Arrangement would allow stores to identify movie content ‘more effectively’ for customers

A CBA industry task force, in cooperation with the Dove Foundation, has developed a new ratings system for Christian DVD products and films to help evangelical retailers better serve their customers with knowledgeable information about product content.

The aim is to ensure that “Christian consumers understand the type of content they are purchasing, particularly if titles contain portrayals not usually expected in Christian media,” CBA officials said. Films such as The Passion of The Christ and To Save a Life are projects that have content objectionable to some, but have redeeming evangelistic messages, CBA said.

The ratings extend the Dove Foundation’s “Family Approved” seal of approval to include “Faith Friendly” and “Faith Based” classifications. They also “seek to specify age-appropriateness and potentially offensive content involving language, drugs and substance abuse, violence or sexuality—but always within a Christian context,” CBA officials said.

Dove Foundation founder and CEO Dick Rolfe said the film industry’s Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) ratings do not always classify films in ways that align with traditional moral and family values. Mild curse words or depictions of sexuality and violence might be more accepted in MPAA ratings, but they must be clearly identified in filmed content designed for broadly diverse Christian audiences, he added.

Rolfe cited as an example, Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story—a Sony Pictures Home Entertainment DVD based on the neurosurgeon’s Zondervan autobiography—which was lauded for its Christian themes. But the inclusion of a curse word meant the film could not receive the Dove “Family Approved” seal, so it was not rated by the organization.

The new ratings help communicate to consumers that a particular film or DVD may be very strong in spiritual themes and issues, but may have content issues objectionable to some Christians, CBA said.

Though many Christian retailers do not carry products that have even slight potential to offend customers, family-entertainment DVDs are a strong growth category for stores. “No one wants to be surprised with unexpected language or uncomfortable situations depicted on the screen when the family settles down to view entertainment,” said Ron Forster, owner of The Open Door in Terre Haute, Ind., and a member of the task force.

He added that the ratings will help give consumers information they need to confirm a purchasing decision and protect retailers by providing definitive information about the content.

“Films and DVDs can be very powerful in reaching the lost, and they can be very effective for various ministry outreach programs and helping the general culture understand what Jesus Christ is all about,” Forster said. “But people need to know what they are getting when they buy a DVD or a movie ticket.”

Some film and DVD producers agree that there’s a need to better inform Christian shoppers and retailers to the content of videos.

“As a film producer, I’m excited about the new ratings system that will help customers quickly identify inspirational and family-friendly films, including those that portray real life in an honest and unvarnished way,” said Bobby Downes, producer of the new FoxFaith movie, Like Dandelion Dust, based on the best-selling novel by Karen Kingsbury released in 2006 by Center Street. “These new ratings ... allow Christian retailers to identify movie content more effectively for their customers and to avoid any unnecessary surprises.”

Rolfe said the Dove Foundation will create two new Dove Seals to identify the “Faith Friendly” and “Faith Based” content, which will be different from the foundation’s Family Friendly, general-audience designation.

Retailers, media producers and distributors have until June 15 to comment on the system—detailed at the CBA Web site—before the ratings are finalized.