You know how I love Christian humor and music parodies like Jesus People and God’s Pottery, and I stumbled upon this 2005 mockumentary, “Never Been Thawed,” on the Subversive Church blog.
According to the blog, Never Been Thawed is a mockumentary ala “Best In Show” (or “Spinal Tap” or “A Mighty Wind,” I would guess), which focuses in part on a band called The Christers. I surfed around the fake band site, and it’s pretty funny (although some of the song lyrics are edgy, so just a head’s up if you to check out the music. This isn’t a Christian band, but a spoof. The Christers used to be a punk band but changed the f-word in all of their songs to “pray” so they could get a record deal more easily You get that joke, right?)
The comic equation, as I’ve told you before, is truth + pain (or exaggeration) = funny, and in this case the truth is both painful and exaggerated, and the end is definitely funny but thought provoking.
The Christers bio says they are “a new edgy, gritty, yet commercially viable voice to help spread the Word of The Gospels throughout the major markets of the world.” That’s not too far off from some of the actual band bios I’ve gotten. They’ve “performed” at the fictional Christapalooza and sold “more T-shirts over a three month period than even Promise Keepers.” Their new album is called Crucifixerupper. (I’m sorry, I laughed out loud at that.) At the same time, the band uses foul language, which isn’t really true of most Christian bands; unless the joke is that they’re using relevant language to reach their audience, in which case the point is well taken.
Do you think that spoofs like this highlight some of the absurdities of Christian music and the commercialization of Christianity in a funny way? Or are you totally offended? Do we need things like this to point out where we’re being ridiculous? Do you even care what the non-Christian world thinks when they look at Christian music?
You can check out The Christers’ website. (Again, the lyrics in the music and videos have some language you’ll want to skip.)
RELATED POSTS for Christian music parodies and humor:
“Jesus People” readies for leap from web TV to big screen; catch a preview here
Christian humor meets Christian music in Jesus People web series
God’s Pottery on Last Comic Standing
God’s Pottery Part 2
Are these videos a joke or just cheesy Christian music history?
posted January 8, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Actually, Steve Taylor did a pretty good job of using humor to point out many of the church’s weak points. Maybe he was ahead of his time. I also recommend looking into Daniel Amos, aka The Swirling Eddies, who did their fair share of satire. Oh — you haven’t heard much about these Christian artists? I wonder why…..?
posted January 8, 2009 at 10:10 pm
I ordered the DVD because of your post; thru amazon.com, so that way I can see this movie.
posted January 9, 2009 at 10:37 am
Mark, I hope you heeded the warnings about the language! And understood that I hadn’t seen the movie yet!
Joanne
host of the GS blog
posted January 9, 2009 at 2:37 pm
I echo what Bert said pertaining to Steve Taylor. That guy always makes me think. What I like about Steve’s vision is he is an insider calling the church to be what it is intended to be and stop the stupidity. I think parody can be a mighty tool. I thought Jesus people was hilarious. One of the reasons I watch the Simpsons is to view their views on the church. I don’t usually like what they have to say, but it’s important to know what the people we are called to reach think of us. Sometimes watching parodies is kind of like looking into a carnival mirror. You know it’s a distortion of reality and yet some of it is very real.
posted January 10, 2009 at 11:06 pm
Ok, so I just got and watched this “film,” Never Been Thawed, to see what it was about. You can imagine my shock when one of the characters says, “F#$% Jesus!” He is mad at the other character, and says, “F You, F Frozen Food, and F Jesus,” to which the other character replies, in a self-absorbed way, “F me????”
This banter comes toward the very end of this “film,” and up until that point, it’s kind of a mish-mash of semi-funny scenes and characters, but it’s also filled with non-stop expletives, and in one scene they have the singer singing a song all about “F-ing,” then changing the lyrics so the f-word is replaced with Praying. This is ridiculous.
There’s nothing in this “film” any Christian should see. It’s not worth your time or investment.
I just googled the director/star, Sean Anders, and it said he directed the $25Million “film,” Sex Drive, since then, but thankfully, that movie was regarded as a bomb.
posted January 12, 2009 at 9:07 am
Mark, I warned you that I hadn’t seen the movie and that it had cursing in it!! I’m sorry you had to sit through that.
Thanks for the additional warning – I suspected it was over the edge. Let me just warn readers again: I haven NOT seen the film, but have surfed around the website. That’s what I’m talking about when I reference the “band”.
Joanne
host of the GS blog