Ignorant Movie Review:  Jesus Camp

Response to title:  Oh no.  I heard about this movie from a friend who called me up aghast after seeing a preview for it.  This is one of those movies that I want to have seen without having to actually see it.  I hate watching adults squash a child's natural ability to question and learn under the hard thumb of religious fundamentalism.  We've tried this already, people; it's called Medieval Europe.

Response to curbside poster:  Well, until I saw the poster I was holding out hope that I may have jumped to the wrong conclusion about the film's content.  I didn't.  I'm going to be blatantly biased as I'm not a fan of religion in politics.

Response post-credits:  Focusing its documentary attention upon the childhood education movement within Evangelical Christianity in America, the film follows three children as they are trained to be "God's soldiers" in Bible Camp, home school and seminars.  The film itself has strong perceived production value and a very cohesive realist narrative structure.  All-in-all, it is a very good-to-great documentary.   Yet, I spent the majority of the film alternating between incredulity, anger and fear as this movie shines a bright light on an ideological battle brewing in our country between absolutism and free will.  And I don't know what frightened me more, watching adults drive children to fearful tears over perceived sins, or listening to my fellow audience laugh throughout the movie.

Rating:  4 out of 5 Oly Stubbies.

Film Haiku:  "You need to repent"
              kids on fire at Devil's Lake.
                  The reaper of hearts.

Can be seen:  Olympia Film Society
                         206 5th Ave N
                     Olympia, WA  98501
   
             Tuesday, December 12, 6:30pm
             Wednesday, December 13, 9pm
            Thursday, December 14, 6:30pm