Thursday, May 29, 2008

What I'm Watching...


I'm a bit of a doco nerd, I love anything that fills me with information and outrage at the same time which is why I love documentaries on extreme religious beliefs. I can understand people loving something so much they want everybody to know about it, but these methods are taking it a teeeeensy bit too far!

Keith Allen Will Burn In Hell Before he was Lily Allen's Dad (yes, he is Lily Allen's Dad) he was a comedian/musician who would later go on to be Lily Allen's Dad. Oh, and he's Lily Allen's Dad. In between mentions of his daughter he is interacting with/baiting the Westboro Baptist Church, the "God Hates Fags" religious sect. Honestly, he's rather juvenile and doesn't approach any of his arguments in a particularly smart way (he relies heavily on the fact that one of the children is illegitimate which instead of exposing the family's hypocrisies comes off as incredibly cruel and unnecessary). It's a fairly flawed documentary, but still very interesting. Shame about the presenter.

Louis Theroux: The Most Hated Family in America Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 I adore Louis Theroux. He's a bit gawky, a bit awkward, incredibly smart and thoroughly endearing. This documentary is also about the Westboro Baptist Church (I do love a good compare and contrast when it comes to things shows like this!) only less aggressive and smarter than the Keith Allen doco. There are certainly opinions regarding the ethical nature of their beliefs but it's what a documentary should be; interested and inquisitive, able to collect information without too much insane ranting from the host. Maybe I'm just biased because I think Louis Theroux is brilliant. You can read a post documentary interview with him here.

Baby Bible Bashers To begin with, you'll probably giggle. Then you'll start to feel a bit melancholic. Then you'll begin to wonder how deeply ingrained an idea can get that a parent would force their 7 year old child to preach about abortion and the wrongs of homosexuality in the middle of New York. There's also the world's youngest ordained minister (he was 6) who preaches in a suit and alligator shoes and a Brazilian girl who wants to save drug dealers and gang members through religion. Oh, and then there's the parents. They say that behind every great man is a greater woman, well, behind every baby bible basher is a stir crazy, foaming at the mouth, money grubbing parent.

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