Ted Baehr
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Ted Baehr (born 1946) is an American media critic and chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission. He publishes Movieguide, a biweekly journal that evaluates motion pictures and other entertainment products for suitability for Christian consumption.
Baehr is the son of Theodore Baehr (a film and stage star who is best known as B-movie cowboy Robert (Tex) Allen) and Evelyn Peirce, both actors. He was raised in New York City, gaining experience acting in commercials, motion pictures, television and on stage.
He studied at several universities in Europe before graduating with a degree in comparative literature from Dartmouth College. He then received a Juris Doctor degree from the New York University School of Law.
In 1975, at the encouragement of a friend, Baehr read the Bible, which changed the direction of his life and career. He applied to the Institute of Theology at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine and became the director of the television center at the City University of New York. While there researching the impact of media in education, he also launched his first ministry, the Good News Communications Ministry.
In 1979 he became the president of the Episcopal Radio and Television Foundation. He also served on the Communications Board of the National Council of Churches. It was during this time that he met the former director of the Protestant Film Office, George Heimrich and was inspired to resurrect the activities of that group, which, until it was closed in 1966, had participated heavily in "approving" scripts of the major Hollywood studios for compliance with the MPAA's self-imposed Production Code.
In 1985 Baehr began publishing Movieguide as a biweekly magazine of movie reviews "from a biblical perspective" aimed at helping parents use informed judgment when deciding what entertainment products are suitable for their families' enjoyment. Movieguide's reviews address not only specific portrayals of sex, violence, and profanity, but also address the "worldview" implicit in a movie's theme.
In 1986 Baehr founded the Christian Film and Television Commission (CFTVC) which encourages the major media companies to produce "wholesome, family entertainment." By cross-indexing Movieguide's moral criteria with box office statistics, Baehr's commission produces an annual Report To The Entertainment Industry which attempts to prove that the American public prefers "wholesome, worthwhile, moral movies." The Report also includes a listing of the ten best "family friendly films" and ten best "morally edifying mature audience films" of the year, all of which are awarded plaques. In 1996, the Walt Disney company, in an effort to determine the legitimacy of the yearly Report To The Entertainment Industry conducted a research report of its own, which returned similar figures and concluded Baehr's reporting was accurate.
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[edit] Movieguide Ratings
Movieguide rates movies for quality and acceptability. Quality ratings (1 to 4 stars) cover production value, entertainment quality, and technical or narrative accomplishment. Acceptability ratings (range from +4 to -4) include evaluation of moral and theological issues, based on a "traditional view of the Bible and Christianity." The content of a movie is evaluated for acceptability based on its "dominant worldview" (Biblical, Christian, Environmentalist, Humanist/Socialist, Homosexual, False Religion, New Age/Pagan, etc.) and on secondary elements, (hints of worldview, foul language, violence, sex, nudity, alcohol, smoking/drugs, miscellaneous immorality, or miscellaneous philosophical or theological problems.).
[edit] Highlights of the 2006 Report to the Entertainment Industry
Movies with strong moral messages, whether they were rated G, PG, PG-13, or R, consistently earn four to seven times as much money on average as movies with immoral messages, according to our biblical standards.
All 250 to 300 films released each year on the big screen in the United States are included in the annual Report to the Entertainment Industry. The results are presented to industry executives at a Hollywood awards gala one week before the Academy Awards in an event which has been labeled "The Christian Oscars." In addition to the Report, during the Gala the following awards are given: "Best Movies for Families", "Best Movies for Mature Audiences", two Epiphany prizes sponsored by John Templeton, two Grace prizes sponsored by Morgan Grace, and the Ware Libertas prize sponsored by the Ware Foundation. A selection of the most unbearable films are also noted yearly in the Movieguide issue devoted to the Gala.
Movies of 2005 deemed to have had "strong moral messages" included The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Madagascar, Dreamer, March of the Penguins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Robots, The Greatest Game Ever Played, Pride and Prejudice, Batman Begins, Millions, The Interpreter, The Ninth Day, Cinderella Man, and Downfall.
Conversely, the anti-moral "Most Unbearable Movies of 2005" which promoted "a worldview antithetical to the biblical worldview" generally under-performed at the box office. These movies included Brokeback Mountain, Kingdom of Heaven, The New World, Mysterious Skin, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Sin City, Indigo, Good Night, and Good Luck, Bewitched, Transamerica, Munich, Palindromes, and The Aristocrats.
