I was not familiar with Chonda Pierce when I came across this documentary, so I don't have a lot of embodied fondness for her. And I'm not a Christian, so I don't have that connection with her message.
Having said that, I really enjoyed her humor. She is known as the Queen of Clean, and that is refreshing. I'm not opposed to unclean comedy, but I appreciate that someone is able to find plenty of humor in less risqué subject matters. It's probably good for humor to find comedy in everyday, non salacious subjects.
I have two gripes with the documentary: the amateur production values, and the story itself.
I read that Chonda gave the directing duties to a first-time documentarian. The editing is very awkward, which takes away from the story line and her stated message of hope. It's obviously very difficult to stitch together a coherent movie from such a wealth of footage. I wish it had been handed over to a more experienced director. She is now filming another movie with the same director. Hopefully he learned from his first attempt. If not, it's a pity.
The story is very sad. The comedian sacrificed her family for her career. That is never a good story. She has deep regrets about that. Her daughter won't talk to her. Her husband is dead of alcoholism. And her son seems shell-shocked by what happened to his happy family.
Chonda's frequent mentions of Jesus and the bible are like tonic to her fans. She says she is tired of Jesus being dragged through the mud by nonbelievers. Nobody drags Jesus through the mud. However, his teachings might lead some of his followers to consider a change of behavior.
One would wish she paid more attention to her family. When her husband stopped telling her about the son's soccer games because he knew it made her sad she was missing her son's life, it seems like Jesus might have told her to get off the tour bus, go home and tend to her family.
I'm not laying all the blame on her for what happened. But an absentee mother is never good for a family. I'm sure all who share her faith would agree with that, especially those who believe the family unit is the heart of society. If this documentary serves as a cautionary tale, and helps other parents stay inside their families and avoid divorce and jobs that require absence from the home, then this is a valuable documentary. But if the message is that Jesus has it all covered and we don't need to change our behavior, then the movie just mildly entertaining, and not much more than that, other than sad.
I wish Chonda and her son and her daughter much happiness and reconciliation in the future.
Having said that, I really enjoyed her humor. She is known as the Queen of Clean, and that is refreshing. I'm not opposed to unclean comedy, but I appreciate that someone is able to find plenty of humor in less risqué subject matters. It's probably good for humor to find comedy in everyday, non salacious subjects.
I have two gripes with the documentary: the amateur production values, and the story itself.
I read that Chonda gave the directing duties to a first-time documentarian. The editing is very awkward, which takes away from the story line and her stated message of hope. It's obviously very difficult to stitch together a coherent movie from such a wealth of footage. I wish it had been handed over to a more experienced director. She is now filming another movie with the same director. Hopefully he learned from his first attempt. If not, it's a pity.
The story is very sad. The comedian sacrificed her family for her career. That is never a good story. She has deep regrets about that. Her daughter won't talk to her. Her husband is dead of alcoholism. And her son seems shell-shocked by what happened to his happy family.
Chonda's frequent mentions of Jesus and the bible are like tonic to her fans. She says she is tired of Jesus being dragged through the mud by nonbelievers. Nobody drags Jesus through the mud. However, his teachings might lead some of his followers to consider a change of behavior.
One would wish she paid more attention to her family. When her husband stopped telling her about the son's soccer games because he knew it made her sad she was missing her son's life, it seems like Jesus might have told her to get off the tour bus, go home and tend to her family.
I'm not laying all the blame on her for what happened. But an absentee mother is never good for a family. I'm sure all who share her faith would agree with that, especially those who believe the family unit is the heart of society. If this documentary serves as a cautionary tale, and helps other parents stay inside their families and avoid divorce and jobs that require absence from the home, then this is a valuable documentary. But if the message is that Jesus has it all covered and we don't need to change our behavior, then the movie just mildly entertaining, and not much more than that, other than sad.
I wish Chonda and her son and her daughter much happiness and reconciliation in the future.