Customer Reviews

Rock ...It's Your Decision

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The message is a good one, if flawed: can a devout Christian teenager (Jeff) work rock music into his life w/o it contradicting his beliefs? However, someone didn't do their research, judging by the songs cited in Jeff's grandoise change-of-heart speech that ends the film and elsewhere:

- Billy Joel's "Captain Jack", while about heroin use, actually makes fun of drug addicts

- Santana's "Evil Ways"...how hard would it have been to find out the song's about a guy wanting the woman in his life to *change* her evil ways?

- The Stones' "Sympathy For the Devil", which is actually about Satan taking responsibility for various tragedies throughout history, and thus conveys the opposite of its title

- Jefferson Starship's "Dance w/the Dragon", whose title merely alludes to the fact that it was written in the (Chinese) Year of the Dragon

If this seems like trite propaganda, it's no accident: the primary source for Jeff's research is Frank Garlock's "The Big Beat", one of several reactionary Christian literary works devoted to the supposed "evils" of rock music, not to mention that Garlock himself is/was a music professor at the ultra-conservative Bob Jones University (which recieved attention during the 2000 Presidential election for its infamous "no interracial dating" policy, though it's since been lifted)...in fact, both Garlock and his book recieve a "Special Thanks" mention in the closing credits.

Thus, it's nothing more than propaganda for those who attack things like Dungeons and Dragons, the Harry Potter series, etc. as an apocryphal boogeyman to pin their child's behavior on w/o really knowing about their content. To further prove that point, consider this: co-star Glenn Williams IV turned up a couple of years back on the forum for a website devoted to bad movies like this and had a good laugh about the experience!

This video is shameless in its exploitation of the fear of rock & roll music. Think "Reefer Madness" for rock. The worst part is, when they talk about how evil the lifestyles of the rock starts are, the kid is looking at a BILLY JOEL ALBUM!!!!! C'mon, at least pick Alice Cooper or Black Sabbath or someone with a darker image, but Billy Joel? HAHAHAHAHA