According to Movieguide's "Report", The films with strong moral messages performed better at the box office than their less moral conterparts. Four of the top ten box-office performers in 2005 were given neither an award for being strongly moral nor a mention as an unbearably anti-moral film: King Kong, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, War of the Worlds, and The Wedding Crashers.
[edit] A Conflict of Interest?
A March 2004 article by Marshall Allen in Christianity Today maintained that Baehr's public relations company "Kairos Marketing" accepted payment for consulting and promotional activities on behalf of six movies that were positively reviewed in Movieguide. Though Kairos is not officially part of Good News Communication, the non-profit that supports the CFTVC and publishes Movieguide, Kairos does donate to Good News Communications. The article quotes David Gushee, an ethicist at Union University in Tennessee as saying that accepting money to promote movies and publishing reviews of those movies in a magazine that "presents itself as a Hollywood watchdog," is a conflict of interest. Baehr contends otherwise. He states that the CFTVC primarily functions as an advocacy group, with the end goal of "redeeming the values of the mass-media." Reviewing films in order to advise film-makers and educate the public is only one aspect of the ministry's overall goal to promote a "redeemed Hollywood." Surporting moral movies through advertising is another.
We’ve lent our expertise to many movies – gratis, for the sake of helping God’s kingdom advance in this industry. In a few cases, after we approve of and review the movie according to our stringent criteria, we have been remunerated for our services through a sister organization set up for this purpose to help underwrite the extra time these promotional efforts required.
A rebuttal from CFTVC advisory board member Jane Chastain in World Net Daily countered that the Christianity Today article was a slanderous "hatchet job," noting that the Protestant Film Office, the ideological predecessor to Beahr's organizations, was routinely paid for consultations by Hollywood Studios that needed its stamp of approval. Other rebuttals followed, including one from Pat Boone, published in Christianity Today, lamenting that publication's decision to attack rather than aid a fellow Christian organization in light of a precieved problem.
[edit] Controversial Statements
During a recent segment on Scarborough Country on MSNBC (Aired 8 August 2006), Dr. Baehr compared the Grace scene from Talladega Nights to the Holocaust Museum's use of sarcasm as an attempt to depict the film's contempt of Christianity. He then demanded Leeann Tweeden, a fellow guest for the segment, respond to his assertion that she was an advocate for blasphemy.
[edit] Books
- Baehr, Theodore (November 1986) Getting the Word Out: How to Communicate the Gospel in Today's World. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-060326-7
- Baehr, Ted (December 1989) The Christian Family Guide to Movies and Video. Wolgemuth & Hyatt Publishing. ISBN 0-943497-62-0
- Baehr, Theodore & Susan Wales, editors. (January 2003) Faith in God and Generals: An Anthology of Faith, Hope, and Love in the American Civil War. B&H Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8054-2728-7
- Baehr, Ted (June 1, 2003) What Can We Watch Tonight? Zondervan Press. ISBN 0-310-24770-5
- Baehr, Ted (January 30, 2005) So You Want To Be In Pictures?: A Christian Resource For "Making It" In Hollywood. B&H Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8054-3192-6
- Beahr, Theodore (January 31, 2005) The Media-wise Family. Media-Wise Publishing. ISBN 0-9753455-5-9
- Beahr, Theodore and James Baehr. (September 23, 2005) Narnia Beckons: C. S. Lewis's the Lion, the Witch, And the Wardrobe And Beyond. B&H Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8054-4042-9
- Baehr, Ted and Tom Snyder (January 30, 2006) Frodo & Harry: Understanding Visual Media And Its Impact on Our Lives. Media-Wise Publishing. ISBN 0-9753455-7-5
[edit] References
- Ted Baehr's biography at the CFTVC
- Movieguide online
- Ted Baehr. (November 2003) "Your advocate in Hollywood." World Net Daily. link - source of quote above
- Marshall Allen. (March 2004). "Ted Baehr Under the Lights: Christian Critic draws his own mixed reviews." Christianity Today. (subscription-required link)
- Jane Chastain. (March 2004). "Christianity Today's cheap shot at a Hollywood hero." World Net Daily. link - a rebuttal of Allen's article.
- Wilson, Tim. (no date) "In the Blue Corner ... Movieguide". Looking Closer. An editorial recap of the Christianity Today disagreement from a perspective critical of the CFTVC.
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Baehr, Ted |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Baehr, Dr. Ted |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | christian film critic |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1946 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York, New York, United States of America |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
