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I just finished watching Jesus Camp.
This was a depressing experience. Watching this group of bright, gregarious children being indoctrinated, emotionally manipulated, harangued and exploited made me queasy, the moreso because my own childhood included similar experiences. (Thankfully, not quite to this extreme)
The movie serves as an interesting litmus test. To me, it looked like an exposé, but its central figure, camp leader Becky Fischer, reportedly thought the movie was fair, and showed her operation in a good light. (She has, however, shut down the camp since as a result of vandalism and negative scrutiny engendered by the film.)
As an unblinking document of pathological faith, Jesus Camp has few equals. I realy hope there will be a follow up in a few years. I'd love to know how these kids do further down the line. Will they stay with this lifestyle? (This type of highly charged "spirit-filled' Christianity is emotionally exhausting, for one thing. These kids are pushed to tears again and again in the course of a week.) Will they start asking important questions? Will they rebel? I'd be curious to know.
Pastor Ted Haggard, y'know, the guy who bought some meth and didn't take it but got a nice massage, appears here, just months before his fall from grace. He comes off poorly, seeming arrogant and cynical when he talks to one of the kids. Also, there is a moment, comical in retrospect, when he turns to the camera and, with all the machismo of Liberace, says "This is a FABULOUS lifestyle!" (Millions of dollars, a luxurious mansion and sex and drugs on the side? I'm sure it is!)
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