Personal Purity Isn’t Enough: Cap Stewart Project Review
Inside: An honest review of Personal Purity Isn’t Enough: The Long-Forgotten Secret to Making Scriptural Entertainment Choices by the Cap Stewart Project. Disclosure: I was compensated for my time reviewing this course. I have given my honest opinions and was not required to post a positive review.
Many years ago, after discovering our oldest daughters engrossed in a popular teen drama when they were not yet tweens, we enacted a rule in our home. The main character of any show had to be within a year or two of their age.
There wasn’t anything inherently bad in the show they were watching. We simply did not want our young daughters to be focused on dating or watching teens obsessed with getting their first kiss.
Our rule was designed to protect them from being exposed to topics they weren’t mature enough or old enough to handle.
As they’ve grown into young adults, the rule no longer protects them from being exposed to adult content. By now, we hope we’ve taught them the importance of making good choices in choosing media.
We realize soon enough they will leave our home and it will be vital they understand the why behind the choices we ask them to make. When I heard of Cap Stewart’s class, Personal Purity Isn’t Enough: The Long-Forgotten Secret to Making Scriptural Entertainment Choices, I was intrigued.
Was there a better way to help our daughters understand why we choose to avoid movies where sex and lust play a part?
In a sexualized culture, Cap Stewart uses scripture to teach teens why personal purity isn’t enough. In order to love our neighbor, we need to do more when it comes to our media choices.
A Closer Look At Personal Purity Isn’t Enough
Cap Stewart’s course, Personal Purity Isn’t Enough, is an online course through Teachable.
The sensitive nature of the course means it’s best for teens who have the maturity necessary to discuss the topic.
The purpose is to help students understand within the context of scripture why maintaining your own personal purity isn’t enough.
Stewart argues part of our duty as Christians to love our neighbor is to realize the effects a sexualized Hollywood has on the actors who are required to perform the scenes.
Simply skipping inappropriate content, but still watching the movie, is not enough. While protecting your own spiritual well-being, it is still supportive of a movie and culture which sexually exploits individuals for entertainment value.
With the use of scriptures and persuasive arguments, Stewart suggests a paradigm shift in the way we approach sexualized media.
The Course Layout
Ten lesson modules comprise the course:
- Pulling Back the Curtain
- The Stumbling Block Principle
- A Violation of Privacy and Dignity
- A Violation of Sexuality and Agency
- The Gospel Solution to Objectification
- Jennifer Lawrence: A Case Study
- “But What About Consent?” (Objection 1)
- “But Cinematic Sex is Only Pretend.” (Objection 2)
- “But the Story Requires that Scene.” (Objection 3)
- The Transforming Power of a New Paradigm
Each lesson has a video lesson (with text included), discussion/meditation questions, and a suggested movie with a video synopsis/discussion.
A Note of Caution About the Suggested Movies
The course contains a wide variety of movie selections. There are some older black and white films, along with newer selections. Film ratings range from unrated to R.
In his introduction, Stewart explains he believes ratings are virtually meaningless and one should choose what to watch based on the content of the film. Therefore, he justifies there are some rated “R” movies that are fine to watch.
I agree simply having a lower rating doesn’t mean a film should get an automatic pass. In fact, often we choose not to see a film, regardless of ratings, because of content. However, by the time a film receives an “R” rating, there’s enough filth included, sexual content is irrelevant.
While Stewart may consider it legalism for Christians not to watch “R” rated movies solely based on ratings, he should recognize that many parents of teenagers refuse to allow their children to watch “R” rated movies. In fact, they can’t even legally watch them in theaters without an adult. Given this course is geared toward teens ages 15+, that should have been given greater consideration.
That being said, several of the suggested films we choose to skip because they did not meet our personal standards.
A Video Synopsis of the Suggested Movies
For each suggested movie, there is a video (under 10 minutes) where Stewart discusses the sexual themes present. So while we skipped the movie, my daughter did still watch the videos.
She enjoyed it more when she could watch the movie first but could get the general idea with the video synopsis.
Accessibility of Movies
With libraries currently closed where we live, we were dependent on streaming services to be able to find our movies. We could find many for free on services we already owned. Others were available only for rent. It is possible these would have been available from our local library, but I didn’t check.
Tactfully Addressing Sexual Content in Movies
One thing I appreciated about Personal Purity Isn’t Enough was the handling of what can be a rather awkward topic–sex in cinema.
Speaking honestly about the sexual nature and culture that pervades Hollywood, Cap Stewart is direct in his approach while sensitive to the nature of the topic.
He has researched his topic well using quotes and experiences from actors, directors, and other individuals in the entertainment industry. He supports these with references to scripture.
Personal Purity Isn’t Enough: A Great Course for Discussion
In each unit from Personal Purity Isn’t Enough, there is a section for Discussion/Meditation. These include a reference to scripture and a question or problem for the student to think about and consider.
The lessons themselves are very thought-provoking and lend well to discussion.
The conversations I had with my daughter after each lesson were my favorite part of this course.
Discussion questions also lend well toward short essay questions.
Let’s Talk About High School Credit
This course is only ten units long. The material in each unit takes roughly 20 minutes to get through. The movie adds another two hours. Requiring a short essay or paper from each of the discussion sections will allow you to add another hour or so.
You could possibly stretch this out to ten weeks, by watching one movie a week.
It could also be done in ten days.
Personally, it would be a stretch for me to give half credit. And there is definitely not enough material for full credit.
If using with a singular student, this would best be combined as a unit within another course for credit to be assigned at the high school level.
If using in a co-op setting, then the added discussion time could be enough for a 1/2 credit.
Overall Thoughts for Cap Stewart’s Personal Purity Isn’t Enough
Overall, I thought this was a well done course.
Doctrine-wise, it leans Evangelical. There were times when we agreed with the overall message he was trying to make, but not in the way he interpreted or used the scriptures. And there were simply some differences in faith. For the most part, it wasn’t an issue.
We do wish there was a better selection of movies.
Mostly, though, I enjoyed the discussions with my daughter after she did each lesson. It was eye-opening to her to see how Hollywood treats its actors and the real feelings and thoughts they have about doing sex scenes.
The information presented gave her a greater understanding for why we choose to abstain from movies with sexual content, even when it “isn’t that bad.”
Better in a Co-op Setting
My daughter worked the course on her own, and she found it interesting. We both would have preferred having other teens to have a dialogue with regarding the material.
The full benefit of this course would be best realized in a co-op setting. This is a course that naturally lends itself to group discussion. One which is begging for a meeting of minds and discourse on the topic.
It would be a good debate topic among mature teens in a co-op setting studying cinema or sexualized culture.
I would definitely recommend it.
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I enjoyed hearing how you used this with your daughter, as my oldest is 12 so I didn’t do the course with her. I hope to show her the content in a few years, as I agree with you that it’s a great way to raise these issues with our kids.