Family Talk

Dr. James Dobson: Welcome everyone to Family Talk. It's a ministry of the James Dobson Family Institute, supported by listeners just like you. I'm Dr. James Dobson and I'm thrilled that you've joined us.

Guest (Male): Well, welcome to Family Talk. I'm Roger Marsh. You know, with so much entertainment available today, how do we as Christian families navigate what's worth watching? Well, our guest today here on Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk has dedicated his life to answering that question. Dr. Ted Baehr is the founder and publisher of Movieguide, a trusted resource that helps families make wise entertainment choices. He's also chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission, working to influence Hollywood from within. Dr. Baehr holds degrees from Dartmouth College, New York University School of Law and Advanced Theological Studies. He's the author of numerous books including, Reel to Real, 45 Movie Devotions for families.

But Dr. Baehr's story isn't just about critiquing movies, it's about redemption. Growing up in Hollywood as the son of actors, he discovered faith later in life and now uses his insider knowledge to transform the entertainment industry and guide families toward content that honors God. Today Dr. James Dobson welcomes Dr. Ted Baehr for a conversation about faith, film and reaching Hollywood for Christ on today's edition of Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk.

Dr. James Dobson: You know, we have talked extensively on this program about the moral decline in this country. And we continue to see Western nations, not just America but and almost all Western nations, deteriorating and it's alarming to see just how wicked and perverse the culture has become. And a large share, not all of it, obviously, but a share of that decline is related to the entertainment industry and the attribution of the moral deterioration can be traced to that source. That's an overstatement. I know the news media and the book industry and and many other sources play a role, but certainly Hollywood and the entertainment industry are certainly at the top of the list.

And this wickedness is given center stage today and is regularly celebrated by the culture. When horrible, evil things take place, it's as though there's been some kind of victory. Christian parents are on the hook today because they have to identify the threats to the value system that's being taught to their children in public schools frequently and certainly on the internet and it seems like it's coming from every side. And their job is to protect their kids from these influences. And we're going to talk about that today because we have in the studio with us a man that I respect very, very highly. I've known him for many years. I call him Ted, but his name is Dr. Ted Baehr. And he's doing as much to defend righteousness in the culture and especially in the entertainment industry as anybody I know. He's a film critic and an author.

He is actually written 35 books. He's the founder and publisher of Movieguide. We're going to talk about that today. It provides families with an in-depth look at movies through the lens of biblical teaching. He's also chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission, which seeks to redeem culture by informing the public of the efforts of media and the entertainment industry to change the culture. Dr. Baehr has a wide educational background. I'm going to take the time to to tell you what it is because I think you need to know. He graduated from Dartmouth College Summa Cum Laude with a comparative literature degree. Then he received a Juris doctorate from New York University School of Law. And attended seminary for a while. He is also the recipient of a doctorate of humanities from Belhaven College. And like I said, he's authored 35 books. Ted, I'm delighted to have you back with us today.

Dr. Ted Baehr: Oh, it's great to be back with you. I I consider you one of the great friends and one of the great blessings to the Christian community. So thank you, Jim.

Dr. James Dobson: Well, you're kind. Did I overstate what's happening in the culture today? I know that you feel that there's a lot of good that's going on too and I don't disagree with that.

Dr. Ted Baehr: I I look, there's always been people that are that are attacking Christians. And Rome it was abhorrent as they were persecuting, but you know, you had a small group of apostles who overturned the Roman Empire, which was in the fullness of time, it was a Kairos moment what we call it.

Dr. James Dobson: A lot of them paid for it with their lives.

