Archive for the ‘Culture’ Category
April 30th, 2012 | 
Author: Kids continue to find ways to get a buzz.
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Posted in Popcorn won’t be the only thing that’s hot in theaters this summer! This year’s lineup will be as scorching as the mid-year weather. Hollywood is promising superheroes galore, villains bent on destroying humanity, and some super cool animated flicks. Oh yeah…and (more) vampires.
So what kind of content can we expect from these films? Good fun entertainment, or needless negative imitatable behaviors? Is it possible that this year’s pendulum is swinging a little more toward good fun entertainment? (Pinch me. I want to make sure I’m not dreaming.)
An Epic Summer on the Silver Screen
We’re all pretty excited about several of this year’s films over here at www.TheSource4YM.com and www.TheSource4Parents.com. For starters, audiences are gonna see their first Avengers movie (starring the entire action team from Marvel). If you’re like us, you’ve probably already enjoyed the Marvel films laying the groundwork for Avengers, films like the Ironman films, Captain America, and Thor. Audiences are also gonna be treated to the conclusion of the Batman trilogy this summer, helmed by filmmaker Christopher Nolan. And there are several really cool animation films for kids, including Brave, Madagascar 3, and Ice Age 4. Perhaps there’s a little something for everyone this summer, and this year’s lineup seems far freer of the filth that usually encroaches upon summer movie lists…case in point, several from last year.
In the following 2-part article – an annual offering provided by The Source – we’ll help you wade through the summer films that will be big with teens and families. For each film highlighted below, we’ll include a short description of the plot and cast, a link to the official trailer(s), and the movie’s rating (if currently available), in the order of their release date. In some cases, we’ll even chime in with our two cents on the kind of content you can expect.
Since May is gonna be big, real big, let’s start there.
May 4 – The Avengers (PG-13)
Marvel threw down the gauntlet for summer, 2012, with the official trailer for The Avengers. I expect this movie to be HUGE for several reasons. First…well, it’s first! Marvel has a history of jumping out of the gate early each year, and 2012 is no exception. But second, this movie features ALL of Marvel’s most-beloved superheroes – Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Nick Fury – and a few lesser known ones as well – like Black Widow and Hawkeye – crammed into one movie. Third, it’s tempting Earth’s movie-goers with the most compelling reason to watch: the possible destruction of our planet at the hands of other-worldly super villains.
The story promises to offer lots of action, great special effects, and maybe even a few lessons about how heroes deal with pride and work together as a team.
If the previous Marvel films are any indicator of the content of this film, parents don’t have much to worry about. Films like Captain America provide all the ingredients that today’s hero films should include. We need more films like this. So enjoy the fact that kids are already planning on flocking to the theaters to see this one. Say “Yes!” if they ask you to see it. Better yet, accompany them and enjoy it with them!
May 11 – Dark Shadows (Currently Unrated)
I gotta be honest, I almost left this one off the list. But it’s hard to kick Johnny Depp to the curb just because a movie is based on a gothic (and somewhat cheesy) TV series from the 1960s. Plus, the role of Barnabas Collins, the vampire the movie centers on, was one of Depp’s favorite childhood personalities.
Bottom line: it never hurts to have a multimillion dollar actor excited about the role he’s playing.
The movie’s official trailer gives a pretty good idea of what the film is about. Barnabas Collins (Depp) was an 18th Century business man who was cursed and transformed into a vampire by an evil – and very sexy – witch (played by Eva Green) who then buried him alive for two centuries. When Collins’ tomb is re-opened in 1972, a decade known for its “anything goes” mindset, he sets out to rebuild his home, family, and business…while the witch continues to haunt him.
This one won’t be for everybody, but it will definitely lure those who are fans of vampire stories, and those who are fans of anything Johnny Depp and Tim Burton collaborate on (like Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Alice in Wonderland). The preview alone reveals that the film will be probably be a little racy—probably a good vampire film for the young ones to skip.
But this won’t be vampires’ last blockbuster this summer….
May 18 – Battleship (Currently Unrated)
According to this action film, “the battle for Earth begins at sea.”
