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Struggling With Juno

Posted on: 05/14/08 6:33 AM | by Jonathan McKee

The movie Juno, which only this week was bumped from the number two spot in DVD rentals, has been at the top of the rental charts since its release on April 15th . Kids love it.

I, however, am a little torn.

If you work with youth or have kids, you’ve probably already heard about this film about a young girl that gets pregnant and decides to keep the child and put it up for adoption (I mentioned this film in a previous blog about the surprising number of secular films this year with pro-life themes). Kids love Juno and critics are raving about it. I’ve even heard the youth ministry community praising it. And I can see why youth workers enjoy the movie– it’s an authentic look at youth culture today. But I have to admit, I struggled with this film.

Here were my thoughts that I recently added to our ministry’s movie review page:

JUNO FILM REVIEW
This film had me torn from the beginning.

If you’re like me, you went into this film hearing all the hype about what a wonderful film this is, Oscar potential, blah, blah, blah. (Besides… do the words “Oscar potential” mean anything to you? Did you actually see There Will Be Blood? Zzzzzzzzzz) Everyone is recommending Juno. So I admit… I had high expectations going into it.

To summarize my thoughts I’ll have to resort to bullets for this one.

THE GOOD:

Ellen Page was really a likable character, warts and all. She reminded me of several of my Campus Life kids from back in the day.
Jennifer Garner was surprisingly good. She wasn’t the typical “Alias” eye candy… she did some real acting here.
Like so many films this year, the value of life was communicated… even if in an awkward way.
The characters were very real. Very 2007. Not just a bunch of “actor models” who got the roles… but real people. Very convincing.

THE BAD:

I had heard that this was a good film for teenagers. In one of the first scenes we see a shot of a girl’s legs as her panties are dropped to the floor. Then she climbs on top of a guy. Yes, they didn’t show nudity. Yes, I know that’s what the film was about (a girl getting pregnant). But guess what… I don’t want my kids seeing the action- even just the beginning of it.
Juno was a fun character, but she was really foul. I have loved plenty of kids like this in my ministry and still do. But in this film, she was almost a role model. Her bad decisions, her lack of tact, and her foul mouth were almost given a stamp of approval. I realize that this is a hard balance to find. I love kids like this. But it doesn’t mean that I want kids to grow up thinking that it is “okay” to grow up acting like that.
The film showed very little consequences of behavior. The film was fun and light, and I think those elements made the movie enjoyable. But the film didn’t seem to show any of the pain or consequences from the behaviors. Sure, Juno got pregnant. But it was treated like, “no big deal.”
Similar to the last two bullets, this film contained a lot of immitatable behavior. And being that this is currently the MOST popular rental of the year… wow!

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
I think that most kids shouldn’t see it. I might show my older teenagers this film when they are 16 or older (depending on their maturity) if we went to dinner and talked about the film afterwards. I would need to talk through the bullets highlighted above.

But there is no way I’d show this to junior higher or younger. Come on people– how fast do we want our kids to grow up? Yes, I’m a huge advocate of talking with our kids about real life. But we don’t need to shove it down their throats early. Let it come as it comes. And then be open for those conversations.

Thoughts?

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Beyonce’s “Hoochified” Fashion Line for Kids

Posted on: 05/9/08 2:42 PM | by Jonathan McKee

It’s Beyoncé… no, it’s a streetwalker… no, it’s… a four-year-old?!

Yes, Beyoncé is at it again. This time she’s not raising eyebrows with a low cut top or her “ghost thigh-master” dance move in her newest music video… this time it’s her clothing line for kids.

People are a little upset. And by “people” I don’t mean Falwell or Dobson. I mean the secular fashion world:

Beyoncé Knowles and her mother Tina launched the House of Deréon clothing line in 2004 and tagged it “where the sidewalk and catwalk meet”. The clothes they market display a mix of influences, from hip hop to the very stylish and feminine air of more traditional designer clothing. The brand was quickly expanded by Beyoncé’s younger sister Solange and by the singer’s fiancé / rumored husband, hip hop star and business mogul Jay-Z, who launched the junior line Deréon, aimed at teens and even young children. And it’s here that the controversy emerged, with a glossy magazine ad for the Deréon Girls Collection that led to a lot of raised eyebrows.

