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Slacking Towards Bethlehem: J.R. 'Bob' Dobbs and the Church of the SubGenius (2019)
An important slice of counter culture history
Unlike most Church of the SubGenius content out there, this feels more honest and behind the scenes. Some good interviews of people out of character talking about success, failure and confusion.
The film does an excellent job of covering a sub-section of people in the 80s, 90s and beyond. It talks about the world of eccentrics who don't fit in, finding each other in a pre-Internet world. Music, video, performance art and alienation.
The movie shifts quite a bit post 1998, and it's easy to consider this an inferior section. However, the Church itself went into a sort of hibernation mode/existential crisis at that point and continues to do so. Yet it's still here. The film does a good job covering why, with real world events that forced the organization to reassess it's place in the world.
I would have liked to see a few more things mentioned. Like anything about the Arise! video. Or how the Church's clipart collage messaging likely helped shape Internet memes. But overall I think it's worth watching to see a little behind the scenes of something that impacted (and still does) the lives of some very interesting and often talented people.
Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Retelling of a Cult Legend
Godlike ancient aliens want to harvest all the humans on Earth to make space drugs and the hero of the tale save the planet, not with strength or intelligence but dumb luck and fetishistic sex appeal. It's an absurd story with fancy visuals. It also happens to be a retelling of the story of J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, the semi-divine figurehead of the church of the SubGenius.
While aesthetically, Pierce Brosnan in 'Mars Attacks!' was much closer in appearance to "Bob", Mila Kunis's performance was much more in line with the personality and actions of "Bob"; No clue what's going on through the whole story. Interestingly, much like Pierce Brosnsan's character falls for a half dog, half Sara Jessica Parker in 'Mars Attacks!', Mila Kunis's character falls for a half dog, half Channing Tatum in this film! I'm unaware of half dog, half human relations within Subgenius lore, so the connection is fascinating.
There is even a lesson about "Slack" squeezed in at the end that only studious members of the terrible cult of the Subgenius might comprehend. Our savior returns to Earth and continues her life as a janitor scrubbing toilets, despite knowing that she is royalty at the intergalactic level. She has found inner peace (or is just not thinking), and presumably, gets to bang the half dog, half Channing Tatum.