The story opens with Navy Lt. Alex Hopper (played by Taylor Kitsch of Friday Night Lights fame) trying to win the hand of Samantha (Brooklyn Decker) from her hard-nosed father, Admiral Shane (played by the manly Liam Neeson). Hopper’s problems only worsen when some sort of alien super power invades the Pacific Ocean…with the potential to destroy all of Earth.
The official trailer not only shows off the stellar cast, which includes FBI agent Raikes (played by none other than singer Rhianna), but also the state-of-the-art special effects that will draw in lots of action junkies. Because of the cast, this movie has sex appeal, and because of the unknown bad guys, it also has intrigue. Those two ingredients could combine for an explosive weekend at the box office. Hopefully it will prove better than Kitsch’s recent box office flop, John Carter. (Wow… Disney spent $250 million and only made a little over $60 million. Whooops! Well… they can afford it.)
May 25 – Men in Black 3 (Currently Unrated)
Fear not! Even though the last installment in this franchise was released way back in 2002, Earth has evidently remained under the watchful protection of those well-dressed alien hunters known as the Men in Black. And that’s a good thing, because in MIB3, the worst plot against Earth is already underway.
Between this official trailer and this other official trailer, it’s easy to see that MIB3 is going to stick with the same action/comedy/sci-fi mash up that made its first two films a success. Expect lots of crazy weapons, lots of really weird aliens, some unapologetic slapstick, and of course, the inevitable relationship complications of Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones).
Umm, make that TWO Agent K’s.
Yep. Evidently, time travel is also a tool at the disposal of the Men in Black, and Agent J must venture back to 1969 in order to find Young Agent K (played by Josh Brolin) who has somehow found himself at the center of Earth’s greatest threat.
Between the combination of Smith and Brolin – not to mention Jones, as well – and the general interest that accompanies a long-awaited sequel, expect this one to abduct young viewers on opening weekend. Will the film be clean? I guess that really depends what you call clean. Compared to last year’s summer garbage, yes. But the previous MIB films definitely included a little typical PG-13 eye-candy and racy humor. You’ll want to be sure and exercise discernment with this one.
June 1 – Snow White and the Huntsmen (Currently Unrated)
If you guessed this was a re-work of the original fairy tale animated by Disney, you’re right.
But no artist conception is needed to “draw up” a more alluring cast filled with living sex symbols. The movie’s website reveals that Snow White will be played by Kristen Stewart (of Twilight fame), The Huntsman will be played by the hunky Chris Hemsworth (from Thor), and the evil Queen Ravenna will be played by Charlize Theron (from Hancock…and Prometheus, also releasing later this summer).
The second version of the movie’s official trailer shows the well-known story of a powerful and vain queen who seeks to destroy a perceived threat which takes the form of a beautiful maiden. Needing the bleeding heart from Snow White’s chest, the evil queen sends the Huntsman on a grim task into the dreaded Dark Forest.
Some of this movie’s scenes make the CGI appear to be on par with Avatar. Couple that with a cast that’s accustomed to drawing out crowds in the “fantasy” genre, and I’d say this movie will definitely appeal to young viewers, especially girls. As for how appropriate the film will be? That still remains a mystery.
June 15 – Rock of Ages (Currently Unrated)
No, this movie has nothing to do with the hymn of the same name, but it will definitely have spiritual overtones. In fact, the best way to describe this movie, based on the official trailer, is Hairspray-plus-The Blues Brothers-versus-Footloose.
Set in Hollywood in 1987, Rock of Ages tells the story of a small town girl named Sherrie (played by Julianne Hough from Footloose and Burlesque) and a city boy named Drew (played by Diego Boneta from Mean Girls 2), who meet on the Sunset Strip in pursuit of their dream of showbiz dominance. Adding to the cast of up-and-comers already mentioned is a slate of tried-and-true stars like Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, and yes, you’re gonna read this correctly, Tom Cruise.
We’ll say this about the movie. It’s got an epic soundtrack…but, as children of the 80s, we are both a bit biased. Just some of the music that’s featured in the film includes Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Foreigner, Journey, Poison, Joan Jett, and Twisted Sister. This movie will probably make the summer lineup of many “children of the 80’s” (i.e. parents) because of this draw.
Will the film be appropriate for teenagers? I think one glimpse of the trailer (linked above) will answer that question for you.
June 22 – Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Currently Unrated)
I (David) readily admit to being a history nerd. And nowhere – in any book that I’ve ever read about President Lincoln – did I hear about his midnight battles against the undead.