The ad depicts a series of young girls aged around 7 or 8 seemingly playing dress up, using what looks like their mother / older sister’s 5 inch high heels, wearing lipstick and posing in a slightly disturbing, overtly mature way. We could, of course, argue that the ads are simply about a bunch of trendy kids who can’t wait to wear mommy’s heavily embroidered sparkly outfits and have found the House of Deréon clothing line to be the answer to all their prayers. Mostly, however, these ads have been perceived as more than a little inappropriate, particularly the little girls’ attitudes and mature posing in front of the camera.

Blogs are popping up everywhere with nothing good to say about this little endeavor from the superstar.

“High heels, on a 4 year old?!”

“All I can say is like Hell!”

“Someone is going to buy this trash for their child, that is the saddest part.”

For years Beyoncé has got away with showing up at different Music Award shows flaunting “the twins” in a “J-Lo” dress and no one has made a fuss. But now she has messed with their kids. Has she pushed the envelope too far this time?

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Hip Hop, Where “Thug” Must Be on Your Resume

Posted on: 05/8/08 9:59 AM | by Jonathan McKee

“I’ve been shot seven times!”

“I did hard time!”

And these are… good things? Maybe not, but they always seem to capture the attention of today’s generation. Maybe that’s why recent Hip Hop star Akon lied about his background, adding a little bit more “thug” to his resume than was actually there.

Atlanta Journal – Constitution’s Cynthia Tucker shares an enlightening perspective about this thug culture:

You’ve heard of resume inflation? You’ve heard of people who lie about having Ph.D.s or Ivy League pedigrees in order to get ahead?

The world of thug culture has its own perverse equivalent, in which middle-class men with minor legal transgressions exaggerate their bad behavior, claiming to be hard-core degenerates to impress youngsters looking for outlaw role models. In this destructive environment, the more violent and predatory you are, the more heroic you seem.

That helps to explain why a metro Atlanta hip-hop star known as Akon wove a tall tale of malevolence and criminality, claiming to have spent three years in prison for running a “notorious car theft operation,” a story he’s been telling for years. In fact, he has apparently never served hard prison time. The Smoking Gun Web site recently exposed Akon as a thug wannabe, a “James Frey with … an American Music Award.”

American popular culture has always had a tendency to romanticize hoodlums, whether Al Capone, Bonnie and Clyde or Tony Soprano. But the hip-hop world’s celebration of savage violence, educational failure and misogyny has been one of the worst influences on American youth, especially black youth, in decades. If you want to ruin a nation, a society or an ethnic group, persuade its members that the highest form of achievement is committing crimes.

This is a huge mistake for Akon. To today’s generation, no insult could be worse than “phony.” Authenticity is huge today. Kids don’t care if you’re a thug or in rehab. Those things are fine… as long as you “keep it real.”

Hmmmmmm.

(Thanks to Youth Culture Window guru David for this article)

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Nickelodeon’s “Zoey” beats NBA Playoffs

Posted on: 05/7/08 9:03 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Ever wonder what tweens are watching?

The pregnant Jamie Lynn Spears’ show “Zoey 101” drew huge numbers last Friday night for its serier final, beating everything else on cable last week, including NBA playoff coverage.

Media Life Magazine reports:

“Zoey” drew an average 5.1 million total viewers for the hour-long finale last Friday, May 2, at 8 p.m. Another half-hour rerun that followed averaged 5.05 million, making them the two most-watched shows on cable last week, well ahead of NBA playoff coverage and the first new episode of “Hannah Montana” since Miley Cyrus’ controversial Vanity Fair pictures were released…

And if you think controversy doesn’t attract attention…

The finale was nowhere near the 7.3 million total viewers who watched “Zoey’s” third-season finale in January, shortly after the 16-year-old announced she was pregnant. The show has regularly finished No. 1 among tweens this season.

Hmmmmm.

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Barbie Too Slutty for Iran

Posted on: 04/30/08 8:47 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Wow… I don’t know if I totally disagree with this.

The Iranian vice president is speaking out against Barbie, computer games, and movies.

In this Times Online article it’s evident that Barbie and other western toys are not welcome:

Barbie dolls and other western toys will lead to “destructive and cultural consequences” for Iran, the country’s leading prosecutor wrote in a letter to the Iranian vice-president, published in the Mardom Salari newspaper. “The appearance of personalities such as Barbie, Batman, Spiderman and Harry Potter and … computer games and movies are all a danger ” A toy seller Masoumeh Rahimi adds that Barbie in particular is “foreign to Iran’s culture” , wanton, and ” more harmful than an American missile”.

