Ep. 96: The Christian Cinema-GOP Persecution Complex
Added 2019-12-11 15:29:55 +0000 UTCThe last two decades have seen the release of a number of explicitly Christian movies which tell stories of believers navigating the trials and tribulations - both literal and figurative - of a perceived non-Christian world. In this universe, followers of Christ are constantly under siege by secularists, swarthy Muslims, gay and trans agenda-pushers, feminists and a hostile, out-of control federal government.
While the media usually lumps these movies into a generalized “faith” category they are best viewed not as earnest meditations on religion and “faith,” but a political project on behalf of the Republican party, with a distinct protestant flavor.
Today, we are going to focus on the biggest and most influential players in the “Christian cinema” space: production company and distributor PureFlix and Affirm, a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Worldwide. Pureflix and Affirm embody the core ideological tropes of the U.S. conservative base: a promotion of US militarism, anti-Muslim racism, pro-capitalist messaging, hostility to LGBTQ populations, anti-Semitic Zionism and a runaway contempt for women.
On this episode, we’ll discuss how the Christian cinema industry is not just low-budget schlocky propaganda that’s fun to dunk on (though it certainly is), but something more deliberate, sinister, and corrosive––a state-subsidized, far-right messaging machine for American reactionaries and imperial interests.
We are joined by author, artist and filmmaker Frank Schaeffer.
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Guest
Frank Schaeffer is a writer, lecturer, filmmaker, painter and New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen books. A survivor of both polio and a fundamentalist evangelical childhood, Frank has appeared on the Today Show, MSNBC, NPR, BBC News and many other media outlets.
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Show Notes
What Happens When Christian Movies Go Mainstream?
Alison Willmore | May 8, 2019 | BuzzFeed News
How the Christian movie series God’s Not Dead fails to be Christian
Alissa Wilkinson | April 3, 2018 | Vox
John Hagee's Controversial Gospel
Sarah Posner | March 12, 2008 | The American Prospect
How a faith-based movie studio is seizing the moment in Trump's America
Daniel Arkin | August 5, 2018 | NBC News
Forget Netflix and Chill. Try Pure Flix and Pray
Katherine Rosman | April 22, 2017 | The New York Times
The queasy appeal of ‘God’s Not Dead’
Deacon Steven D. Greydanus | Mar 27, 2015 | Crux
Zombie Franchises: God’s Not Dead
Kenneth Lowe | April 8, 2018 | Paste
White Supremacy & The Evangelical Church: Diversity Does Not Make You Non-Racist
No White Saviors | April 9, 2019
Donald Trump Is Surrounded By Jew-Hating Christian Zionists
Frank Schaeffer | August 26, 2019 | Frank Schaeffer Blog
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Transcript
For a full transcript of this episode, go here.
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Comments
Adam Totsko mentions The Righteous Gems as "orthogonal to his scene" which is always how you want it. https://nplusonemag.com/issue-35/politics/the-evangelical-mind/?fbclid=IwAR3fBbjW2yPEt29TSRvGcSJ8I09DjfiPZSsZuBF79alFKd0H1JMMBGAHMa0
2019-12-16 00:51:25 +0000 UTCGreat episode again. I wondered what happened to Lee Majors! Merry Holidays to you guys.
Ciaran Colley
2019-12-13 18:33:11 +0000 UTCThe movie sounded so bad that it could’ve been super funny if the consequences and implications weren’t so dire.
2019-12-12 21:38:36 +0000 UTCI love how excited Nima gets about the peace process part.
No Borders Only Podcasts
2019-12-11 22:24:11 +0000 UTC