Dr. Ted Baehr: They paid for it with their lives. And we need to be able to do that today to stand for it. And Wilberforce and people throughout history have stood against the forces. So I I think that you would agree with me that we've got the wheat and the chaff, that wheat is always growing up with the chaff. There's some good wheat out there. When the evil triumphs, it breaks my heart. Usually the Christian films do better. The more Christianity is put, usually it does better. Last year just as an example, movies with positive Christian content, strong Christian content, mentioning Jesus, a strong Christian worldview and all of that, averaged about $55 million at the box office. Movies that were anti-Christian averaged about $7 million. In the top 10 movies, 80% of them had strong Christian content or worldview in the United States. And in the top 25, there were only one with perverse content, which you would consider perverse content. So they don't usually do well, but sometimes audiences get confused. This is why we do Movieguide. We're concerned about audiences so they can make wise choices.

I was on a radio show. You know the host. And somebody called in and the boy said, I've got discernment, that's why I can go to these bad movies. You know, we have to reach these kids and the parents. And then one the host said, my daughter was going to a movie, read the Movieguide review and decided not to go because of what she read in it. I want to see these people make the decision, the kids, the 14 to 24-year-olds to support the good and reject the bad.

Dr. James Dobson: And the Movieguide does a review of the movies and and warns parents about what's not good for their kids and so on.

Dr. Ted Baehr: Yeah, and we don't tell people to go or not go because you immediately get the backlash from kids. What we do is we try to help people develop discernment. So we say this could be great quality, but it's an abhorrent film, or it could be not so good quality, but it's a wonderful Christian film that you should support for its, you know, its acceptability. And we go into the acceptability. It's got we do 150 criteria. And the criteria help you make a decision that this is what I want to see. This is what my children should see and give you a reason for it so you can argue the case for what you want to support.

Dr. James Dobson: You've been at this a long, long time, as long as I've known you.

Dr. Ted Baehr: Right.

Dr. James Dobson: But you did not grow up in a Christian home.

Dr. Ted Baehr: No, I grew up in the entertainment industry. My parents were stars and I love my parents.

Dr. James Dobson: Your your father was Tex Allen.

Dr. Ted Baehr: Tex Allen, he made 12 Texas Ranger movies. He rated next to Tim McCoy, another star that people don't remember, but he was a great star. And he did 62 movies. He won the Box Office Award in 1936. And my mother won the the Wampas Award, the Western Association of Motion Picture Distributors and so, they were significant. Fame is fleeting, but I grew up as really in the far left and in a world that didn't have faith and values.

Dr. James Dobson: And you had all that academic training, but you really never encountered Jesus Christ, or at least you never understood who He is.

Dr. Ted Baehr: Well, I wouldn't have found him in any of the schools I went to. You know. I found him much later. I after getting out of law school, some friends of mine, I won't tell you the backstory, but we were doing a lot of nefarious activity and they said, can you help us start a film company? Would you do the legal work? So I did the legal work just like the form, I just and I said, now you got to pay me. And they couldn't pay me. So I had to raise the money to pay myself. And during that process, which was really a horrendous process. The industry is built on this whole house of cards. And so during that process, four women were interested in my father. My mother died when I was young, and they were all Christians. They all come to Christ through Billy Graham. They all love Billy Graham. One of them supported Billy Graham to the millions of dollars.

Dr. James Dobson: What a testimony.

Dr. Ted Baehr: And they they witnessed to me and I would reject it and finally they said, read the Bible. You've had all this education. So I didn't want to read it. But when I did, when I started reading Matthew, halfway through Matthew it changed my heart and then I went to one of their friend's house and she said, would you like to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior? And I said, yes. And I married my wife a week later. So that it took. I stopped the drugs.

Dr. James Dobson: Now, why did you do that? Ted, what what drew you? What uh, voice did you hear inside that said, I want a friendship with you?

Dr. Ted Baehr: You know, if you had to boil it down to the simplicity of the Gospel, one, that all these things that I had done, which were nefarious. A lot of drugs.

Dr. James Dobson: Bad.

