explicit sexual dialogue, lethal and bloody violence, drugs, and alcohol use. Concerning Dirty Dancing, while it does not have near the level of inappropriate content for minors as Twisted, it is clearly a movie for adults and as such should be rated “C”. The Board’s initial “C” rating for both movies shows this was their impression. Who convinced them otherwise?

The Beat Goes On
Twisted is rated “R” by the Motion Picture Association of America and now joins the growing list of “R” movies the Board has rated “T” for minors within the last year: The Last Samurai, Marci X, The Matrix Reloaded, and Phone Booth. So what accounts for the Board’s Herculean resistance to lowering the rating for The Passion of the Christ? Is it because they believe the content of The Passion of the Christ is worse than those lewd and profane movies for which they lowered the bar for minors to pay parent-funded dollars to peek and listen?

Give Us Barabbas
Closely considered, this episode is instructive about where we are as a society. We have a Board that refuses to allow our minor children to view a movie on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in the season of Lent, and then turns around and lowers the same rating to allow them into two other movies to be “entertained” by graphic depictions of the sins for which he died. This almost equates Pilate’s offer to the religious mob: Shall I release Jesus Christ or Barabbas? The mob chose Barabbas, the Board chose Twisted and Dirty Dancing.

Well, I guess the Board can do whatever it wants because, after all, who cares?

Apostle Cedric Moss serves as Senior Pastor at Kingdom Life World Outreach Centre. Commentary and feedback may be directed to: apostle@kingdom-life.org.

I am with you on this one. The rating of these movies seems, inconsistent.

You asked, "Who cares?" No one really as kids of all ages will get to see all these movies with no restrictions when they come out on DVD, video or on cable.

It seems pointless to put a guard (the board) at one gate (local theaters) and then leave the other gates (cable, DVD etc) unguarded. :rolleyes:

Cedric I am with you on this as well.

But I do believe that if a parent/s (father mother legal guardian) wants to take their child to see a movie that is restricted they should be allowed. Provided the parent/s have already seen the movie. All of the violence, sex and so on, are a curiosity to youngsters. Much of the stuff in these movies can be used to teach a youngster. It can teach them the right way or it can teach them the wrong way.

Example when my daughters were 12 and 13 I took them out to the end of Sea Breeze and taught them how to use my gun. Taught them the safety and dangers of a gun. They shot it all they wanted. They have never picked it up in curiosity since. If I left the gun out I had no worries their curiosity was fulfilled. If for any reason they need to use it they know how.
I pray none of us will ever have to use it for self-defense.

since guns in the Bahamas are illegal for anything other than pigeon hunting, I would be careful posting too much info about it. There are some real messed up laws about guns here, and some police have their own ideas of it.

Cedric I am with you on this as well.

But I do believe that if a parent/s (father mother legal guardian) wants to take their child to see a movie that is restricted they should be allowed. Provided the parent/s have already seen the movie. All of the violence, sex and so on, are a curiosity to youngsters. Much of the stuff in these movies can be used to teach a youngster. It can teach them the right way or it can teach them the wrong way.

Example when my daughters were 12 and 13 I took them out to the end of Sea Breeze and taught them how to use my gun. Taught them the safety and dangers of a gun. They shot it all they wanted. They have never picked it up in curiosity since. If I left the gun out I had no worries their curiosity was fulfilled. If for any reason they need to use it they know how.
I pray none of us will ever have to use it for self-defense.

since guns in the Bahamas are illegal for anything other than pigeon hunting, I would be careful posting too much info about it. There are some real messed up laws about guns here, and some police have their own ideas of it.
Pigeons tast good just hate plucking them.

Pigeons tast good just hate plucking them.

:)