The Princess Cut

Produced by Paul Munger and Sheila Munger and written by Paul Munger

The Plot

Grace, a lifelong farm girl now in her early 20s, has dreamed all her life of the day "Mr. Right" slips a Princess Cut diamond on her finger and swears to love her forever. Tonight may be that night as Stewart has something special planned after 15 months together. But when things don't go as planned and the romance crashes down around her, she launches on a quest, aided by her father, to understand what truly loving another person actually means. Will Grace finally discover love or ruin her chances for happiness forever?

Key points:

• Grace has dreamed all her life of getting married

• The dream is centered around a worldly thing - a diamond ring, that grace connects to the notion of love

• Grace has been dating a man for over a year and expects him to ask her to marry him, but this does not happen.

• Grace launches on a quest to find out what truly loving another person means

• Grace is aided by her father

The Plot

1. Does the plot glorify God? Yes

• The film is centered around marriage, which is created by God (Genesis 2:24, Mark 10:6-9).

• The romance comes crashing down around Grace, which hints the love she had with Stewart was not God centered, but worldly love based on fleeting feelings.

• Grace wants to find out what true love is. The kind of love she is looking for can only be found through God, as God IS love.

• Grace is aided by her father. The father is the spiritual head of the household and as the spiritual leader his aim is to make the quest centered on the Lord.

2. Does the film content glorify God through His Word: Use of Bible verses and adhere to His commandments?

Jeremiah (about marriage vow)

Genesis 2:18 - the man needed a helper

1. Promotes God as the only God

   1. God’s plan for us is referenced throughout the film by the father, the doctor and Grace.

2. Promotes being free from idols or refrain from promoting idols

   1. Mother does not encourage Grace’s focus on the diamond ring she saw at the jewellers that day

   2. Mother hinted at what men were not worth pursuing - men who were handsome but had more focus on themselves than their potential mate

   3. Grace’s mother was also not impressed when Grace said her friend had made the Dean’s list that semester.

   4. Grace’s mother said true love was worth waiting for

3. Does not use His name in vain N/A

4. Promote the Sabbath or refrain from promoting Sunday as the day of

worship?

The father mentions the new man having time to find a local church and invites him to join them to church service. The day is not mentioned.

1. Honours parents or refrains from promoting dishonour of parents?

   1. The youngest son called his mother ma’am, showing respect and listened and humbled himself when she corrected him over his reaction to the meal at dinner time.

   2. The children’s communication with their parents - respectful, obedient

   3. The parents are humble, loving and soft spoken

   4. Grace gets a saying about what her grandmother said to her mother when she was heartbroken over things.

   5. The new man in town calls the father sir when they visited him to welcome him to their town

   6. Grace confides in her parents and the father readily forgives her on behalf of him and his wife

   7. The formality of asking permission to date a woman with marriage in mind

2. Speak against murder or refrain from promoting murder?

   1. A fight scene which was depicted in the correct light, and not as entertainment.

3. Speak against adultery or or refrain from promoting adultery?

   1. Grace mentioned Stewart had been checking other girls out during his relationship with her

4. Speak against theft or refrain from promoting theft? N/A

5. Speak against lies or refrain from promoting lies?

   1. Steward leading Grace on for 15 months

   2. Another young man has an ulterior motive and tries to deceive Grace

6. Speak against jealousy or refrain from promoting jealousy?

   1. A couple of examples of jealousy (Jared and the woman who came into town from Colorado, that ended up being jealous of Grace) - depicted in a negative light

   2. Grace’s friend was jealous of her

Question: What Christian standards does the film convey?

• Scripture alone

  • Jared comments how Grace takes the “commandment stuff” pretty seriously.

  • The father uses scripture based reading to help him guide his daughter while she is waiting for marriage

• Salvation through Christ alone (does not promote good works)

  • Doctor says we are to build our identity around Jesus

• State of the Dead N/A

• Biblical marriage

  • Grace’s father reminds her what they talked about when she is about to go on her date with Stewart. Grace’s reply about what she would do if Stewart touched her implied that they had had a conversation about physical touch before marriage.

  • The younger son scoffs at girls just wanting to get married and have babies. The father answers that marriage is a gift from God.

  • When his older son asks him if he thinks there is one person perfect out there for each person, he answers that it is not so much about finding the perfect person, but about becoming the person God wants you to be

  • Conversation about where the marriage vows came from - Jeremiah 29:6

  • The oven pips and the mother said that duty called.

  • The mother didn’t entertain the charm talk from the man at the door inquiring about the ad (she cut off the conversation and closed the door)

  • Jared tells Grace about his broken home (awkward body language indicated the pain of broken marriages)

  • Supportive of each other when things are financially tough due to lack of crops that season.

  • The husband listens to his wife’s intuition about a young man that is interested in Grace. She has doubts about his character. He suggests they invite him to dinner to get to know him better.

  • The suggestion for a starter marriage (live in - to get rid of the guilt and get used to the guy)

  • Use time to help others and draw closer to God.

  • Relied on God for their plans

• Husband as the head in his home and the local church

  • Father leads the prayer at the dinner table

  • Father was reading a book about how to be a better husband and spiritual leader in his home - the book was recommended by his pastor

  • Father’s first meeting with Jared - he does the talking on behalf of him and his wife and offers to sit down and talk a while before Jared takes Grace out for a soft drink. The wife lets the father do the talking.

  • The touching scene when Grace is disappointed with her life and how things had gotten out of hand with her relationship. The mum recommends talking to her father - the spiritual head of the house, to ask for his wisdom.

  • Said it is his job to prepare her for marriage - guide her.

• Recognition of the value of life and blessing in children

  • Loving relationship between the parents and their children

  • Promotion of children within marriage

• Modesty of dress

  • Grace’s supposed best friend makes an unkind comment about the way she dresses, “like her mother” - modest dress

• Recognition of the body as the temple of God

  • Grace side steps Jared attempts consistent attempts to have physical touch and kissing.

  • Grace’s sinking feeling when a young man kisses her - when she had been waiting for marriage. It didn’t feel right. She knew it was not what her parents wanted . Her best friend doesn’t help. Encourages the behaviour instead of understanding how wrong it was. Important with Christian friends in our inner circle - same value (no hugging, kissing, touching). Grace felt guilty.

Question: Does the film give glory and honour and thanks to God?

• Prayer for thanks at the dinner table

• The father gives thanks to God for things not working out with Stewart as he was obviously not marriage material for Grace. - the Lord kept her from a big disaster

• The father praised God during a dramatic scene, when someone could have been badly hurt or worse.

• Other example of praise throughout the movie

Question: Did the film encourage my faith?

Yes! The illustration of biblical marriage was well done, and the beauty of a Christian family - all looking to the Lord. The man and woman knew their roles.

Question: What actions did I do, as a result of seeing the film?

Reflect on the lead up to marriage and how God intended it to be

Reflect on marriage in general

Question: Would I change anything about the film?

The father shoved past the real estate agent - violence

Opportunity for more scripture verses

Could have done without the shooting competition at the harvest festival.Would have been nice to have the father saying some scripture and giving thanks during his welcome speech.

SUMMARY

Great illustration of God’s plan for each person to save themselves for marriage

Wonderful illustration of the Christian family

Living off the land - with what God has given us

Film site: www.newfaithnetwork.com

Source for film thumbnail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Cut_(film)