CrankyÕs
Flickershow Reviews
By Neil Richter
True Believers
Documentaries
often arenÕt very popular with the general public. It makes sense when you
realize that they go against one of the main purposes of film as a medium: to
offer escapism. Instead, documentaries (depending on the filmmaker) hold up a
mirror to the world that we return to when we leave the theatre. Sometimes the
results arenÕt very pretty. The Academy Award nominated film Jesus Camp is a very apt example. This terrifying look at fundamentalist
right-wingers is both eye opening and disturbing. Right off the bat IÕd like to
point out that this is an even-handed film. While the documentaryÕs subjects
are radical evangelical and born-again Christians, Jesus Camp never descends into out and out Christian bashing. Instead,
the film intersperses the main narrative with periodic commentary by a moderate
Christian radio host who stresses the idea that many radical Christians are, in
fact, not even representing their faith correctly. I feel that this is one of
the films most important statements. Religion by itself isnÕt the enemy here. When
fundamentalist beliefs combine with governmentÉthatÕs another story. Furthermore,
one never gets the sense that tricky editing or any other subtleties are being
used to pull audiences in one direction or another. The more radical subjects
are, the more they skewer themselves without any outside help.
Speaking of radical subjects, itÕs probably about time
to talk about Becky Fischer, whom the film focuses on. Becky serves as pastor
of an evangelical childrenÕs ministry in Missouri, and also hosts a Christian
summer camp in South Dakota. The crux of the filmÕs narrative follows both her
and a number of children as they embark on their week at camp. The results are
absolutely surreal. Becky is a force to be reckoned with. Her sermons to kids,
some of them as young as toddlers, are intimidating in their fire and vitriol. At
one point she drops everything in the middle of her preaching to announce that
Harry Potter is a warlock and would have been put to death in the middle ages. Things
get even weirder as the kids move to the camp. Becky accuses many of the
children of being fakers and liars who donÕt truly carry Christ in their
hearts. She pours bottled water over their hands to cleanse them. The kids are
encouraged to psyche themselves up into a spiritual frenzy, flailing wildly and
speaking in tongues, the looks on their faces alternating between spiritual
ecstasy and out and out terror. They are harangued over and over again, without
one mention of ChristÕs love, which I kind of assumed was an important part of
the Christian faith in the first place.
WhatÕs
more disturbing is the sense that these kids are being indoctrinated into
something far larger than themselves. This particular branch of Christianity,
whether you want to call it the far-right, the evangelicals, or the
born-agains, stresses a language based on conflict and hate. These children
arenÕt worshipping, theyÕre being trained to become Ôsoldiers of ChristÕ. When
Becky and other members of her inner circle reference the kids, they have a
tendency to describe them in words such as ÔresourceÕ and ÔusableÕ. One
wouldnÕt be far off-base at all to describe this process as brain-washing.
The
true tragedy of all this is brought home when the audience gets to know a few
of these children. One in particular stands out for me. A 9-year-old girl named
Rachael is introduced whose level of belief borders on the fanatical. Her
speaking style is a frenzied, hyper-articulate runaway train that only stops
every few minutes so she can gulp in more air. When we see this little girl on
the street fervently trying to convert non-believers, or in the bowling alley
praying over her ball every time she rolls it, one gets the sense that this
girl is being given a life sentence rather than a faith. Her obvious intellect
is squandered, since she has nothing to do besides parrot the opinions of
people like Becky Fischer. SheÕll never have a normal childhood. SheÕll never
be free to explore the world on her own terms. As one moderate Christian in the
film says, if God gave us a brain he must have expected us to use it. The
rigid, militaristic lifestyle dictated by the primary figures in Jesus Camp seems a direct affront to the tenets of Christianity
itself.
When
one realizes that these are the people who are slowly gaining control of this
country, the fear really sets in. Jesus Camp reminds us that this was a nation based on freedom,
whether it be religious or otherwise. The right-wingers depicted in this film
claim to love America, but are shown to have no regard for any nation except
the one that they have created for themselves. This becomes undeniably clear
when one family hoists a flag with a cross on it above the American stars and
stripes and gives their own pledge of a allegiance to a ÔChristian NationÕ. This
is a scary, scary film, and an extremely important one.