It’s not just Christian film critics who are troubled by the way Jesus Camp portrays evangelicals. Some of the mainstream critics are actually patient enough, thoughtful enough, and fair enough to notice that the film is grossly unfair to Christians.
At The Chicago Reader, J.R. Jones writes, that the film is:
… hamstrung by its polemics. Filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady lump all evangelicals together, failing to distinguish the more fundamentalist Pentecostals, and they’ve clumsily inserted some unnecessary editorializing from talk-radio host Mike Papantonio, shown holding forth on his Air America show Ring of Fire. Unlike Hell House (2001), a much better documentary about the religious right, Jesus Camp seems less interested in understanding evangelicals than in making secular viewers wet their drawers.
I’d have to agree. Hell House is well worth seeing, a movie that I continue to share with others and discuss. I recommend it for everyone… Christians and otherwise.
Never heard of Hell House, will have to check that out.
Glad to see that someone actually looks a little past the surface and sees this movie for what it really is.
that’s a great quote to pull out thanks for sharing this thoughtful quote.
–RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com
Hell House is great. You should watch it soon, adam.
i did read that review – and was grateful – when it came out. it got two stars.
however, in the mini-review released today, that blurb is but a distraction from an otherwise glowing review warning us of america’s growing taliban movement.
not sure how accurate the Reader is in that assessment, but i’ve seen my share of inane evangelicalisms.