crucifixion

What Would Jesus Watch – 9: The Passion Live

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

Welcome to “What Would Jesus Watch?”, our podcast series overanalyzing the overlooked genre of Christian Cinema.

passion liveThis week Kate and Alex return for an emergency podcast covering the glorious ridiculousness of Tyler Perry, Trisha Yearwood and Chris Daughtry performing “The Passion Live!”

Yes Fox just broadcast a “live” modern musical retelling of the last days of Jesus’ life using the music of Train, Jason Mraz and Hoobastank so we had to cover it in painstaking detail. We name our favorite and least favorite performers and musical moments, talk about the uncomfortable acting and argue over whether or not Jesus would be a modern day “bro”. We also cover whether or not the true message of Easter was proclaimed and share some Prayer Requests for who we’d like to see in next year’s version of “The Passion Live”.

If you didn’t catch “The Passion Live” you’ll still be able to enjoy the podcast. But if you’d like to prepare you can watch the full musical on Fox.com or search On Demand and other streaming providers.

Follow along on Twitter and on Facebook to see what movie we’ll be watching next or to offer us your suggestions or comments!

To Subscribe on iTunes click here or search for Pop God Podcasts on the Podcast app or in iTunes or listen on Podbean Continue reading →

Are You Called To Be Controversial?

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

Did you hear the one about the actors who ignited an international incident with their movie trailer?

No kidding – the teaser for the new Seth Rogen/James Franco comedy “The Interview” sparked a firestorm of controversy after it premiered last week. The movie is about a pair of talk show hosts hired by the CIA to go undercover and kill North Korean leader kill Kim Jong-un.

Needless to see, the Korean leader didn’t see the movie as a laughing matter, labeling it an “act of terror and an act of war”.

It’s hard to say how serious Kim Jong-un’s threats are. But there’s no question “The Interview” trailer got people talking.

I wonder why Rogen and Franco decided to make such a controversial movie. Certainly a comedy doesn’t need to invoke terroristic actions to be funny. Why bother? Continue reading →

The Conspiracy Of Hope

/ Alex Doriot / 1 Comment

denver.post.kennedy.assassination.croppedI fell down the rabbit hole. Like many others this week, I became fascinated by the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination.

The JFK killing appears to be a once in a lifetime time type event – one that only could have happened at a certain point in history where there was not enough media saturation to find out the truth but just enough media saturation to create the controversy and conspiracies which continue on some 50 years and counting down the road.

One podcast I listened to featured one of my favorite authors Chuck Klosterman giving his analysis on the conspiracy theories. Klosterman made an interesting point on conspiracies in general.

Klosterman hypothesized that conspiracies are often more comforting to believe than the more probable truth. He said believing that a few people somehow orchestrated a catastrophic event is more comforting than believing all things happen by chance. If we simply believe all the events of life are random and by chance, that can be even scarier than thinking a secret society or some evil mastermind acted outside of normalcy.

I think Klosterman is spot on. In fact, I’ll take his theory one step further. I think conspiracies can be more comforting than believing God is actually in control.  Continue reading →

Truth In Advertising

/ Alex Doriot / 3 Comments
Don-Draper-2The reason you haven’t felt it is because it doesn’t exist. What you call love was invented by guys like me to sell nylons. – Don Draper

On “Mad Men”, Don Draper is the embodiment of confidence. He is the master of the main goal of advertising – making the public believe they simply cannot live without what he is selling. Advertising, at it’s best, points out what the audience needs. The right advertisement can make you think buying a bar of soap will change your life. What Don Draper does on “Mad Men” every week is nothing new. In fact, the principles of advertising can be traced all the way back to the Bible. Continue reading →