Animation
Good Times
Netflix takes a classic sitcom, Good Times, and turns it into a vulgar, violent, sexually-charged TV-MA show.
If middle school brothers Josh “Filthy McNasty” and Jordan Bell know one thing, it’s that they want to be professional basketball players when they grow up.
“Ball was our life,” Filthy says. “There was only one word in our dictionary: win.”
Of course, such a mentality is prone to leading people astray, so their father, ex-NBA star Chuck, and mother, Crystal, work together to keep them in line.
“In the game of life, family is the court, basketball is the heart,” Chuck tells them. “Always leave your heart on the court. Win or lose, y’all play together.”
Filthy and Jordan will still need to take plenty of steps if they ever want to play with the best of the best—and those include growing up, completing their schoolwork and overcoming many trials. And even if they do have what it takes to go pro, what happens when Jordan begins expressing doubts about whether he even wants to?
And with the family’s collective mind focused on basketball, how will they take it when negative familial circumstances begin conflicting with their dreams?
I’d really like to recommend, without reservation, The Crossover. I really would.
The Disney+ series has some great messages about family sticking together, conflict resolution, the difficulties of parenting and dealing with grief. And those are some pretty awesome lessons in a show that’s ultimately about basketball.
But while the majority of this show’s first season is quite clean, its second episode brings the biggest problems. The episode focuses on Filthy’s attempt to rid himself of a string of basketball game losses by buying a voodoo doll. We hear the characters discuss using voodoo to “unblock blessings,” and when Filthy’s mother finds out about it, she scolds him for not “honoring” the pagan practice rather than being critical for him engaging in it in the first place. It’s a somewhat strange response for a family that (the show suggests) is a Christian one.
There are some other issues, too. In one episode, a girl openly dates two boys (much to one of the boy’s frustration). In another, we see teenagers passionately kissing at a skate rink, and a couple adult female characters wear low-cut dresses. Two underaged people are seen drinking at one point. And in terms of swearing, viewers can expect roughly one misuse of God’s name per episode.
We can praise The Crossover for its many positive family messages. But the voodoo elements from episode two—combined with some smaller issues—just may be enough to muddy the waters of this otherwise decent watch.
Filthy and Jordan have their sights set on the championship game. But unless Jordan completes his semester paper, he won’t be allowed to play.
Chuck and Crystal share a kiss. Filthy thinks about a girl he has a crush on, calling her “pulchritudinous, having great physical beauty or appeal.”
A man makes a couple references to “aligning his chakras.” A man has an asthma attack. Crystal drinks wine.
We hear one use of God’s name in vain.
Convinced his basketball team’s string of losses is a result of a curse, Filthy looks to buy something from the local voodoo store to turn his luck around.
Filthy prays to LeBron James, and he says he’s been “praying to whoever will listen.” The team’s losing streak convinces Filthy that he is cursed and needs to “unblock the blessings” by using voodoo and magic. Filthy goes to a voodoo store and buys a voodoo doll, and then he proceeds to beat it, hoping that it will harm an opponent. Later, when Crystal finds the doll, she rebukes Filthy, but not for witchcraft: “Voodoo isn’t just magic,” she says. “It’s a religion. We need to honor that.”
Additionally, we hear someone say that they were “hexed.” Chuck quotes James 2:26, applying “faith without works is dead” to wanting to win a basketball game without practicing. Someone says that someone needs to “believe that magic is real.” The basketball team silently prays to win the game.
Chuck and Crystal share a kiss. A man attempts to sell whisky to minors. Chuck drinks alcohol.
We hear one use of God’s name in vain. We also hear one instance of “h—.”
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
Netflix takes a classic sitcom, Good Times, and turns it into a vulgar, violent, sexually-charged TV-MA show.
While its protagonist might live a nuanced life, The Sympathizer’s problematic content can’t be described the same way.
Say hola once again to the iconic explorer in this faithful reboot of the children’s series.
Based on a popular video game, Ark: The Animated Series features hungry dinosaurs, bloodthirsty people and plenty of problems.
