I did my best to try to sit through "Jesus Camp". I got about 3/4 of the way through, then I just could not take it any more.
I'm a big fan of horror movies. Although I dearly love the classics (such as the Hammer vampire flicks and the Corman/Price/Poe epics), I'm certainly not a reactionary fan-boy: There's much modern good stuff, such as Haute Tension. Of course, there's some films I won't sit through (such as misogynist stuff, or the recent crop of 'torture porn' tripe such as the 'Saw' and 'Hostel').
I appreciate campy material as well, like Ed Wood's movies. Come to think of it, that's the sort of thing Jesus Camp really needed to make it more palatable. It needed the MST3K treatment. It would have been so comforting to see Mike (or Joel), Crow, and Tom Servo there in the corner of my screen, hurling insults and providing inane commentary.
The problem with "Jesus Camp" is that it's real. The cliche horror tagline to 'Just keep telling yourself it's only a movie' won't work. You see it all: home schooled families scoffing at evolution and the scientific method, textbooks espousing a perverted history of our country, the creepy android-like Pastor Haggard (now fortunately disgraced) gleefully predicting the Dominionist take-over of our country, and children who are not even near puberty confessing their sinful lives. But worst of all is the queen mother, rousing her hive of soldier drones to swarm over all us heathens.
If you are made of stronger stuff than me, I can offer one bit of cautious advice: don't watch it alone! After it's over, smudge your DVD player. :)
4 comments:
I usually have to pass on these movies but they are tempting. Part of me wants to see the clowns in action, if only to say "see how crazy they are!" But then I just get depressed that I've wasted energy and time on it, knowing I could've been creating, reading or doing something otherwise wonderful.
A friend asked me to watch "What the Bible Says About Homosexuality" recently. But as I told him, I don't care what the Bible says!
Yeah, I have a morbid curiosity that I like to indulge now and then. But Jesus Camp was too much. OTOH, I'm glad the film was made. It helps expose the twisted agenda of the Dominionists and preserves a record for future generations so they can see how fucked-up things were.
Thanx for commenting,
best,
Gene
"Dominionists"--I like that description but haven't heard it before. Very appropriate.
When I participated in the 'blog against Theocracy', I found some great sites which keep an eye on Dominionist activities. I'll post a few.
best,
Gene
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