The shocking story of Rev. Fred Phelps, the Westboro Baptist Church, those who oppose it, and those who chose to leave it all behind.The shocking story of Rev. Fred Phelps, the Westboro Baptist Church, those who oppose it, and those who chose to leave it all behind.The shocking story of Rev. Fred Phelps, the Westboro Baptist Church, those who oppose it, and those who chose to leave it all behind.
Photos
Warren Carter
- Self - Prof, Saint Paul School of Theology
- (as Dr. Warren Carter)
Pedro L. Irigonegaray
- Self
- (as Pedro Irigonegaray)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- ConnectionsFeatured in Religulous (2008)
- SoundtracksRequiem, Confutatis
Performed by The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (as Academy of St. Martin-In-The-Fields)
Directed by Neville Marriner (as Sir Neville Marriner)
Courtesy of Concord Music Group Inc.
Featured review
Valuable insights
While there's a lot of repetition in this documentary, it's valuable primarily for it's access to the Phelps family who have no hesitation to speak their beliefs. It's often easy to dismiss bigotry as ignorance, but here we see it serves other purposes. The need to hate outwardly masks an inward deficit which permits that deficiency to go unaddressed. The filmmakers let a lot slide by: allegations of abuse, the circumstances for the Phelps' disbarment, the tax benefits of being a church when only your family are members, the misuse/misquotation of scripture to name a few.
While its useful to have the Phelps speak for themselves, those who counter their arguments aren't nearly as passionate or convincing (I agree with them, but their statements aren't developed by the filmmaker).
The two most chilling moments come from family members themselves. There are taped telephone conversations about why two of the children left their family, and the analysis of their father's "issues" seemed very accurate. And the older children who will carry forward their father's legacy are so one-dimensional in their hatred that it borders on madness.
The use of the family's placards becomes plodding and repetitious. More effective is when the grandchildren (roughly 8 or 9) are asked which signs are their favorite to carry at their pickets around the World. While most children will recite various Biblical passages as their "favorite" and would be unable to elaborate further what those passages meant, these children recite hate speech which is deeply shocking, but of course they are unable to elaborate what those slogans really mean. But I also found that their parents really couldn't do much more to explain their hatred. Their vehement denunciation of homosexuality and the government was just as lacking as their relationship to and understanding of themselves and the world at large.
While its useful to have the Phelps speak for themselves, those who counter their arguments aren't nearly as passionate or convincing (I agree with them, but their statements aren't developed by the filmmaker).
The two most chilling moments come from family members themselves. There are taped telephone conversations about why two of the children left their family, and the analysis of their father's "issues" seemed very accurate. And the older children who will carry forward their father's legacy are so one-dimensional in their hatred that it borders on madness.
The use of the family's placards becomes plodding and repetitious. More effective is when the grandchildren (roughly 8 or 9) are asked which signs are their favorite to carry at their pickets around the World. While most children will recite various Biblical passages as their "favorite" and would be unable to elaborate further what those passages meant, these children recite hate speech which is deeply shocking, but of course they are unable to elaborate what those slogans really mean. But I also found that their parents really couldn't do much more to explain their hatred. Their vehement denunciation of homosexuality and the government was just as lacking as their relationship to and understanding of themselves and the world at large.
helpful•01
- Michael Fargo
- Feb 10, 2011
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $7,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 11 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
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