CLIPS AND SNIPPETS
SHORT GLIMPSES THAT PROVIDE INSIGHT ABOUT HOW GENESIS
PROJECTS INTERSECT WITH TODAY'S CULTURE
If you haven’t watched this short (11-minute) Notre Dame (Profiles of Notre Dame Athletics) segment about Haley Scott that was produced a few years back as part of their "Strong of Heart" series, you should watch it now. If you have already seen it, you should watch it again… it’s that good.
Year after year too many content creators keep pumping out R-rated content when year after year the viewing public demonstrates through the box office that is not what they want. Yet, most R-rated creators justify their decisions by saying “we’re making R-rated movies because that is what viewers want.” They are making R-rated movies because they want to, not because their audiences want them to. The numbers prove this every year.
The latest statistics, released by the Motion Picture Association are for 2021. None of the top ten revenue-producing movies was R-rated, and only five of the top 25 were. Fully 80% of the top-grossing movies were PG or PG-13. There have never been more than a few R-rated movies in the top 25.
Same Story, Different Year
Sexualization of Girls in the Media is Unhealthy
One reason so many of the projects we support depict positive, or even heroic choices and actions of young girls (FATIMA, A SUMMER PROMISE, THE HALEY SCOTT STORY) is because they help facilitate positive aspects of mental health among girls. This is the exact opposite of movies and TV programs that sexualize girls.
As far back as 2007, the American Psychiatric Association published research on the topic. In their report that year titled “Sexualization Of Girls Is Linked To Common Mental Health Problems In Girls And Women,” they unequivocally stated that “media sexualization is driving the three most common mental health problems for girls.” These include depression, eating disorders and low self-esteem.
Tim Winter, the head of Parentstv.org, shared this quote from Dr. Michael Rich, Director of Harvard University’s Center on Media and Children’s Health at the Children’s Hospital of Boston:
"The correlation between violent media and aggressive behavior is “stronger than that of calcium intake and bone mass, lead ingestion and lower IQ, condom non-use and sexually acquired HIV, and environmental tobacco smoke and lung cancer, all associations that clinicians accept as fact, and on which preventive medicine is based without question.”
If you don’t support parentstv.org, you should. They are at the forefront of the battle to protect our children and families from immoral programming and production.
Correlations Worth Recognizing
And It Is Only Getting Worse Today
Not to seem to be beating the dead horse, but for those who want to base their decision on science and rational thinking consider this study by the Rand Corporation and published in Pediatrics Journal (Nov 2008). It concluded the following:
“Exposure to sexual content on television predicted teen pregnancy… Teens who were exposed to high levels of television sexual content were twice as likely to experience a pregnancy in the subsequent three years compared with those with lower levels of exposure.”
We have plenty of anecdotal data that suggest just the opposite. We believe any people who are exposed to positive, charitable or heroic actions in movies or TV programming are more likely to take positive actions and carry out charitable and heroic deeds in their own world. It’s why we support the projects we support at The Genesis Initiative.
FATIMA was an artistic success many different levels. A particularly noteworthy success is the original soundtrack which was created by Italian composer Paulo Bounvino. The highlight is the original song Gratia Plena sung by Andrea Bocelli in which the phrase “full of grace” is sung in seventeen difference languages. In the following clip, watch as Mr. Bocelli describes why participating in the making of this great movie means so much to him.
The primary purpose of movie trailers is to arouse enough interest in a film to entice people to watch it. Some are obviously more effective than others, and filmmakers are ecstatic when a trailer achieves this goal. Rarely do they expect to achieve impact beyond getting people to go see the movie.
Imagine the gratification the producers of FATIMA felt when shortly after its trailer was released, a Muslim friend of one of the producers approached the producer and said, “For the past several months I’ve been feeling called to become closer to God. After watching the trailer, I think FATIMA will be my path toward grace.” Within a year she had converted!
Just in case you missed it, the FATIMA trailer is worth watching. If you have watched it before … it’s worth watching again. Hopefully, you’ll agree with us that it is beautiful and powerfully impactful.
In a January 2023 article titled “How Studios Failed Family Audiences in 2022” posted by Movieguide.org, the authors said:
“While it is true that there were noticeably fewer blockbusters in 2022 compared to pre-pandemic years at the box office, what audiences “need” and are uplifting, moral, and family-friendly offerings.
If anything is clear from the 2022 slate of releases, should movies contain moral values and not fall back on immoral content, like excessive violence and sex, they soar.”
For a broad overview of what is happening in the post-pandemic, this article is a great read. Most important, however, is that is show that audiences are demanding the kind of content The Genesis Initiative helps to develop, produce and distribute. Check out the link by clicking the Watch Now button.
The Genesis Initiative mission is becoming more important to the culture every year!
The last thing we want to do is bad-mouth anyone, let alone people working in the film industry. But it’s impossible to ignore how catastrophically Disney has damaged its brand in recent years. Once the most trust brand in family entertainment, people now look at Disney and at best, scratch their heads. For a quick read of what’s happening, read the article on this link.
For even deeper insights, click watch now on the left.
Both of these demonstrate that family friendly movies with strong, positive moral themes are still in high demand with viewers. It has never been more important for The Genesis Initiative to help filmmakers step up and respond to this demand.