A Journal for Jordan | 2021 | PG-13 | – 6.5.4

Why is “A Journal for Jordan” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “some sexual content, partial nudity, drug use and language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes several sex scenes and implied sex scenes with partial nudity, discussions of infidelity and jealousy, a few scenes of explosions caused by IEDs in war, discussions of soldiers dying in Iraq and why we were at war, several arguments, and some strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Based on a true story: A dedicated military man (Michael B. Jordan) and a successful journalist (Chanté Adams) meet and their relationship develops, regardless of the miles that separate them. They commit to marry after he returns from his tour in Iraq but their plans are derailed. Also with Jalon Christian, Robert Wisdom, Tamara Tunie, Jasmine Batchelor, Marchánt Davis, Susan Pourfar, Vanessa Aspillaga, Grey Henson and Johnny M. Wu. Directed by Denzel Washington. [Running Time: 2:11]

A Journal for Jordan SEX/NUDITY 6

 – A woman dreams and we see a man’s bare chest, and she flops back on a bed and inhales deeply as a man thrusts on top of her; they kiss and we see the man’s bare back (the woman wakes up in bed alone). A fully nude man and a woman kiss passionately (we see his bare back, buttocks, legs, chest and abdomen, as well as her bare back and breast from the side) and sex is implied. A man and a woman kiss passionately as they enter her apartment and she pushes him away telling him to wait and rushes to the shower to shave her legs; she then sits on a bed and they kiss (sex is implied). A nude man and woman lie in bed with sheets covering their genital areas (we see her bare legs to the thighs and shoulder and his bare chest, abdomen and legs to the side of his buttock) as he paints her toenails and sex is implied.
► A man and a woman kiss passionately in bed and she tells him that they should stop; she then rolls over and turns off the light. A man kisses a woman in a restaurant and they kiss later on a sidewalk. A man kisses a woman on the cheek. A man and a woman hug. A man and woman talk on the phone in several scenes and flirt. A woman receives a sex aid as a gift and she plugs it in and turns it on at home, and she is interrupted by her son; she tells him it is a massager.
► A woman tells a man that he can sleep on one side of her bed. A woman tells a man that he can sleep on her couch and that there should be no unreasonable expectations. A woman tells another woman, “Go get some.” A woman asks another woman if a man is good in bed and she makes a suggestive remark. A woman says, “Men are luxuries, not necessities.” A man tells a woman when she comes to the door after keeping him waiting, “It was worth the wait.” A man tells a woman that he wants a big family. A woman tells a man that she wants to have a baby and he asks her to marry him; she accepts. A woman says that her father accused her mother of “trapping him by getting pregnant with me.” A woman talks about knowing that her father was having affairs with other women. A woman asks a man what they do for sex when at war and tries to tell him that if he needs someone that he has her permission; he says that he is not interested and that she does not have his permission.
► A woman’s breast leaks milk onto her blouse in an office setting. A woman expresses breast milk in her office and when she changes her blouse, we see her wearing a bra and her bare back is exposed. A woman wears low-cut tops, sweaters, blouses and negligees in several scenes. A woman wears pajamas that include short shorts that reveal her bare legs to the upper thighs. A woman showers and we see her bare back and cleavage when she is wrapped with a towel. A woman shaves her legs in a couple of scenes and we see her bare legs to the thighs. A man is shirtless and we see his bare chest, abdomen to the hip and back. A woman has a sonogram and we see images of a fetus and the woman’s bare abdomen. A preteen boy does push-ups shirtless and we see his bare back, chest and abdomen.