Hmmmm. I’m not sure what he’s afraid of in Batman and Spiderman. Maybe those spandex suits are just too revealing. 🙂 But I think there’s a kernal of truth in this guy’s worries when you take a look at some of the toys and games our culture is pimping out to our kids. It would be hard for us to deny some of the “destructive and cultural consequences” we are seeing from the media.

But I think this guy is taking the extreme position. It’s all evil!

The other extreme is embraced by much of our culture. We should let our kids be free to choose what is right for them.

I have to admit… I don’t like either extreme. I guess that’s where good parenting is going to have to just kick in.

Thoughts?

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Seeing Much “More” of Miley

Posted on: 04/28/08 9:01 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Miley is regretting her decision big time.

Haven’t we all regretted decisions at one time or another? That’s why this is a great opportunity to discuss decision making with our kids. (Note: I’ve included discussion questions with a scripture passage below)

Here’s the skinny: Last week I was surprised by an email from a blog subscriber telling me that Miley had just taken some shots of herself in her underwear and one shot of herself pulling her shirt down exposing her green bra. I didn’t post anything because there was some debate as to whether it was truly Miley or not. No statement was issued.

Well… this morning a new set of photos have emerged… and it’s no secret. Associated Press spells it out:

Miley Cyrus is taking issue with a photo of herself that’s going around, and it’s not another amateur, truth-or-dare Internet snapshot — it’s the handiwork of Annie Leibovitz.

“I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be ‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed,” Cyrus said Sunday in a statement through her publicist. “I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about.”

The photos, appearing in the upcoming issue of Vanity Fair, were taken by Leibovitz, a renowned celebrity photographer whose edgy, silver-toned portraits have included subjects such as Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johansson and a naked, pregnant Demi Moore.

The picture doesn’t show any nudity, but it shows the shirtless Miley covering her front with a blanket and showing her bare back to the camera. Even though this picture isn’t pornographic, it disturbed Disney and Miley enough that they both issued statements. And most people agree that Miley had been duped so Vanity Fair can just sell magazines.

Obviously this makes me sad. Miley is one of the few superstars that I’ve felt pretty good about my kids watching and listening to. She seems to have a faith (I’ve blogged on that before), although I’ve never heard her talk too specifically about it (Remember people, just because she said “I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” at the recent awards, that doesn’t mean anything. Don’t ask me to list the people who have said those exact words receiving awards). But, as I’ve mentioned in a previous blog about Miley, her parents are once again proving to demonstrate questionable judgment.

THOUGHT FOR DISCUSSION WITH OUR KIDS:
So what can we as youth workers and parents do about this? I think that this issue like many issues is a jumpstarter to dialogues with our kids about decision making. I’d use this statement from Cyrus in the Associated Press article:

“I think it’s really artsy,” she told the magazine at the time. “It wasn’t in a skanky way. Annie took, like, a beautiful shot, and I thought that was really cool. That’s what she wanted me to do, and you can’t say no to Annie.”

CNN expands on this:

And you can’t say no to Annie. She’s so cute. She gets this puppy dog look and you’re like, ‘O.K.'”

then this…

“I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be ‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed,” Cyrus said Sunday in a statement through her publicist. “I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about.”

Then I’d ask our kids:

1. Why do you think Miley changed her mind after she saw the pictures?

2. Have you ever made a decision and regretted it later?

3. When we make decisions based on “what feels right at the moment,” are those decisions always right?

4. What guideline should we use for making decisions?

5. The world sometimes puts on a lot of pressure to do wrong. Miley said that it was hard to say no to Annie… with her puppy dog look she was very convincing. Is there someone it’s hard for you to say no to?

6. How can we equip ourselves to make good decisions even when “the pressure is on” to make bad ones?

What the Bible Says:
The world can be pretty convincing in their lies, so much so that their lies sound like the truth at the moment. The Bible talks about escaping this kind of thinking and letting Christ influence us instead of the world. Check it out:

“Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth. [15] Instead, we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.” (Ephes. 4:14-15, NLT)

7. According to the beginning of the verses, what will be no longer be like? What does that mean?

8. According to the end of the verse, what should we be like? How can we do that?

9. What is one way that you could try to be more like Christ this week?

INSERT from 12/2/08: Miley now comments about “not regretting” the pictures in this article

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David’s Grand Theft Auto 4 Article

Posted on: 04/26/08 10:29 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Wow… you guys are going to find this week’s Youth Culture Window article (the weekly article featured in the magnifying glass on the front page of our web site ) fascinating. The very controversial Grand Theft Auto 4 video game has successfully resisted arrest and will be released worldwide this Tuesday, April 29th.

