Doc Watch: Journeys with Ted and Kid Preachers
By Randall Stephens
The current issue of Newsweek tips us off to the forthcoming Alexandra Pelosi documentary, The Trials of Ted Haggard, now being advertised by HBO. Wow... If Pelosi's whimsical Friends of God and Journeys with George are any indication, this should be a real treat. Set your DVRs. I've used Friends in my Religion and American Culture class, and it's worked very well.
In the not-so-recent-film category. . .
I encourage blog readers to get a copy of Marjoe, an Oscar-winning 1972 documentary that will knock your socks OFF!!! I had not seen it until recently. What a revelation. A sleeper, for sure, the movie is about a one-time child pentecostal preacher who, as a jaded twenty-something, starts to test the boundaries of authenticity and holy-rolling antics. Marjoe Gortner later achieved some fame as a B movie actor--he starred in Earthquake, a classic disaster film from the Me Decade. But this picture takes us back to his days as a conflicted evangelist . . . “Should I stay or should I go now.” Marjoe's Mick Jagger-esque chicken dancing down the aisles in tent meetings and tabernacles is something to behold. The music that accompanies the former kid preacher’s Leap-of-Faith swagger could melt the heart of even the most stolid atheist. This one merits in-class viewing, for sure.
What is it with child preachers anyhow? It’s like watching very precocious/frightening child actors, right?
The current issue of Newsweek tips us off to the forthcoming Alexandra Pelosi documentary, The Trials of Ted Haggard, now being advertised by HBO. Wow... If Pelosi's whimsical Friends of God and Journeys with George are any indication, this should be a real treat. Set your DVRs. I've used Friends in my Religion and American Culture class, and it's worked very well.
In the not-so-recent-film category. . .
I encourage blog readers to get a copy of Marjoe, an Oscar-winning 1972 documentary that will knock your socks OFF!!! I had not seen it until recently. What a revelation. A sleeper, for sure, the movie is about a one-time child pentecostal preacher who, as a jaded twenty-something, starts to test the boundaries of authenticity and holy-rolling antics. Marjoe Gortner later achieved some fame as a B movie actor--he starred in Earthquake, a classic disaster film from the Me Decade. But this picture takes us back to his days as a conflicted evangelist . . . “Should I stay or should I go now.” Marjoe's Mick Jagger-esque chicken dancing down the aisles in tent meetings and tabernacles is something to behold. The music that accompanies the former kid preacher’s Leap-of-Faith swagger could melt the heart of even the most stolid atheist. This one merits in-class viewing, for sure.What is it with child preachers anyhow? It’s like watching very precocious/frightening child actors, right?
Comments
My wife just nixed getting rich by training our daughter as a baby preacher. I'll have to think of something else.
I can only work on my very smart border collie, Beatrice. I think she could go on the circuit. My wife has been teaching her a trick that makes Beatrice look like she's praying!
I think about Orsi's work on Catholic children. Children made adults nervous because the adults wanted them to follow a certain world view but the kids did not always follow the idyllic models of religious childhood. Children were the representations of adult hopes and ideals but they also navigated the religious worlds differently from their parents.
I'll have to watch _Marjoe_. Thanks for the great resource, Randall.
Your comment about the music sample reminds me of hearing a Grey Gardens line in a Rufus Wainwright song. Was a great fit.