A Journal for Jordan VIOLENCE/GORE 5

 – We hear reports of attacks on the Twin Towers in NYC on 9/11/2001 and we see two planes crashing into the buildings. A woman watches video footage of military vehicles being blown up on a desert road and calls a man in a panic. A woman talks about the day a man died and we see several military vehicles moving along a desert road, one is blown up and lands on its side and we see one soldier exiting the vehicle in flames; a man from another vehicle gets out and stumbles (we see that he has a bloody nose) and when he collapses to his knees we see a very bloody chest wound as a soldier tries to stop the bleeding but the injured man dies.
► A boy comes home from school with a bruise on his face after a fight; he tells his mother that children at school make fun of him for his skin color and say that he isn’t really Black and that if he is, his father must be in jail. A commanding officer shoves a soldier running in formation when he complains of not being able to continue; the officer tells him to climb on his back and he will carry him, he asks him if he is still smoking and the man gets back in formation and continues running. A woman seems nervous when the plane she is on with her son passes through a storm. Soldiers perform a service for three soldiers that died in combat. A preteen boy and his mother go to Arlington Cemetery and the boy reads from his father’s journal at his graveside.
► A woman yells and collapses when she gets a call telling her that a man died. A man and a woman argue bitterly over the phone and hang up (we understand that they don’t speak to each other for weeks afterward). A man and woman argue on the phone and when he hangs up, she yells and throws his picture on the floor breaking the glass. A woman argues with a man about her newspaper assignment and having to share it with a man. A woman leans over the driver in a car, honks the horn and yells when the driver in front of them at a stop light does not proceed when the light turns green. An infant screams in his crib and a woman wakes up and goes to calm him. A woman dreams and imagines a man whispering in her ear (she wakes with a start). A woman panics when she is awakened by a man knocking on her door and she is not ready; she scrambles around the room to get ready. A woman complains about being the standard-bearer at her job, by being an African-American woman. A woman asks a man, “How can you be a soldier and believe in God?” and he replies, “I believe in evil too.” A man tells a woman that he has been called up to go to Iraq and she panics. A man and a woman talk about arrangements in case he does not return from war. A woman says that people think she is her baby’s nanny because the child has a much lighter complexion than she does; she says that she breast-feeds her child right in front of them when people say things like that. A woman is alarmed when her young son says, “Peek-a-boo Daddy,” and sees a bunch of balloons floating by their apartment window. A man talks about being in the midst of a divorce and feeling like a failure. A man writes to his son, “It’s alright for boys to cry.” A woman tells her son, “You cry a lot.” A woman says that her father accused her mother of “trapping him by getting pregnant with me.”
► Several men are shown with injuries from war and we see one man with a missing leg, another with a missing arm, one with a missing finger, one in a wheelchair and one with burn scars on his face and neck. A woman is shown in labor moaning and pushing. A woman’s breast leaks milk onto her blouse in an office setting. A woman has a sonogram and we see images of a fetus.

A Journal for Jordan LANGUAGE 4

 – 6 sexual references, 10 scatological terms, 12 anatomical terms, 3 mild obscenities, 2 derogatory terms for African-American people, name-calling (sorrowful, punkin’, crazy woman, coward, tyrant, terrorist, death dealers, triangle of death, carnivores, punk [anatomical term deleted], grown man music, grandpa sneakers, standard-bearer, corny, boujee [mild obscenity deleted]), exclamations (work schmerk, force of habit, speak of the Devil, relax), 20 religious exclamations (e.g. Devil, oh Lord, God yes, God, oh God, oh my God, Amen, people say grace at meals in a few scenes). | profanity glossary |

A Journal for Jordan SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man and a woman smoke marijuana outside their parents’ home, and a man uses an inhaler in several scenes and we hear that he has asthma. People drink cocktails in a bar, people drink wine at a memorial, and people drink wine as well as champagne and eggnog at a party.

A Journal for Jordan DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Military service, 9/11/2001, Iraq war, Kuwait, Desert Storm, IEDs, death of a loved one, duty, fear of being alone, Claude Monet, Pointillism, infidelity, honor, divorce, failure, heroism, Emancipation Proclamation, racial stereotypes, racism, character, deeds.

A Journal for Jordan MESSAGE

 – Let your deeds define you. Family means everything.