For the second week in a row, The Leftovers focuses squarely on religion in its fourth episode, "B.J. and the A.C.," while also revealing more about the ominous Guilty Remnant. As usual, there are spoilers throughout, so read at your own risk. … [Read more...]

I "bought in" on The Leftovers even before the first episode aired. The pilot met all my expectations while the second episode left me feeling a bit disappointed. However, last night's episode, "Two Boats and a Helicopter," set a benchmark for the young series, taking it in a different narrative direction (focusing on only one character) that I hope subsequent episodes will follow. … [Read more...]

Yesterday morning at church, we discussed Jacques Lacan's notions of the cynic and the fool and their application to the Jesus narrative. In some circles, this would be about as offensive as last night's HBO premier of The Leftovers, Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta's new post-rapture series based on the latter's book. Only a few minutes into the pilot episode, I found myself comparing the series (or at least its potential) to our discussions in church earlier that day. … [Read more...]

Perhaps it’s fitting for a television show located in San Francisco that such a fault line should have formed through the HBO series Looking. As the first extended gay male drama on a mainstream channel since the early aughts’ Queer as Folk, the show was bound to be a lightning rod. But where QAF was controversial for its mere existence, not to mention its graphic portrayal of gay sex, Looking is creating a different kind of controversy. Perhaps, wonder viewers, the gay lives in the show are too … [Read more...]

 In a previous post outlining the homophobic comments of Phil Robertson, prior to the controversial GQ article that got him suspended from his show on A&E, I talked about painting people with a narrow brush: “This is not a call to abandon the cause of justice. But while we may paint justice broadly, we need to have pointillist personal relations. This is the true meaning of tolerance and liberality—not that you agree with me on all parts of my agenda, but that we see our agendas in … [Read more...]

The news is splashed all over the Internet today about Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson's homophobic and racist comments in the January 2014 issue of GQ. Huffington Post calls the comments "shockingly vile" in their headline, and for once, they don't exaggerate. The article reveals for a larger audience much of what Phil's sermon from 2009 already revealed years ago, even quoting the same Bible verses. The article supports my observation that Phil sees himself as part of an ordered universe in … [Read more...]