My wife and I had the opportunity to see Chasing Papi recently. My wife thought it was humorous.
I found it . . . disturbing.
I've given some thought to the reason I felt this way about the movie. I'll admit to laughing at a couple of parts. There was very little swearing. The little dog was adorable. So what was it that bothered me?
Jaci Velasquez was in it.
Right now, you may be asking, "Why is a Christian author disturbed by watching a major film that stars a Christian singer?" I'll explain.
In a Hollywood movie, I would expect to see scantly-clad women, chase scenes, kidnappings and . . . yes . . . maybe even astrology. If I had watched this movie and some other woman had played the part of Patricia, then I would not have been so . . . disturbed. But Jaci Velasquez is in this movie. And her adolescent fans, mostly impressionable young girls who are trying to make the correct choices, know it. They'll want to watch it.
This is not a good idea.
One of the girls spends the entire film wearing revealing tops and brazenly bringing attention to her breasts. Thankfully, Ms. Velasquez wasn't the one who played this part, but her fans have to sit through an hour and a half (give or take) of Cici to see Jaci. And everything else that was questionable in the movie involved the singer.
Let me give you a quick run-down of the plot. This guy, Tomas (nicknamed Papi Chulo . . . "pretty daddy"), is everything that a girl wants in a man. He's suave, handsome, intelligent . . . The works. Even men and a nun swoon over him. Unfortunately, he also cannot stop himself from falling in love with . . . and dating . . . three women from three different locations around the country.
This is the first thing that troubles me. The movie almost tries to make him out to be a victim of circumstance. He "loves" all three of them and "could never choose." Excuse me? After I'd met my wife, love dictated to me that she be the one to whom I give my romantic heart. Since I loved her in that way, I could never even think about forcing her to share that love with another woman . . . Let alone three.
Well, the three girls decide to surprise him by coming to Los Angeles . . . At the same time. They all three sneak into his house and jump out to surprise him at the same time, wearing lingerie.
Let's stop here for a moment. Compared to the other two girls' attire, Jaci's is somewhat modest. But that isn't the point. What is a girl planning when she surprises her boyfriend at his home wearing lingerie? Even Patricia was planning this. And the movie never really speaks out against pre-marital sex. Instead, the three girls spend the majority of the rest of the movie fighting over the two-timing slimeball.
At one point, their car breaks down. So what are three girls to do? Why, steal a motorcycle, of course! What really got to me about this part was that Patricia (you know . . . Jaci Velasquez?) was the thief. She's the one who jumped on the bike and drove it. I'll grant that the girls thought that Tomas was in danger and had to get to him, but this seems to suggest that the ends justify the means.
At the festival where the climax takes place, the three girls end up dancing on stage. The dancing is suggestive and, yes, our girl dances up there, too. The only thing that I noticed to be different between Patricia and the other girls was that the camera didn't focus on her rump while she was shaking it.
The basis for what the girls do in the movie is watching an astrologer on television. He says something that each of the girls interprets in a certain way and they pack up for LA. Even at the end of the movie, this idiot is still being played in Patricia's apartment. This and some Mexican spirit of revenge are the only two allusions to spirituality. The movie never even mentions God, other than as a swear word. In fact, during a "making of" segment on the DVD, Jaci never mentions him, either. She says that she is a singer, but doesn't mention her genre. I found this to be the biggest insult. We have a well-known sister in Christ who has moved into major film but, instead of using her position to bring glory to her Savior, it seems as if she compromises her values in a movie that stamps pre-marital sexuality with Hollywood's seal of approval.
I know that God holds us, as Christians, to different standards than the rest of the world. This movie has made me decide to take a look, with more scrutiny, at the things that I do in my life. And I guess that this is a good thing. But what kind of standard is a girl who sneaks into her boyfriend's house to seduce him and steals a motorcycle living up to? Let's just hope that her Christian fans don't look at this movie as Ms. Velasquez's approval of such behavior.
October 26, 2003