Dr. Ted Baehr: Bad enough that if you had talked about it here, they'd kick you off the air. So, I threw a big drug party at Dartmouth and I showed one of my father's movies, the one of his old horror films and one boy whose father was the head of MGM blew his brains out and another boy lost his brains. And so it it hurt a lot of people. And, you know, when I read the good news, one that uh, John 10:10 that the thief comes to steal, to kill and destroy. And that's often the case in our lives. He wants to steal our happiness, our joy. He wants to steal our possessions. He wants to steal our marriages. He wants to steal our children. And when he can't do that safely, he kills and then he destroys. And so God and Jesus says in that verse, he said, but I come to set you free and give you abundant life. And all the things I had before are nothing compared to what I have now. Now, I don't have a big salary. I'm a missionary, but I have more today. I've got a loving group of children and my children are all missionaries and conservative. And my son in Iraq, who's a major, preached at his little church service last week. I'm happy about this.

Dr. James Dobson: You you you actually you actually went to seminary.

Dr. Ted Baehr: Right.

Dr. James Dobson: But not to become a pastor or a member of a church that kind.

Dr. Ted Baehr: I didn't know anything about Christianity and I figured this would be the I love school. Look, I've I've studied a lot of schools. So, you know, not on my resume as I studied at Northwestern University Graduate School of English with Torsiano. When I was working for NASA, I studied, you know, at Columbia University Film School. I just like school. So you throw me into a school and I'm equipped to do well in school. Some of my favorite people who are successful in life are not successful in school. But seminary was terrific. I had some great professors. Very few of them knew the Lord. One had gotten a double PhD from Lund. And I don't know whether you know about Lund, but that was the most conservative seminary in Europe for many years. And you preached, they had a cross built from because one person in the 17th century forgot to talk about the crucifixion. So they put a cross in front of the pulpit.

Dr. James Dobson: You know, I I wonder if we don't share something in common with regard to the work that we're now doing. If I had to answer the question, what do people say about you when they come up to you? And it's usually about raising their children. And then if I ask them, what do you think I do? What do you think focus on the family in the previous life and family talk now? What's my primary objective? And they will say to save families, to make marriages better, to raise children. All those things are good, but they're secondary. My number one objective is to introduce people to Jesus Christ. And that that powers what you're doing.

Dr. Ted Baehr: That's what I want to do. We do this big gala in Hollywood. We give out awards. One of the heads of a studio came and said you're the only one that will give us an award for the studios anymore for a big film like Incredibles 2 or Boss Baby, $490 million. So we give out awards, we get their whole team and we preach the Gospel. We just give them the good news and it's like going to church and we have wonderful people come. We have wonderful CC Winnin's came last year.

Dr. James Dobson: How common is it for a producer or director or somebody of substance in Hollywood, if there is such a thing, to call you on the phone and say, Ted,

Dr. Ted Baehr: Every day.

Dr. James Dobson: I want to know more about your faith.

Dr. Ted Baehr: Well, about faith, it's probably once or twice a month or so, but for help to reach the Christian audience is almost every day and sometimes it gets to be so many. Today I had a director who's been directing for 25 years and he wants me to look at something and another one who was a star in television wants me to help him with his. So every day somebody's asking.

Dr. James Dobson: Are they open are they open, are you winning people to the Lord?

Dr. Ted Baehr: We see people coming to Christ the most at my class that I'm teaching in two weeks, I have one of my best friends. And he had written and directed over 150 films including some of Oliver Stone's best movies. He did Path to 9/11, which was a great success on ABC. He was Muslim. His son came to my class and took the class, a little four-day class that I do. He wrote a script that was abhorrent and he came to Christ and then his went to form seminary and his father has come to Christ and he went from making very violent movies to making Young Messiah. So we see people coming to Christ all the time. The person.

Dr. James Dobson: Is there anything that gives you a greater thrill than that?

Dr. Ted Baehr: Nothing. The more these people come to Christ, the better. And every every time we see him is an opportunity to witness and an opportunity. It's good news. When I go out on stage, which is what I was going to say, to talk to them, to tell them that the good does better at the box office, my message is to bring them good news. I'm there to help them see the truth that will set them free.

