Have you ever turned on the television after dinner to flip through all the channels finding nothing suitable to watch with your family?  Have you ever been shocked by the subject matter on a prime time television show?  Have you ever watched a movie and thought, “Why did they put that in?”, whether it was language, inappropriate behavior, etc.?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, then I think you will be interested in a new movie, Dolphin Tale.

It is not just the fact that a clean, family-friendly movie is coming our way.  It is literally an opportunity to show Hollywood that there is a market for these kind of movies.  If there are 150,000 people or more who come out to watch Dolphin Tale at the mid-day viewing on its opening day, which is September 23rd, then Warner Bros. will commit to creating more family-friendly movies.

That number does not sound too difficult to attain.  It sounds like the movie executives don’t have that much faith in the demand for movies with inspiring storylines, no foul language, sex, etc.  I propose that we try to show them by exceeding their wildest dreams.  Get your family, call your friends, tell your home school group and go together to see the movie next Friday.  You have exactly one week to plan your trip.

Friday’s matinee is not the most convenient time for my family.  We are usually schooling at that time.  It is also my birthday.  However, my family is going when the tickets are the cheapest out of a desire to support the men and women who went out on a limb to create this film.

It is not your typical family-friendly movie.  It is not your ordinary film based on a true story.  It is a home school movie.  The young actors are homeschoolers that were discovered at their homeschool co-op, if I heard the story correctly.  There are lines in the film that are positive about homeschooling.

Does your child ever feel isolated and/or different?  If you are not careful and do not surround your child with like-minded families and friends, then they are apt to feel alone.  This is one of the reasons that we take our oldest children to places like the home school convention, which is where I first heard about Dolphin Tale.  For more information, Sally Clarkson is a great resource as her son’s job is to promote the movie to the home school world.

Watching a homeschooling family on the big screen will be a treat for my children.  Another confirmation that they are not alone as they live counter-culturally.

If the homeschooling communities unite, we can make a difference.  Whether we like it or not, money talks.  Showing Hollywood that there is a demand for good, clean films is one way to ensure that more will come our way.  So mark your calendars and plan on treating your family to a day at the movies Friday, September 23rd.

Tags: Dolphin Tale, family-friendly movie, homeschoolers unite, Sally Clarkson, September 23

This entry was posted on Friday, September 16th, 2011 at 9:53 am and is filed under Homeschooling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.