When I was a youth pastor this question often came up. They were hoping that I would give them ammunition against their parents in this debate. I would tell them that I don't use the ratings to choose a movie. Why let a non-Christian tell me what is or is not appropriate for me or my children to see. I have found some great alternatives, Focus on the Family is often fairly good, and so is MovieGuide magazine. However you still need to make some of your own decisions as well. One of the reviews I read about one movie claimed partial nudity, I asked around and no one who saw the movie knew what I was talking about, so I decided to watch it. The "partial nudity" was there, kind of, there was a shot of someone pulling up her jeans and you caught a glimpse of underwear. If I had not of read the review, I probably would not have noticed.
When it comes to movies it is hard to "set standards" for everyone. It is a matter of personal preference. The Cars movie did not offend me at all, because Lightening McQueen was not trying to be profane, but was trying to describe that he felt like that is where he was. I personally don't like to describe myself as being there, because I never want to go I'm not trying to argue, I know that this really offended some of you, and I don't want to say you are wrong, I just want to point out that there are some different standards that we have that are acceptable. I don't watch anything that is overtly against the principles set by God, and I enjoy movies mentioned here like "Passion" and "Matthew".
I just thought of one other point. I remember a while back I watched a movie about the life of David, and was really enjoying it, when the scene with Bathsheba came up...let's just say they showed what David saw. I was shocked, and have chosen not to watch that movie again, I even made a point of removing it from the church Library. But it made me realize that it is true that just about everything that offends us in movies today is found in the Bible. I don't think it should be viewed as entertainment, but it is there.