Youth Culture Window author David R. Smith writes:

“Remember kids – it’s only illegal if you get caught!”

You can thank the Grand Theft Auto 4 website for that little piece of advice to our children. And this Tuesday, April 29th, when this new game is released worldwide, kids will be able to vicariously drive drunk, get lap dances, and maliciously attack unsuspecting crowds with various weapons. GTA4 definitely earns its “M for Mature” rating.

David goes on…

Players who want to extract all the “entertainment” from the game will run across plenty of shady characters and can witness and participate in execution-style murders, torture, high speed car chases, shootouts with cops, and strip clubs offering everything from drinks to pole dancing. GTA4 encompasses all the lawlessness that 150 of the world’s best video game programmers could jam into one title.

A very informative article. Wow.

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Dear God

Posted on: 04/23/08 4:07 PM | by Jonathan McKee

I’m always intrigued by people’s conceptions of God. I have found that their expressions of these perceptions don’t necessarily reflect what someone truly believes, more what is convenient or easier to swallow. But they do give us a glimpse into their attitudes and feelings about God.

I guess that’s why this Dear God web site didn’t surprise me.

The Times Online describes the site as “new and achingly cool” allowing you to “petition the deity of your choosing with worries and requests and to read other people’s. Replies not guaranteed.” The site allows people to “share their inner-most hopes and fears with their version of God.”

How P.C.

Clicking there, you’ll find the prayers divided by topic. I was directed to a whole section full of prayers expressing doubt, even anger. Many of these reveal a porthole into the world of people that aren’t that excited about God. Take this email from Benjamin in Sydney Australia for example:

Dear GOD!Do you really expect me not to have sex with my girlfriend? Do you really expect me to not love my father for his sexual orientation? Do you real expect me not to have fun, not to drink and not to eat meat? Do you really expect me to surrender my whole life for you? Seriously god, you are not the center of the universe. Please stop taking over peoples lives. YOUR CREATED THEM – YOU DO NOT OWN THEM!!! Benjamin, Sydney/Australia

Hmmmmmmmm.

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MTV’s Real World… Not So Real

Posted on: 04/22/08 2:12 PM | by Jonathan McKee

I love this article. FInally verbalizing what I’ve thought for years now (wondering why kids even watch this show).

The article questions why MTV even renewed its “once hit show” The Real World for its 21st season. Unlike the author of the article, I was never a fan of the show. But I think he nailed it when he said this:

Those of us who watched the show in its early years — before reality television fueled all of television, popular culture and the media — recall a series that cast people with actual lives… Now, the cast members apparently have nothing to do besides be on “The Real World” — at least, until they can permanently wallow in the MTV cesspool via its “Real World/Road Rules Challenge” shows. They sit around the house except when they leave to party or go to their producer-arranged group job, and thus have plenty of time to drink, scream at each other and make out.

That pretty much wraps it up!

(Thanks to Todd for the article)

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Wii Stripping Game

Posted on: 04/18/08 6:55 PM | by Jonathan McKee

In one of our recent podcast’s I talked about the new video game Wii Fit. We jested… “What’s next?”

I guess we should have kept our mouths shut!

ABC News tells us that Wii is working on a home stripping game. Yeah, that’s right. Check it out:

Peekaboo, a company that specializes in temporary at-home stripper polls, including one endorsed by Carmen Electra, announced this week that it’s developing a strip aerobics game for the Wii.

“Peekaboo is pleased to confirm that it is in talks to develop a game for the Nintendo Wii that meets mainstream demand for the fun and fitness benefits of pole dancing,” the company said in an e-mailed statement. “Peekaboo and its partners are focused on using Wii-friendly hardware to make aerobic pole dancing instantly accessible just as ‘Guitar Hero’ did for rock’n’roll.”

I can see people’s video game collection now. “Hmmmm. Let’s see. What do you want to play? Mario? Sonic? Zelda? …Pole Dancing?”

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