"Rock Idols"
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What You Need To Know:
ROCK SCHOOL is well done, but contains strong Satanic references regarding Black Sabbath music and plenty of strong foul language. Also, the founder of the Philadelphia rock school, despite the training he gives, yells at the teenagers far too much. While the movie contains abhorrent content and bad role models for children, the documentary itself is not abhorrent per se. Nevertheless, it could have bleeped the foul language and balanced out the abhorrent content with some serious analysis of the rock school by real educators.
Content:
(PaPa, B, C, ABAB, H, LLL, V, S, N, D, MM) Strong pagan worldview, with some positive elements, including a couple people say, “God bless you” without specifically defining what God they’re discussing, and one person is a Quaker Christian but she is shown involved with some amateur rap musicians, one of whom makes a reference to blasphemous thoughts about a hymn title, and there are some strong references to Satan related to heavy metal music, especially music from Black Sabbath, a notorious Satanic rock group, and some positive references to the late Frank Zappa, a rock composer who was a notorious secular humanist and anti-censorship advocate; 49 obscenities, four strong profanities, five light profanities, and amateur rap singer refers to a lewd blasphemous joke about a hymn title; teacher violently shouts at students several times and troubled teenager mentions his suicide attempts and says he would not be alive were it not for the rock school he attended; a lewd sexual reference is made; brief upper male nudity; no alcohol; some smoking; and, teacher often provides bad role model for students, especially when shouting obscenities at them and when getting them and letting them think so positively about pagan, Satanic and humanist forms of rock music and idolize rock celebrities simply because they are musically talented, and musical students sing Alice Cooper rock anthem putting down school.
More Detail:
ROCK SCHOOL is a documentary about an after-school program in Philadelphia for children age nine through 17, who study how to play, sing and perform like rock stars. The private school, the Paul Green School of Rock Music, is founded and led by Paul Green, a non-working rock guitarist who has made the school his life’s mission. The documentary shows Paul alternately screaming at his students and lovingly teaching them. It also shows the children performing at a school concert of Satanic songs from Black Sabbath, at a school concert featuring songs with famous guitar riffs and at a Frank Zappa festival in Germany, where they wow the crowd with complex Zappa performances.
ROCK SCHOOL is well done, but it shows the students acting like the Satanic rock musicians in Black Sabbath. Also, Paul freely uses the “f” word when he’s teaching his students and, before the Black Sabbath Concert, he jokingly tells the students (to get them in the mood), “Tonight isn’t about you or rock music. Tonight is about Satan.” At the end of the Zappa concert, however, a couple of Zappa’s colleagues tell them, “God bless you.”
Thus, while the movie contains abhorrent, excessive content, the documentary itself is not abhorrent per se. It’s just documenting the events that occur during one entire season of classes and the characters involved. Clearly, however, Mr. Green is not a model teacher that careful parents would want teaching their children anything, regardless of whatever knowledge and training he possesses. Despite the musical training he offers, he yells at the teenagers far too much. Also, although he appears to get results from the children, the kind of rock music atmosphere he creates is not a positive one, either spiritually or morally. Even Christians who like some rock music would object to the pagan style of many of the rock performances that Green teaches the children.
Furthermore, the documentary filmmakers could have bleeped out the foul language. They also could have presented some serious analysis of the rock school and Mr. Green’s teaching methods by real, professionally trained educators. It also wouldn’t hurt to provide some solid Christian teaching about the moral and spiritual problems in this school, as represented by the material shown in this movie. Much more could be said about the other problems in this documentary, but these problems are not particularly relevant to the main premise of the documentary, so please consult the CONTENT section above for more information.
That said, it is important to warn that it’s not a good thing to make idols out of celebrities, including rock celebrities. This is true no matter how talented the celebrities may be. While it may not be a bad thing to learn how to play and sing at least some forms of rock music, art (including the art of rock music) should serve God by worshipping him and/or revealing and contemplating his truths about life, the universe and eternity.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
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