Christian
music star Jaci Velasquez is receiving heavy criticism from two family-oriented
web sites for the moral content of scenes in her recently released movie “Chasing
Papi.” The PG-rated comedy was released April 16 by 20th Century Fox.
The
plot of the movie revolves around three single women who all think they have
found the perfect man, “Tomas.” After discovering that he has
been dating all three women at the same time, “Cici,” “Lorena,”
and “Patricia,” played by Velasquez, fight for the affection of
Tomas.
In
the first scene of the movie that received criticism from Screenit.com, all
three women go to Tomas’ house without knowing the others are present.
The women reportedly walk out from different rooms in the house hoping to
surprise their man, but instead see each other. The problem: all three women
are wearing lingerie that Tomas bought them.
The
web site also reports that later in the movie, Cici “tears or otherwise
modifies Lorena’s and Patricia’s clothing to make them look sexier
for a dance number.”
According
to Focus on the Family’s Plugged In Film Reviews, the third controversial
scene occurs when all three women “sleep on the bed” with an unconscious
Tomas.
Velasquez
posted a message on her Web site in her own defense, saying, “To put
your minds at rest, no I haven’t left my personal faith in God, and
I don’t ever intend to.” She also said that “by the grace
and power of God” she was able to witness to those on the set of the
movie. “I am grateful for the production company, because they allowed
me to change and edit several scenes that I was uncomfortable doing because
of my beliefs,” she said. “The process of deciding to enter Hollywood
was a very thoughtful, prayerful one.”
“Don’t
let Jaci’s starring role mislead your family,” wrote Plugged In’s
Steven Isaac. “Chase teens and tweens away from Papi. There’s
no other way to interpret the implications of this ‘lingerie scene’
as anything other than sexual. Women simply don’t bounce into a man’s
bedroom wearing trench coats and little else for any purpose other than sex.”
— E.P.
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