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10 Takes on the Pontiff in Pop Culture

By Alison Nastasi on

You needn’t be Catholic to know a new Pope was elected earlier this week. The 266th pontiff is Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who has taken the name Francis and is best remembered for washing and kissing the feet of AIDS patients. Meanwhile, human rights activists (and the Internet) are criticizing Pope Francis for a possible link to Argentina’s Dirty War in 1976 and his stance on same-sex marriage. Yesterday, we also reported that Bruno Ganz has been cast in Showtime’s upcoming series The Vatican as the fictional Pope Sixtus VI. Inspired by the lingering white smoke, we wanted to look back at the hilarious and fascinating ways the Pope has been portrayed in pop culture. Head past the break for more guys in funny hats. … Read More

Pop Culture

50 of the Greatest Jon Stewart Quotes

By Alison Nastasi on

Everyone’s favorite silver fox with the rapier wit and passion for political puns turns 50 today. Happy birthday, Jon Stewart! The Daily Show satirist has brilliantly conquered “bullsh*t mountain” with his insightful and hilarious commentary on the media, American pop culture, politicians, and more. The boy from New Jersey — who later studied chemistry and psychology at William & Mary, rose through the ranks in New York City’s comedy clubs, and found a home as a writer and host for Comedy Central — has delivered some of the best, no-holds-barred commentary of our generation. We’ve gathered 50 of his greatest quotes after the break. Feel free to celebrate along with us by adding your favorites, below. … Read More

Photography

Fascinating Portraits from a Mexican Catholic Pilgrimage

By Alison Nastasi on

Award-winning photographer Alinka Echeverría captured a six million man spiritual pilgrimage to the Basílica de Guadalupe in Mexico City. The Catholics journey to the church on the anniversary of the apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1531 as seen by a devout, indigenous Mexican named Juan Diego. The story says that her image miraculously appeared on his cloak while he was walking to church on the hill of Tepeyac. Pilgrims gather from all around the country to make the arduous trip and pay homage to the Virgin, asking for favors of healing, love, wealth, and blessings in the afterlife. They walk on foot for days, often with their families, some wearing traditional costumes. The most striking aspect of the journey are the images of the Virgin pilgrims carry on their backs: statues, blankets, paintings, and even entire altars encased in glass. Echeverría is interested in exploring “the relationship between image and belief, and the power of iconic images from an anthropological perspective.” She tries to understand why “images are needed at a psychological level in order to believe and how they have been used throughout history at collective level to instill or evoke faith in religious or political beliefs.” See the artist’s moving series, The Road to Tepeyac, in our gallery after the break. Pick up a copy of Echeverría’s HSBC Prix pour la Photographie book over here. … Read More

Web

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office

By Alison Nastasi on

Today at Flavorpill, we discovered a new Bible translation that has been formatted like a screenplay. We were happy to see cartoonist Chris Ware and literary comics mainstay D&Q get behind Rookie Yearbook One, which will be published next month. We looked at images from Joss Whedon’s low-budget take on Much… Read More

Pop Culture

Watch ’90s Christian Nerds Decry ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ as Witchcraft

By Judy Berman on

If you thought that far-right groups claiming Harry Potter is evil and the Muppets are communists was a purely 21st-century, Fox News-related phenomenon, we invite you to enjoy some hilarious proof that there’s nothing new about decrying popular children’s entertainment as a tool of Satan. Rich Juzwiak has edited together some highlights from a ’90s VHS called Not Just Fun and Games, in which three middle-aged men play with — no, strike that, absolutely freak out about — a whole table full of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys. Pop musicians aren’t safe from the trio’s wrath, either: Michael Jackson and MC Hammer (“not a role model we as Christians should emulate, though he claims to be a Christian”) also get the thumbs-down, while Vanilla Ice is judged to be “talented at making money.”

This is obviously a funny video, but we can’t help seeing something a little sad in it, too. There’s something about the part when the guy with the mustache and mullet is excitedly explaining how the Ninja Turtles’ “white magic” is just like the light side of the Force that made us think, “What this poor man really wants is to be a hardcore sci-fi nerd, but he’s repressing that urge because he’s pretty sure God hates Star Wars.” Anyway, maybe that’s just what we’re reading into it. Judge for yourself after the jump. … Read More

Music

Scientology Made a Hip-Hop Video

By Judy Berman on

Children of the ’90s, tell us if this scenario sounds familiar: You’re doing a group presentation in middle school, and someone has a brainstorm. Everyone else is just going to drone on in front of some poster board with a handmade chart glued to it. What will really set your team apart from the others is presenting your information as a rap song. Remember that? Well, that is basically what the Church of Scientology has done in a new video that was apparently never meant for public viewing. According to The Village Voice, the song was probably created by Scientologist rapper Chill EB, although you won’t see him in the clip. Lyrics include such stunners as “Psychotropic drugs we make a thing of the past/ Expose the fraud of the psychs and watch them dwindle real fast,” and while we won’t ruin the visuals for you, we will say that quite a bit more breakdancing happens at Scientology events than we would ever have guessed. Watch the video after the jump, and learn more about it at the Voice. … Read More

Design

Benetton Pulls Pope and Imam Make-Out Ad

By Judy Berman on

Remember those striking Benetton UNHATE Campaign images we posted yesterday, of (mostly male) world leaders kissing? You know, the ones we referred to as “potentially controversial”? Well, controversy has, indeed, ensued. The first ad to attract a backlash features Pope Benedict XVI making out with Ahmed el-Tayeb, an important Egyptian Sunni imam. As… Read More

Theatre

Ranking Religious Musicals from Heretical to Holy

By Romy Oltuski on

Now that The Book of Mormon is Broadway’s second-biggest box-office hit of the year and two revivals of Christian-themed musicals — Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar — are making their way back to the stage this year, we think it’s fair to say that the theater has seen the way of the Lord. Has someone been putting sacrament in the water? Or have playwrights just gotten in touch with their devout — and devoutly satirical — sides? Either way, we’re more interested in how the current slate of God-oriented programming plays measures up to holy productions past, so we’ve ranked seven of them from burn-in-hell blasphemy to virginal virtue after the jump. … Read More

Art

Photo Gallery: Sandow Birk's American Qur'an

By Paul Laster on

A surfer and award-winning artist, Sandow Birk is a man with a mighty mission — to make an American version of the Qur’an. Using English translations of the text, Birk is exquisitely writing and illustrating all 114 chapters, or suras, that make up the holy book by hand. With a graffiti style script and cartoon-like illustrations of everyday life, inspired by the particular message of each sura, the artist reveals how the teachings of Islam are similar to those of Christianity and Judaism.

Using gouache, acrylic, and ink to illustrate scenes of farming, shopping, and golfing, as well as tornados, floods, and hurricanes, Birk is on the third leg of his project, which will take another three years to complete. In the end, he plans to produce an illustrated book that will break down the misunderstanding of the Islamic faith that is fueled by our own ignorance. While his  previous suras have been exhibited on the West Coast at Catharine Clark Gallery in San Fransisco and Koplin del Rio Gallery in Culver City, the third group is on view at PPOW Gallery in New York through October 9th. … Read More

Design

Design Porn: Old Time Religion

By Kelsey Keith on

Welcome to the latest edition of Design Porn, Flavorpill’s regular roundup of all things drool-worthy. Maybe the epic proportions of the BP oil spill have us thinking about the end of days. Maybe it’s Lady Gaga’s obsession with Christian imagery. Maybe we just felt it was only appropriate after the amazing Jewish-themed items we presented readers with last month. Regardless, click through and prepare to say Hallelujah — it’s time to look at some crosses. … Read More