{"id":1578,"date":"2007-05-10T11:03:00","date_gmt":"2007-05-10T11:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/05\/christian-film-critics-and-conflicts-of-interest\/"},"modified":"2007-05-10T11:03:00","modified_gmt":"2007-05-10T11:03:00","slug":"christian-film-critics-and-conflicts-of-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/05\/christian-film-critics-and-conflicts-of-interest.html","title":{"rendered":"Christian film critics and conflicts of interest"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><a href=\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_MwnH1kpbPRM\/RkLZGXkO0MI\/AAAAAAAAASs\/VMAjbUhd96I\/s1600-h\/thisfilmisnotyetrated-wall.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"cursor:pointer;cursor:hand\" src=\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_MwnH1kpbPRM\/RkLZGXkO0MI\/AAAAAAAAASs\/VMAjbUhd96I\/s400\/thisfilmisnotyetrated-wall.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\"><\/a><br><span style=\"font-family: georgia\">A few years ago, there was a kerfuffle in Christian movie-critic circles over the revelation that <a href=\"http:\/\/filmchatblog.blogspot.com\/2004\/04\/variety-gets-religion-baehr-disses.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u201cDr.\u201d Ted Baehr<\/a> is sometimes <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ctlibrary.com\/ct\/2004\/march\/30.66.html\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">paid to promote<\/a> films that he reviews for his magazine, <i>Movieguide<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I was reminded of that yesterday while watching the documentary <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B000JGWD64\/petertchatta\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">This Film Is Not Yet Rated<\/a><\/i>, which notes that the MPAA\u2019s ratings appeal board includes two religious representatives, one Protestant and one Catholic.  And while the film doesn\u2019t mention it, both of these church representatives write film reviews, too.<\/p>\n<p>The Protestant rep since 1968 has been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.christiancentury.org\/article.lasso?id=2479\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">James Wall<\/a>, a Methodist minister (incorrectly identified in the film\u2019s \u201cdialogue\u201d as an Episcopalian priest, but correctly identified in a titles sequence later on) who reviews films for <i>The Christian Century<\/i>, a magazine that he edited from 1972 to 1999; and the current Catholic rep is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnews.com\/forbes\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Harry Forbes<\/a>, a layman (incorrectly identified in the \u201cdialogue\u201d as a clergyman) who reviews films for the Catholic News Service.<\/p>\n<p>Wall and Forbes are obviously not being paid to <i>promote<\/i> films, so their situation is different from that of Baehr; and for all I know they might not receive <i>any<\/i> payment for their work with the MPAA.  But still, I cannot help but wonder:  Is it possible for film critics to be so cozy with the industry \u2014 to the point where they have a say in determining what a film is rated, and thus an indirect say in how films might be re-edited before they are shown to the public \u2014 without being in <i>some<\/i> sort of conflict of interest?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few years ago, there was a kerfuffle in Christian movie-critic circles over the revelation that \u201cDr.\u201d Ted Baehr is sometimes paid to promote films that he reviews for his magazine, Movieguide. I was reminded of that yesterday while watching the documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated, which notes that the MPAA\u2019s ratings appeal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Christian film critics and conflicts of interest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A few years ago, there was a kerfuffle in Christian movie-critic circles over the revelation that &quot;Dr.&quot; Ted Baehr is sometimes paid to promote films that\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/05\/christian-film-critics-and-conflicts-of-interest.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christian film critics and conflicts of interest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A few years ago, there was a kerfuffle in Christian movie-critic circles over the revelation that &quot;Dr.&quot; Ted Baehr is sometimes paid to promote films that\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/05\/christian-film-critics-and-conflicts-of-interest.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-05-10T11:03:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_MwnH1kpbPRM\/RkLZGXkO0MI\/AAAAAAAAASs\/VMAjbUhd96I\/s400\/thisfilmisnotyetrated-wall.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. Chattaway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peter T. Chattaway\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/05\/christian-film-critics-and-conflicts-of-interest.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/05\/christian-film-critics-and-conflicts-of-interest.html\",\"name\":\"Christian film critics and conflicts of interest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-05-10T11:03:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2007-05-10T11:03:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde\"},\"description\":\"A few years ago, there was a kerfuffle in Christian movie-critic circles over the revelation that \\\"Dr.\\\" Ted Baehr is sometimes paid to promote films that\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/05\/christian-film-critics-and-conflicts-of-interest.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/05\/christian-film-critics-and-conflicts-of-interest.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/05\/christian-film-critics-and-conflicts-of-interest.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Christian film critics and conflicts of interest\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/\",\"name\":\"FilmChat\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde\",\"name\":\"Peter T. Chattaway\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Peter T. Chattaway\"},\"description\":\"Peter T. Chattaway was the regular film critic for BC Christian News from 1992 to 2011. In addition to his award-winning film column for that paper, his news and opinion pieces have appeared in such publications as Books &amp; Culture, Christianity Today, Bible Review and the Vancouver Sun. He has also contributed essays to the books Re-Viewing The Passion: Mel Gibson\u2019s Film and Its Critics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), Scandalizing Jesus?: Kazantzakis\u2019s The Last Temptation of Christ Fifty Years on (Continuum, 2005) and The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film (De Gruyter, 2016).\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/author\/peterchattaway\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Christian film critics and conflicts of interest","description":"A few years ago, there was a kerfuffle in Christian movie-critic circles over the revelation that \"Dr.\" Ted Baehr is sometimes paid to promote films that","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/05\/christian-film-critics-and-conflicts-of-interest.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Christian film critics and conflicts of interest","og_description":"A few years ago, there was a kerfuffle in Christian movie-critic circles over the revelation that \"Dr.\" Ted Baehr is sometimes paid to promote films that","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/05\/christian-film-critics-and-conflicts-of-interest.html","og_site_name":"FilmChat","article_published_time":"2007-05-10T11:03:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_MwnH1kpbPRM\/RkLZGXkO0MI\/AAAAAAAAASs\/VMAjbUhd96I\/s400\/thisfilmisnotyetrated-wall.jpg"}],"author":"Peter T. Chattaway","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Peter T. Chattaway","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/05\/christian-film-critics-and-conflicts-of-interest.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/05\/christian-film-critics-and-conflicts-of-interest.html","name":"Christian film critics and conflicts of interest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website"},"datePublished":"2007-05-10T11:03:00+00:00","dateModified":"2007-05-10T11:03:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde"},"description":"A few years ago, there was a kerfuffle in Christian movie-critic circles over the revelation that \"Dr.\" Ted Baehr is sometimes paid to promote films that","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/05\/christian-film-critics-and-conflicts-of-interest.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/05\/christian-film-critics-and-conflicts-of-interest.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/05\/christian-film-critics-and-conflicts-of-interest.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Christian film critics and conflicts of interest"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/","name":"FilmChat","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde","name":"Peter T. Chattaway","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Peter T. Chattaway"},"description":"Peter T. Chattaway was the regular film critic for BC Christian News from 1992 to 2011. In addition to his award-winning film column for that paper, his news and opinion pieces have appeared in such publications as Books &amp; Culture, Christianity Today, Bible Review and the Vancouver Sun. He has also contributed essays to the books Re-Viewing The Passion: Mel Gibson\u2019s Film and Its Critics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), Scandalizing Jesus?: Kazantzakis\u2019s The Last Temptation of Christ Fifty Years on (Continuum, 2005) and The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film (De Gruyter, 2016).","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/author\/peterchattaway"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1578\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}