Am I just reading the wrong books?
Tim Burton hopes so. The director behind the vampire flick Dark Shadows (highlighted above) is also producing this other movie about vampires. The shorter version of the official trailer sets the stage for the wild idea, but this slightly longer one tells the story of the Vampire War Lincoln fought BEFORE the Civil War he’s famous for (actually) winning.
This isn’t exactly an all-star cast, but it will be led by Benjamin Walker (playing Lincoln) and Dominic Cooper (who played Howard Stark in Captain America). However, because the undead has captured the attention of our nation – to the point that some universities are now offering actual college credit for zombie classes – this will probably draw in a sizeable crowd.
Intermission
This is a great place to take a break. At this point, we’ve covered just over half of this summer’s biggest films. In our next article, we not only highlight the remaining blockbusters of 2012, but we’ll also provide some helpful resources to help guide you, your family, and your youth ministry through movie choices this summer.
Stay tuned!
Brought to you by The Source for Youth Ministry
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For years, parents and teachers have wondered if texting was negatively affecting teenagers’ grammar. According to several recent studies, that particular worry might be the least of their concerns.
It’s teens’ driving habits, sleep patterns, and relationships that are being affected by texting.
Texting Trumps Talking
As if it didn’t already dominate teenagers’ preferred mode of communication, texting has continued to rise in popularity during the last couple of years. The Pew Internet and American Life Project’s study entitled Teens, Smartphones & Texting recently reported that teens are communicating with their thumbs more than ever. In fact…
- 63% of all teens say they exchange text messages every day with people in their lives
- the median number of texts sent on a typical day by teens (ages 12-17) rose from 50 in 2009 to 60 in 2011
Nielsen, in one of their most recent mobile media reports (free registration required), revealed that teenagers 13-17 years old now average 3417 texts per month. This number is a 6% increase from 2009, but a slight decrease from 2010 when it had peeked at 3729 texts per month. (Why the slight decrease in texting in 2011? Our personal opinion is that more kids are using their Facebook and other social networking mobile apps to communicate, necessitating less need for texting. After all, 40% of teenagers now have smartphones, and in June of 2011, mobile app browsing actually surpassed traditional “at home” web browsing. Basically, teenagers don’t need to text as much now that they have access to their mobile Facebook app.)
Either way, be it texting or Facebook messaging, teenagers are doing a whole lot of thumb work to communicate with each other. And that brings up an interesting point: more use of the thumbs means less use of the lips. The Pew study quoted earlier shows that the number of teenagers who actually use their phones to “talk” continues to drop; in 2011, only 26% of teens said they “talk daily” with friends on their cell phones, compared to 38% of teens in 2009.
This is an interesting phenomenon that I touched on in my (Jonathan) recent book, Connect. Many young people are having a growingly difficult time talking “face to face.” If you hang out with teenagers often, you’ve probably witnessed two of them sitting 10 feet from each other…texting each other! At first we saw this trend because texting was novel, but now many young people are showing trends of preferring typing to talking. What started out as something fun and unique might just be becoming a communication crutch.
With that increase in texting, and the decrease in talking, it makes one wonder why we still call them mobile phones….
Tormenting Texts
Regardless, too many of those millions of texts sent on a daily basis qualify as “digital abuse.” According to an extensive study about that issue by MTV and The Associated Press, there isn’t much about teens’ texting habits that will make you LOL. For instance…
- 76% of 14-24 year olds say that digital abuse is a serious problem for people their age
- 56% (more than half!) say they’ve experienced abuse through social and digital media, which is up from 50% in their 2009 survey
- the most frequent forms of digital abuse include people writing things online that aren’t true (26%), people writing things online that are mean (24%), and someone forwarding an IM or message that was intended to stay private (20%)
- the frequency of digital abuse seems to increase with age; 59% of young adults have experienced it at least once, compared to 51% of teens
- likewise, sending a “sext” is far more prevalent among young adults (19%) than teens (7%)
Fortunately, there was some encouraging news from this report, as well. 56% of today’s young people claimed they would intervene if they saw someone “being mean online,” compared to just 47% in 2009. Also, there was a 19-point drop in sending “sexts” to online friends. Moreover, there was a 5-point increase in the number of young people who took the time to consider whether or not the information they posted online could come back to hurt them.
