Episode 37: Mom Let Me Sleep In... Forever!

Young Adult Movie Ministry

Details, credits, errata: This week we have the delightful Natasha Oladokun, the poet, journalist, and teacher; her most recent arcticle is here and two of her wondeful poems can be read here. Our film, as we have threatened for many months, is Left Behind: The Movie, directed by Vic Sarin and starring, though perhaps that word is misleading, Kirk Cameron, Brad Johnson, Gordon Currie, and Chelsea Noble, among other luminaries. It is… astounding. I believe this is the first time we’ve discussed a movie so bad the author of the book sued the filmmakers.

The TikTok we refer to is preserved in a tweet here (the blowback from going viral was considerable and the author deleted the original); the song is by James (not Joseph, sic Sam) Arthur and is called, appropriately, Trainwreck. Sam did the math wrong: Brad Johnson is 13 years and change older than Janaya Stephens, who plays his daughter. This is a wide-ranging episode! We talk about Palestine, and the weird antisemitism of dispensationalist theology, queer issues in the church, and much more. We’re proud of it, it’s a good one, thanks in large part to our wonderful guest.

Our theme song is Louis Armstrong and His Hot 5’s Muskrat Ramble, made freely available by the Boston Public Library and audio engineering shop George Blood, LP through the Internet Archive. Left Behind: The Movie is copyright 2000 Cloud Ten Productions and Namesake Entertainment. Brief audio excerpts are used herein for purposes of review and no other copyright is intended or implied. All other material is copyright 2021 Sam Thielman and Alissa Wilkinson.

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