Gods & Moviemakers

In a huge departure from the normal format, Katie & Joe revisit the recent Holiday Special episode on Elf (2003), featuring Dr Chris Deacy, to share some insights gained and questions raised by that episode. If you have not yet listened to our Elf episode, we highly recommend doing so first, and coming back to this one.

Discussion points include:

The Jews Who Wrote Christmas, by Rob Kapilow

Elf screenwriter, David Berenbaum's relationship with Christmas films, as discussed in The Movies That Made Us

Pew Research's Portrait of Jewish Americans (2013)

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In 2003, relative newcomers, Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel, were cast in a film written, produced, and directed by a bunch of inexperienced guys, to star alongside national treasures, Ed Asner and Bob Newhart, and screen icon, James Caan. The film was Elf: a goofy story about a man, raised in the North Pole among Santa's elves, who sets off to New York City to find his long-lost Scrooge-esque father. Inspired by the stop-animation classic, Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), infused with references to other Christmas staples such as A Christmas Carol and Miracle on 34th Street (1934), and scored with beloved Chris...

It's February 1692 and a mysterious illness has befallen two young girls in Salem, Massachusetts. Eleven-year-old Abigail Williams and nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris have been having violent fits, and bouts of catatonia. A doctor declares the cause: Witchcraft! Three women of low social standing are accused. But it is not long before the accusations start to spread. Paranoia overtakes the community. Witches are seen everywhere. Over 150 people are accused, and 25 dead before this infamous witch-hunt finally comes to an end. How could this all have gotten so out of hand? Was it all superstitious nonsense run wild, or does this episode...

It's the first years of the Cold War. Fascism has been defeated abroad but a new Red enemy is emerging and the US government is stoking fear among it's citizenry. Neighbour is turning on neighbour; friend on friend; paranoia is spreading. What do YOU do?

Playwright Arthur Miller looked to a similar event in American pre-history to produce The Crucible (1953). Set in 1692, Salem, Massachusetts, the play (and 1996 film adaptation) explores a witch-hunt that consumed the community. Accusations of witchcraft and consorting with the devil abound, scores are settled, lives ruined. Behind it all, Miller issues a clarion...

In this bonus episode on The Terminator (1984), Dr Michelle Fletcher talks to us about using the complete Terminator series in a classroom to highlight the way in which texts change over time in response to cultural and historical shifts. We also discuss how to teach with film without asking students to watch an entire movie.

If you haven't listened to our main episode of The Terminator, we recommend doing so first, so you have the full context for our discussion.

Many thanks to Dr Fletcher for her extra time.

Subscribers will...

In this bonus episode on The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), Dr Marian Kelsey explains how she uses characters from The Lord of the Rings to teach about biblical prophets - including, the role of the prophet and the nature of prophecy - and the difficulty of discovering that students are not necessarily familiar with the same cultural content as their teachers.

If you haven't listened to our main episode on The Lord of the Rings, we recommend doing so first, so you have the full context of our discussion.

In this bonus episode on The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), we chat some more with Matt Page about using The Last Temptation in public education settings (such as church groups) to help people understand that they bring their own context and cultural baggage, to any text they read, including the Bible. Matt also talk about how he addresses antisemitism in Jesus films, and the challenges posed to the educator when the film deals with deeply-held religious beliefs, and he provides us with his top recommendations to learn more about The Last Temptation.

If you haven't listened...

In this bonus episode on Dune (2021), we chat with Katherine Gwyther, about using Dune in her research. Kat gives us an introduction into Fredric Jameson's thoughts on fantasy and science-fiction (including what Jameson has to say about the spice worms in Dune), and explains why she prefers to teach Hebrew Bible with films like Dune, rather than with traditional biblical-adaptation movies.

If you haven't listened to our main episode on Dune, we recommend doing so first, so you have the full context for our discussion. 

Many thanks to Kat for her extra time.

In this bonus episode on  La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928) and Joan of Arc (1948), Dr Laura O'Brien talks to us about viewing period drama as a form of history writing, the way multiple films on the same figure or event can help students think about historical questions and reception narratives, and the online spaces in which some of the best examples of popular reception are happening today. We also talk about some of the practicalities of teaching with film, including: how to integrate film into lesson-planning and assessments; the time film-watching asks of the student; how students today consume, and t...

In this bonus episode on Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), Dr Andrew Mark Henry gives us a bit more insight into how he utilizes the Star Wars franchise to teach about the process of canonization, the human impulse to write spin-off literature (fan fiction) that we see in so many early Christian texts, and the usefulness of analogy to building understanding. He also talks to us about his approach to public education, and the thought process that goes into creating content for Religion For Breakfast (his hugely successful YouTube channel).

If you...