Review of Jesus Camp (2006) by Liz — 10 Jan 2011

The interviews, text, and radio were all used extremely well to add to the major theme of the documentary and the bias that the directors had towards the subject. The interviews with the subjects and experts were used to show how evangelical teachers and preachers felt towards their cause in contrast to how a seemingly normal democratic Christian radio host felt.

Showing the evangelist children in interviews that emphasize their major differences with other children adds immensely to their oddness, and the feeling of disease we have watching them be taught evangelical ways.

The on screen text added to our understanding of the chronology and the same goes for the radio announcements about President George Bush, and the Supreme Court appointing. The movie is extremely engaging, informative, biased, and emotionally charged.

I loved the devices used in the film, though it was clear that the the directors favor the more democratic and lighter Christian, or Atheist/agnostic approaches to religion, the movie didn?t feel biased.

Furthermore the emotions in the movie were so strong that you reflected some of the power. There were moments in which the parents and teachers forced the young children to cry about their sins, and the outrage and anger I felt at the parents for putting their children through that type of psychological abuse was extremely potent.

I also felt that listening to the chronology unfold helped the time pass and helped the development of the story, even though it was a short movie it developed and took on a longish period of time. Sadly, the movie was completed before the Ted Haggard scandal, which would?ve added greatly to the overall movie and it?s controversial nature.

I loved the film. It was so emotionally powerful and it touched me. I, being an agnostic, have strong opinions about religion and what about it is good and what is bad. This movie perfectly portrayed the overly religious population that make me angry at those who are religious that way.

I think that that is the way that the directors wanted me to feel, because they obviously agreed with the radio-host, and how much he hated the strong and obnoxious opinions of the Evangelists in the film.

Seeing the children speaking in tongues, crying, praying, and making themselves suffer that way was so heart-wrenching that I couldn?t help but feel pain and fall in love with the movie. Finally, the way it was presented allowed me to keep my interest in it, and kept my parents interested, for the entire movie, even though it was short, if done incorrectly the documentary could?ve felt extremely long.

(I even watched the deleted scenes, I wanted it to be longer).