Warning Label

One evening last week while we were in Malaysia, after a very active day, we decided to purchase a movie for our family to watch together in our hotel room. We were directed to a small DVD store and spent no less than twenty minutes trying to find one that suited the varying interests among our children. In the end, Scott said I had better just choose one since the kids were probably not going to be able to agree.

I chose Dreamworks' film, Joseph: King of Dreams. It is the story from Genesis of one of Jacob's twelve sons, Joseph, the "miracle child" whom his older brothers envy and eventually sell into slavery in Egypt. Joseph is blessed by God with the ability to interpret dreams, and this gift eventually puts him in a position of influence and power in Egypt, where he is later able to save his own family's life during a widespread famine.

The film was well done, maybe not the box office hit that Prince of Egypt was, but a movie that we all enjoyed, although some were less quick to admit it.

But my intent here was not to critique or review the film. Here's the story. This movie jacket came with a little bright yellow sticker on the case. A warning sticker. A sticker to make sure that someone is not accidentally offended. The sticker says WARNING: This film is not suitable for Muslim viewers.

Huh. There are a lot of Muslims in Malaysia. We saw them. We saw their places of worship. We saw the "No Pork Served" signs on restaurant doors.

But this movie warning is a little bit funny to me. How did they do it? Who is behind this labeling system? How do they make sure these little yellow labels are affixed to movies that might mention a diety they do not believe in? I would really like to know.

Because it would really help me, this labeling thing, if it were directed towards my faith. Wouldn't you just be amazed if you walked into a movie store and saw a label that said WARNING: This film is not suitable for Christian viewers?

Then again, maybe a movie's appropriateness is something I should be able to figure out and decide for myself.