Media today is full of more negative and controversial themes than ever before. Parents are finding it increasingly difficult to discern what they should allow their children to consume. Christian parents in particular often struggle to decide if a certain medium is appropriate for their home environment. Enter “Plugged In.”
“Plugged In” is a website where Christian – geared reviews are posted. The site, run by Focus on the Family, was originally made for movie reviews. Now, they use their original review format to review games, books, TV shows, and even music. The aim of this platform is to provide reviews that are definitely geared at a certain audience. Let’s take a look at two examples of their reviews.
Plugged In starts off with a somewhat traditional TV show summary. The reviewer acknowledges the fact that the series is based on the beloved Archie comics and uses enticing, fun language to encourage the reader onward. Once you finish reading the summary, you can select a certain episode and see the different themes present. For example, the review for the pilot episode summarizes the sexual themes, profanity, violence, and uplifting themes in the episode.
The review does not seem to tell the reader if they should or should not watch the show. Most reviews are aimed at telling a person whether they should watch the show or not. This one, however, seems to be informing the reader so they can draw their own conclusion about watching the show. This fits the purpose of the website, but may not meet the expectations of more general audiences.
The review for this movie begins with a much more detailed summary than the one for Riverdale. This summary is exciting without getting too long or giving away too many details. The summary definitely does not seem to be trying to make the movie look bad in any way. Then, there are a series of headers with information on different themes. These are: “Positive elements”, “spiritual content”, “sexual content”, “crude or profane language”, “drug and alcohol content”, and “other negative elements”. These are fairly self-explanatory, but to sum it up, these categories list anything that might reasonably fit into them. The “sexual content” section mentions that there is a distinct lack of sexual content in this movie, but points out a sexist remark towards Captain Marvel and a naked mannequin torso. The review ends with a “Conclusion” section, which is closer to a traditional movie review. Here, the reviewer talks about the movie’s shortcomings, saying the movie could have revealed more about Captain Marvel and that the story seems incomplete.
This movie review, unlike the review for Riverdale, offers a more traditional review. This one not only informs the reader of certain themes, but also tells the reader if the movie is any good from an entertainment standpoint. This review seems to be about protecting families, but also preventing them from seeing boring or sub-par movies. This is a website I can see myself using when I have a family some day.
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