Documentary Corner: Jesus Camp

“Is there anyone in here who believes that God can do anything?” the energized Pentecostal preacher Becky Fischer questions her baying crowd as the camera cuts to a mother raising her two uninterested children’s hands excitedly. The opening scene of Jesus Camp places the viewer right in the middle of one of the services at a Christian children’s summer camp in North Dakota. As the scene continues, fast editing and a haunting score crescendo to a pandemonium. Parents yell encouragement as the children and viewer alike are treated to the first of many frenzied sermons which come to be the focus of this film.

This introductory five minutes alone set the tone perfectly. Telling the story of this camp and its leaders, Jesus Camp attempts to make broader statements about fundamentalist Christianity in America.

A massively hands-off approach is taken by directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, with no voice-overs or opinions being directly offered by the pair. This approach works so well because the ridiculousness of this church and its inside goings on are so obvious that comment is unnecessary. “We got too many Christian grown-ups who are fat and lazy,” our morbidly obese preacher exclaims as the camera holds on her, and subtle critiques and digs like this are sprinkled throughout the film. The actual opinions of the filmmakers seem to be reflected in a few small clips of radio host Mike Papantonio, who talks of the influence of these religious groups and their scary right-wing affiliations. Some would call his sections slightly forced but I disagree; the dialogue he eventually is able to have with Fischer in particular serves as a perfect microcosm of political debates occurring within America.

It is this that allows the film to go beyond the camp and explore the wider issues of right wing politics and literalist Christianity in America. One scene that particularly stands out involves a cardboard cut of George W. Bush featured in one sermon, where Bush is deistically praised by the preachers for his pro-life ideals and commitment to God. The dangers of religion in American politics is explored in detail with the nomination of Samuel Alito – a heavily conservative Christian, and friend of Bush – to the Supreme Court acting as a key example.