I’ve been working my way through all three seasons of Arrested Development for a short while now. If you’ve ever seen one of these and liked it, you’ll like it that much more to see them all in sequence so you can pick up on every in-joke and self-reference. All of the episodes are good and many are brilliant. There are more pop-cultural references and postmodern moments than you can shake a stick at. The gags are driven by witty writing, consistent characterization and an incomparable ensemble cast. I swear I could (and probably will) watch them all again at some point.
I expected I would like Jesus Camp, and I did. It isn’t a film making fun of religion, as I’m sure it will be branded (if it has not already been) by some. It’s actually a careful look at a frightening evangelical subculture, the leaders of which are dedicated, quite self-consciously, to brain washing their children into a zombie army to fight for the political triumph of their particular brand of Christianity.
[Warning: possible plot spoilers]
The filmmakers have gained incredible access into the lives of the point-of-view characters. We spend a lot of our time with Becky Fischer, the head “teacher” at a right-wing fundamentalist summer youth camp. You get some insight into Becky’s character and opinions early on, when she speaks admiringly of Islamic suicide bombers’ dedication to “lay down their lives” for what they believe. She clearly wants to instill the same kind of irrational fervor into Christian youth, as the predominance of martial imagery in her speech makes clear.
But far better is the time spent following two of the children who attend the camp: Levi and Becky. Levi is clearly an intelligent and thoughtful boy. He aspires to be a preacher himself and clearly has a talent for it. Unfortunately for his clear intellect, he lives in a world entirely sheltered from outside influences and information. He’s home schooled, and we get to see some of the sessions with him and his mother, who spends her time debunking science and describing the evils of public schools, where, she claims, teachers openly ridicule the religious (which doesn’t jive with my experiences as a public school kid, but I’ll save that for another post).
Becky, though, is more frightening. Given access to more reliable sources, Levi is a smart enough kid to come to his own conclusions. But Becky, perhaps owing to her youth, lacks his philosophical complexity. She’s a true believer, and listening to her inarticulately attempt to ape the sayings and arguments of her teachers is painful and frightening.
[end of plot spoilers]
Jesus Camp is not a preachy film. In fact, it’s very well done. But, by implication, here’s a lot to chew on here about the distinction between teaching and indoctrination, about the differences between mainstream Christianity and fringe factions like this one, and about the importance of the separation of church and state. It’s a film worth watching and discussing.
I keep meaning to do a post on The Motorcycle Diaries, a great film I saw recently. But I’ll save that for next time.