Mismanaged Messaging
But the problems associated with teen texting seem to overshadow any good news, and those problems affect several different areas of teens’ lives. For instance, a new study about teen driving behaviors conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has found that the use of electronic devices is the leading cause of “distracted driving” among teens.
Wanna guess which electronic device is at the top of the list?
Yep, cell phones. Talking and texting on mobile devices were the most common behaviors that distracted young drivers, with teenage girls being twice as likely as boys to be distracted.
But that’s the “conscious” area of life that’s being affected; there might be a negative effect on teens’ sub-consciousness, as well. According to reports by the National Sleep Foundation, an organization that studies sleep habits and makes recommendations for healthy amounts of shut eye, teenagers may not be getting enough sleep…and texting may be the reason why.
In their surveys, they found that 56% of Gen Z (ages 13-18) and 42% of Gen Y (ages 19-29) report sending, reading, or receiving text messages every night – or almost every night – in the hour just before bed. (This particular hour is a “wind down” time for the brain that’s believed to be very important for allowing humans to get adequate rest.) Further, cell phones sometimes interrupt sleep once it started. Roughly 9% of Gen Z’ers said that they were awakened after they went to bed every night – or almost every night – by a phone call, text message, or email. So did 20% of Gen Y!
And with teens’ ever-growing infatuation with smartphones, these numbers are likely to increase unless something changes.
So, what can be done, if anything?
Avoiding a Thumb War
When it comes to texting, we want to help our teenagers use their mobile phones – and their thumbs – in healthy ways. But if we’re not careful, our attempts may lead to an unintended round of Thumb War. So here are a few strategies that will help you help your texting teens.
- Teach your teenagers proper stewardship of their cell phones. The last time I checked, owning a cell phone was a privilege, not a promise. If young people can’t be trusted to use them responsibly, they shouldn’t have them. But we can do a lot to ensure that they do use them appropriately. For instance, parents can teach/model responsible use of cell phones on the home front, and youth leaders can reinforce those lessons in spiritual settings. Teens know they have to be responsible when they use the family car, why not their cell phones, too? But chances are they won’t unless we teach them how to manage themselves and their devices.
- Monitor their use of cell phones. Some parents have internet-filtering software installed on the family computer and/or laptops, but in the Parenting Workshops we lead (both David and Jonathan offer workshops), we’ve discovered that very few parents monitor their kids’ cell phones. I’m not sure why; these days, many cell phones have the exact same access to the web and digital media as computers do. Thus, parents need to monitor those devices, as well. Kids might not be happy about us reading their texts and monitoring their Facebook posts. But be up front about this and tell your teenagers in advance that you plan to do this. Parents don’t need to “sneak around” or “spy.” And we shouldn’t over-react when we find something we don’t like. Doing so will only destroy the trust we’re trying to build and maintain. So, while it’s important that we do this, it’s also important that we do this correctly.
- Declare phone-free zones. This is like a “no fly zone” for iPhones. You’ll need to decide what works for your teenager and family, but a good place to start is during meals, throughout homework sessions (unless specifically needed for a project), and in the bedroom after a certain time. Yeah, I can hear it now. “But Mom, it’s only 9PM.” We don’t need to let trivial text messages interrupt truly important moments. Talk about what these zones should be, come to some sort of mutual agreement, and then stick to it. Oh, and this means parents, too. No email replies to the boss during dessert!
- Encourage teens to react to misuse quickly and responsibly. With very few exceptions, most teens will undoubtedly witness digital abuse and media harassment in some form. Between Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, text messages, IMs, and emails, teenagers will see and hear hateful, course, racist, hurtful, and vulgar communication from time to time. Be proactive in helping your teenagers deal with this issue. If they know what to do and how to do it before it happens, the chances of them taking appropriate action increases. Don’t wait until your teenager has turned a blind eye to someone else’s pain because they didn’t know the importance of helping or how to help. Establish a game plan as soon as possible.
Yes, there is a lot of misuse of technology in general, and texting in particular, by teens. But fortunately, there is also a lot that we can do to help them change their practices. So, let’s do everything we can to help teens tackle their texting troubles.
Brought to you by The Source for Youth Ministry
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