Perhaps the only reason that I would watch this DVD all the way to the end is that I agree with every conclusion that Fleming has reached in life. In fact what he does tell about his life closely parallels mine.
I share with him the mixture of disgust, amusement and fear at the fundamentalist protestant christian movement that has become so powerful in almost every way in the United States today. My inclination is to praise this DVD but I try to look at works like this from the perspective of the other guy as much as I can and from that angle he failed miserably.
At the risk of abusing a metaphor, Flemming is preaching to the choir.
Any Christian that could sit through the first ten minutes of this film and not either walk out of the room or throw their DVD player through the window deserves high praise. Nevertheless, Flemming’s disparagement is so complete I can’t imagine that this Christian, patient as he or she might be, would be able to entertain any of the ideas presented. And that’s a shame because many of them are quite compelling.
With an attitude that both sides of the widening cultural divide in the United States is guilty of, Flemming does more than say that he disagrees with most of his countrymen. He loudly and proudly says that they are hateful, despicable, clownish oafs. He presents the extremes of their points of views as mainstream and damns them all for it.
Once again, I’m tempted to go along with him in this but I’m embarrassed at his maltreatment. Most Christians, like most people, think of themselves as good people and believe that they are doing the best that they can for themselves and the world. At one point Flemming does admit this but it is so deep in the film and a Christian would have to wade through so much muck that it hardly rights the wrong.
I watched the film again, trying to find where I might have misinterpreted something or taken Flemming’s approach too literally. I couldn’t find it. I also watched every minute of the extras, half because I found the experts very interesting and half to try to find the film’s message.
I finally found it. The last extra is a captioned slide show that purports to go deeper into the subject. Really it is little more than a recap with clearer references to the source materials. Then at the very end of the slide show, though, I finally got it.
Article comments
1 - Nancy
That's the only problem with anything of this sort, on either side of the cultural/religious divide: they're always preaching to the choir, since almost none on the other side would ever listen/read anything critical of their own beliefs.
2 - Catana
Ugh, thanks for saving me from a wasted rental. I'm taking this doggie off my Netflix Queue pronto. As a lifelong atheist I'm completely turned off by aggressive atheists. I don't see any difference between an atheist who feels the need to be constantly on the attack and fundies who do that. Flemming seems to be one of those whose "conversion" was more an emotional reaction than a rationally considered decision. This type is often as dogmatic as any theist, needing to bolster their new beliefs (or lack of belief) by vociferously tearing down their old ones. Koestler elaborated on the idea that such converts are always ripe to become converted again. The communists supposedly felt that ex-Catholics were their best converts.