I would like to respectfully disagree with the above reviewer. The person states that Eastwood dealt respectfully with Jehovah's Witnesses. In fact, I am a member of that "infamous" religion. I went to see this movie with a group of my friends. We were so offended by the lies this movie perpetuated about our faith that we walked out halfway through. I believe it is the responsibility of the filmmaker to do at least minimal research. It was painfully obvious that no one involved in the making of this film did any research into the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses.
I write this review in 2005, about a movie I walked out of in 1993. Here are the specific things that offended me:
1. The child asked his mother why he could not go out to trick-or-treat. The mother answered only that it was against their religion. I didn't expect a detailed explanation of our beliefs, but NO (and I mean NO) JW mother would give that as an answer to their child. I won't go into them, but we DO have reasons for not celebrating Halloween. Every JW parent explains these reasons to their children in ways that they can understand.
2. The first one wasn't too bad. But it made me leery of what was to come... Costner's character asks the child if he had ever eaten cotton candy or been on a roller coaster. The child answered no as if he could not do that because of his religion. JWs do not object to having fun. I grew up in this faith and looked forward to going to Six Flags every year. My cousins and I rode every roller coaster we could get onto, often begging the park workers to let us ride again without going back through the line. My family went to baseball games, to local carnivals, deep sea fishing, snorkeling, to college football games, to secluded beaches, and traveled to foreign countries ... all for fun. We played sports, games, watched movies, listened to music, danced, had cookouts ... I hope you're getting the picture that I never lacked any kind of decent fun. But, no, I didn't do drugs, overindulge in alcohol or ever have a teen pregnancy scare ... the things many people experience in the name of "fun."
3. The final straw that made us walk out was a scene between the boy and Costner. The boy stole a Halloween mask, had the chance to escape, but chose instead to go with Costner. When Costner asked the boy why he got into the car, the boy responded, "Because I was afraid of going to hell." It is one of our most basic teachings that God does not punish people forever in a burning hell. The idea of a burning hell is very offensive to us. Having the boy utter this statement was like having a Jew in Nazi Germany say, "I came along because I think Hitler has some interesting things to say - more people should listen to him."
I write this review in 2005, about a movie I walked out of in 1993. Here are the specific things that offended me:
1. The child asked his mother why he could not go out to trick-or-treat. The mother answered only that it was against their religion. I didn't expect a detailed explanation of our beliefs, but NO (and I mean NO) JW mother would give that as an answer to their child. I won't go into them, but we DO have reasons for not celebrating Halloween. Every JW parent explains these reasons to their children in ways that they can understand.
2. The first one wasn't too bad. But it made me leery of what was to come... Costner's character asks the child if he had ever eaten cotton candy or been on a roller coaster. The child answered no as if he could not do that because of his religion. JWs do not object to having fun. I grew up in this faith and looked forward to going to Six Flags every year. My cousins and I rode every roller coaster we could get onto, often begging the park workers to let us ride again without going back through the line. My family went to baseball games, to local carnivals, deep sea fishing, snorkeling, to college football games, to secluded beaches, and traveled to foreign countries ... all for fun. We played sports, games, watched movies, listened to music, danced, had cookouts ... I hope you're getting the picture that I never lacked any kind of decent fun. But, no, I didn't do drugs, overindulge in alcohol or ever have a teen pregnancy scare ... the things many people experience in the name of "fun."
3. The final straw that made us walk out was a scene between the boy and Costner. The boy stole a Halloween mask, had the chance to escape, but chose instead to go with Costner. When Costner asked the boy why he got into the car, the boy responded, "Because I was afraid of going to hell." It is one of our most basic teachings that God does not punish people forever in a burning hell. The idea of a burning hell is very offensive to us. Having the boy utter this statement was like having a Jew in Nazi Germany say, "I came along because I think Hitler has some interesting things to say - more people should listen to him."