Facing the Giants

Encryptus · #18 05-24-2008, 11:05 AM

A couple of the posts concerned the movie's rating.

Thought the following was interesting information.

Rating controversy

In May of 2006, the producers of Facing the Giants received notice from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) that the film would be receiving a "Parental Guidance Suggested" rating, or "PG" rating. One of the film's consultants, Mark Joseph, who had also conducted media strategy for films such as The Chronicles of Narnia and The Passion of The Christ and had unsuccessfully lobbied Walden Media to release Giants, alerted The Drudge Report which picked up the story on June 8, 2006. Within hours the story was a hot topic in religious and conservative media, outraging many who believed the MPAA was entering uncharted territory by allowing the religious content of a film to influence ratings decisions. In the ensuing days the story garnered media attention in countless media outlets like the New York Times, Good Morning America, Fox News and countless talk radio programs.

According to the film's producers, they were originally told the motion picture received a "PG" rating because of its strong religious themes and because it elevated one religion over another. The MPAA later countered that Facing the Giants contains football violence and also deals with the mature topics of infertility and depression, thus warranting the higher rating and initially denied that religious themes were an issue. The Kendrick brothers expected the "PG" rating because of the movie's mature themes and did not appeal the board's rating. The producers claim the MPAA changed their story after the controversy began.

The MPAA, which oversees the rating board, received more than 15,000 email messages within a week because of their decision and the media attention it drew, ten times more than they had ever received for any previous film.

Conversely, some Christian groups thought a "PG" rating might sway more teenagers into seeing Facing the Giants. "I think that a 'G' for a lot of teenagers is the kiss of death," Focus on the Family media specialist Bob Waliszewski told the Los Angeles Times. "(The PG rating is) a case where unfairness will probably be a blessing in disguise." One report claimed the publicity garnered from the controversy was worth "about $8 million"