This thread discusses the Content article: Knocked Up DVD

It really kind of baffles me when Christians give such sparkling reviews of such filthy fare. I wrote a blog recently on my MySpace page about trying to find pearls in piles of poop! That is what this is like. Below is a quote from the "Plugged In Online" movie review. I often check them before viewing any film. They give honest reviews with info we need. This is just the conclusion but there is lots of info in the full review. Enough that any christian wanting to know what is on screeen can know and not be misleaded like this review does.

"They could've called this comedy One Crazy Night or We're Having a Baby. But Knocked Up, while abrasive, is actually more fitting—a shot across the bow preparing audiences for the level of offensive content they'll encounter. A cavalier attitude toward casual sex is just the beginning. From turning intercourse into a spectator sport to glamorizing drug use to showcasing gratuitous female nudity and 120 f-words, Apatow takes full advantage of the R rating.

A few warm moments and pearls of wisdom about valuing life and family, and accepting responsibility are great. But vile humor begins at conception and remains part of the film's DNA. That turns Knocked Up into comedic porn ... with a message."

I'm sorry you were offended. Truly, I am. But what offends one Christian will not offend another, and trying to find the line where most won't be offended is a fool's errand, I've found.

Just a note on how we do movie/DVD reviews: I don't hold a moral stick out over our reviewers' heads. I assume they can make judgments about moral content, and I also assume no two reviewers will consider the same content the same way. We all have to make our own judgments as Christians about what is and isn't appropriate.

I like Plugged In Online, but by the same token I find their reviews very predictable. At the first sign of anything gritty, they get a little apoplectic.

I used to attend a church where almost all movies were considered wicked---even fairly innocuous Hollywood fare from years ago, during the Production Code era. CCM was considered wicked (to be listened to at all, I mean---outside of a worship service), as was nearly anything else that wasn't directly and specifically Christian and God-honoring. Seeing the Passion of the Christ was actively discouraged ("graven image" violation). On and on. They didn't consider Plugged In to be the least bit reliable; too accommodating to the culture at large. Like I said, I used to attend church there.

Point being that it's all in the mind/eye/year/heart of the beholder, I'm afraid. At the end of the day, all Christians have to agree to disagree on some things, especially where our (or any) culture is concerned. Knocked Up certainly isn't my cup of tea, but I accept that other Christians will feel differently for their own reasons. I don't consider that "misleading" at all, but I guess we'll have to agree to differ on that point, too.

I wasn't offended by Knocked Up, even though I realize that it may offend plenty of people. I think that there can be humor in sex, especially when it doesn't dehumanize the characters involved. For example, the scene where Seth Rogen's character is terrified of hurting the baby is hilarious! That said, I can totally see why someone might not like that scene because they don't find it appropriate to see other people having sex -- or pretending to have sex, to be more accurate -- on camera.

I think that Christian movie reviews like PluggedIn have their place, but they're definitely not for me. As an adult, I am capable of deciding what I will and will not watch. As a Christian, watching unnecessary violence upsets me a lot more than seeing Katherine Heigel in a bra.

Sam, I think I would die if I went to your old church! I didn't like the Passion of the Christ, either, but that's because it's a bad movie, not a sinful one!

I didn't see Knocked Up, but I've certainly seen movies that dealt with sexual issues in a humorous way---sometimes to hilarious effect (nobody gets more mileage out of innuendo than the the legendary Ernst Lubitsch!), and sometimes not so successfully or tastefully. Like you, Liz, the problem I have with "scorecard" reviewing of every bared centimeter of skin, every "gee whiz" (which is, of course, merely a corruption of "Jesus" meant to get around taking His name in vain---my old church strikes again!), is that it breaks an experience of art down to components that make no sense removed from their context. I could do a Plugged In review of 1 Kings or Song of Solomon that would take a lot of scrolling to get through, but what would be missing would be the context of it all---why the sin is all there in the first place.

I'm happy to report that my current church is wonderful, by the way. I go to movies with my pastor and elders, and we actually enjoy them.