Dr. James Dobson: So people really get a fix on you. The name of the organization that the primary organization that you've founded and are running now in Hollywood is

Dr. Ted Baehr: Well, we have two parts. One is Movieguide and one is the Christian Film and Television Commission. And those two parts correspond to how we fulfill our mission of redeeming the movie industry in specifically and we'll talk about if you want to talk about television, which is a disaster and and other things. Television is a disaster.

Dr. James Dobson: It is.

Dr. Ted Baehr: And we can talk about why it's a disaster. But the two parts, one is to influence the people making movies because, you know, they're a small tribe of people who need Jesus. They're just like a tribe in the middle of Laos or Cambodia or anywhere else. They need Jesus. And then to influence people to make wise decisions. It always breaks my heart. Even with, you know, people that I know well to have them go to a bad movie. You know, we have such life is short. You know, and if you if you have used to Hollywood used to come out with 2000 movies a year. You couldn't see them in a lifetime. So you've got to be discerning. And that means making wise choices. So Movieguide reaches the public and the Christian Film and Television Commission is the restatement of the purpose of the old Protestant Film office, which we inherited all the files. So we're listed with the Writers Guild, we're listed with different guilds. I'm a member of the Producers Guild and we go in there and say, we're here to help you reach a bigger audience. Let me make that as clear as I can. Every week about 25 million people, 22 to 25 million people go to movies and about 118 million people go to church and then that increases at Easter and and Christmas up to about 141 million. Used to be bigger. We know that, Jim, but it's still seven times bigger than the box office. So when when Bill Mechanic or anybody's talking about the Producers Guild and saying, you know, the most powerful audience is is kids and Hispanics and African Americans and etc. How do you reach these people? If you're reaching my wife's Argentine, that culture, the Spanish speaking culture, you're reaching about 18 million people, 20 million people. If you're reaching the African American and it's all those are increasing, but the church is the biggest people group in this country. We've taught Hollywood that this is the group that they have to reach.

Dr. James Dobson: When we had lunch together a while back, I told you that there is a world famous photographer in Hollywood who's made his living photographing stars and the significant people in in Hollywood. And he is very well known and very well paid for what he does. I've known him for a long time. He's a solid Christian man. I don't want to give his name because I haven't gotten permission to do that, but I don't think he would mind because what he said to me that day really made an impact on me. He's left Hollywood. He closed down his photography studios and gave up the lucrative assignment that he had with people and moved to Denver. And I said, why did you do this? And he said, Hollywood has become so evil and so wicked. I couldn't stand it anymore. How do you cope in that world?

Dr. Ted Baehr: Well, Hollywood is um, a term that covers a lot of people. It's just like talking about the church in the United States. When Hollywood talks about the church, I try to tell them there are many different groups within the church. There's the Catholics, which are about 63 million strong. And then there's the Southern Baptists, which are close to 20 million strong and then the Lutherans and which are about 12 million strong. And they all have different makeup. And if you take one and extrapolate for the whole and the same thing is true in Hollywood. You've got probably the most debauched and cynical group happens to be actors because actors are in the most vulnerable position. And we were talking about at lunch how actors control the Academy Awards. And they are the window dressing on the set. So they're often forced to do things that are terrible and they become manipulative doing things that are terrible.

Dr. James Dobson: Is the casting couch still in effect?

Dr. Ted Baehr: You know, I'd love the the new rejection of the casting couch. I think it's one of the best thing that's happened. I think there's some excesses there like any movement, but it's a great thing. But on the other side, there are producers. One of them is sitting here worked for one of my favorite movies, The Perfect Storm. And there are some great producers. There's some great all most of the stuntmen I know are very strong Christian. My friend Bob Yurkies, who started one of the founders of the Stuntman Association, trains Circus of the Stars and he'd get somebody up there, you know, who was famous like Brad Pitt, he'd get him up on the trapeze, four stories up and he'd drop him and he said, if you've accepted, you know what you're doing if you fall. So there are a lot of good people. And we just have to reach the other people. They all need Jesus. They all need Jesus.

Dr. James Dobson: Do they sneer at you and what you believe?

Dr. Ted Baehr: No. I've said this to you before and the last time we did an interview, I think sometimes it's more difficult within the Christian community than it is within Hollywood. I'll give you an example. You know, I was doing witnessing in Africa. Well, and I was doing four films. And I came through a little village and a lot of people have had this happen and this woman comes out and she says, how do I accept Jesus? And then I was in Sri Lanka shooting a film and a guide said, how do I accept Jesus? And the man said, well, you know, in Bombay, I taught at the Bombay Communications Institute. 99% of them came to Christ. The man who ran it said, you shouldn't have talked about Jesus. This is terrible. And one of them was a banker. He stayed a banker. He led over 60 people to Christ. Another one started churches for 20,000 people. Took lepers into his home. They made a difference. Now, I don't see them as being the enemy. I think sometimes the difficulty is in the community of Christians. There are Christians that are living a double life. They're going to bad movies. They're doing nefarious things, but they've put on the patina of being Christian, you know, and uh our goal is to live the the cross every day so that we can reach people for Jesus Christ. And that's our whole goal.

Dr. James Dobson: Well, I'm always um, lifted by talking to you, Ted because uh, in the midst of a very, very pagan world, you see what Jesus said that the field is white and the harvest. Amen. And that we really still can introduce people to Christ even in a world like that. Ted, this time passed very, very rapidly and there's more that I want to talk to you about. Uh, you've written a book called Real to Real, R-E-E-L to R-E-A-L. And the subtitle is 45 Movie Devotions for Families, including scripture and the values that we've been talking about. Would you come back and let us talk about this book and make people more aware of what it is not only this book, but you've written 35 others and I want to hear more about what's on your heart.

Dr. Ted Baehr: Good.

Guest (Male): Dr. Ted Baehr's passion for reaching Hollywood reminds us that no industry is beyond the reach of the gospel. You've been listening to Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk, featuring a fascinating conversation with Dr. Dobson and his guest, Dr. Ted Baehr. They've been discussing faith, film, and finding redemption in unexpected places. And if you missed any portion of today's broadcast, or if you'd like to share it with a friend or family member, visit jdfi.net. Every day, families all across America face challenging decisions about entertainment, education, and values. Through these Family Talk broadcasts, we're working to equip parents with biblical wisdom and practical guidance for navigating these cultural pressures. From defending the sanctity of human life to promoting God-honoring sexuality and religious freedom, this ministry stands firm on the principles that build strong families and a religious culture, but we can't do this work alone. When you support the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute, you're helping us to reach millions with the truth of the gospel and biblical principles for marriage, family, and child development. And your partnership enables us to continue producing programs like the one you heard today, and to provide resources that strengthen families when they need it most. Your gift of any amount makes a real difference in helping families stand strong for their faith, and you can make a secure donation when you send your tax-deductible contribution through the mail. Our ministry mailing address is Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk, PO Box 39,000, Colorado Springs, Colorado, the zip code 80949. Once again, our ministry mailing address is Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk, or just use those initials, JDFI for short. PO Box 39000, Colorado Springs, Colorado, the zip code 80949. You can also make a secure donation when you go to jdfi.net. That's jdfi for James Dobson Family Institute.net. Or call a member of our constituent care team, that number is 877-732-6825. Well, I'm Roger Marsh, and from all of us here at Family Talk, thanks so much for listening today. Be sure to join us again next time right here for part two of Dr. James Dobson's conversation with Dr. Ted Baehr. Their topic, Reel to Real, R-E-A-L. How families can become discerning moviegoers. It's coming up right here on the next edition of Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk, the voice you can still trust for the family you love. This has been a presentation of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.