KNOCKING Thread 3,223?

by blondie 18 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  blondie

  Well, if I watched a documentary for an hour and did not see what the goal of the film-maker is, I would think he did not do his job very well.

  I didn't expect a highly rehearsed convention/assembly example of "preaching" but this was sad, sad, sad. If I were still an active JW, I would think he was trying to make the WTS look bad. I have had better prepared Mormons at the door.

  Once again I come away with the idea that JWs are all about BLOOD, holidays, voting, and the pledge of allegiance.

  If the WTS has a knocking message, it was not conveyed by Joel very professionally considering his background and JW family. I think he was too concerned about hurting his mother's feelings.

  As to finding a non-Jewish JW who was still alive today, all I have to do is use Google or check with the Holocaust Museum or the WTS. The WTS loves to trot out their version of the Nazi era and Rutherford.

  Blondie
• 

  Junction-Guy

  You're right Blondie, to the JW's they might get the impression that he didnt do a good job presenting a pure image, but to someone who isnt a JW, he did a halfway decent job of portraying the people as normal.
  
  
  The majority of that DVD was the extras, these werent shown on PBS.
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  I think he was too concerned about hurting his mother's feelings.

  That is my feeling, too. I commented before that I liked the film. It wasn't about doctrine and
  it did not succeed in normalizing JW's. That means it was good as far as I am concerned.
  Even though Joel attempted to normalize Seth and his family, there was no real success there.
  Having a black girlfriend and enjoying Van Halen isn't enough to overcome the beliefs and
  false hopes of the resurrection. Putting Dad's life on the line to stick with your beliefs is not
  normal.

  As far as Joel's goals, he probably succeeds in making JW's think his film normalized them, and
  succeeded in making non-JW's think of the court battles instead of the false message, and
  succeeded in making ex-JW's think the film didn't do anything to help the JW movement.
  I doubt he had ex-JW's in mind while making the film- just wanted to please his mother without
  upsetting the gay community. Well, he didn't succeed there. Maybe Mom wasn't too thrilled,
  either.

  Anything that keeps people talking is a success. Both JW and ex-JW will agree that the film
  had it's problems. That's a success for Joel. Still, the biggest obstacle would be to get the
  generally disinterested vast majority to love the film and to become more widely accepted in
  the industry. Without the support of the gay community, he may have failed.
• 

  Junction-Guy

  For me personally, he didnt normalize the JW's, because I know first hand what it is like, but for other people (blood issue aside) I think he did a good job trying to make them look normal. These were upper middle class people, most JW's I knew couldnt have afforded a liver transplant in the first place.
  
  I will say the film was put together well, especially the DVD extras. Im almost afraid to show this to my friend Jeannie (non-JW) as she will think I have been lying about the JW's, trying to make them look bad.
  
  It is a lying PR puff piece, just as he intended, and he did a good job at it.
  
  The JW's he interviewed were very friendly looking, the "worldly" opposers he interiewed seemed like rabid JW opposers.
  
  Im sure that Stratton is not all trailer park, but by showing those trailers he was trying to convey the message that the town of Sratton was ignorant, backwoods.
  
  There were constant references to the fact that they dont get involved in politics. Several times throughout the DVD, they constantly distanced themselves from the religious right.
  
  Not only is this a religious puff piece, but also a political one too.
• 

  aoxo

  do you guys think the society approved this film? there has to be some kind of consent for the film maker to record and publisize the copyrited songs and allow prayers to be knowingly recorded. don't the cong. members also have to give consent for themselves to be recorded and shown on a documentary?
• 

  jgnat

  The PBS Knocking forum was only open a few days. The second time it came out of lockdown, the lone JW apologist was Stuart163. And let's just say he did a stellar job of showing off Witness bigotry.

  I did start one thread on Grandma, she was a character. http://discussions.pbs.org/viewtopic.pbs?t=76098&sid=aed930153ec26c6e1da0b9fbb4b3b0d6

  I also noted the odd remoteness the Witnesses had towards estranged family. It's almost as if they had an apology on the tip of their tongue, like they had a sense of all they had lost.
• 

  Rabbit

  Does anyone know why the PBS forum is closed ? Is it permanent ?

  I did register today, only to read about the closure. It does look like the WT loses again...there seemed to be very few JW's posting. The Ex-JW's did get an enormous number of hot topics aired... which the WT may not have anticipated. So many, many JW's, knowing the 'friendly' nature of this film, probably went to read at the forum.

  2 thumbs up...!!
• 

  jgnat

  Yes, the PBS forum is permanently closed. Read some of the admin's sticky notes. I don't think the reaction was AT ALL EXPECTED by PBS. It reminds me of the wide-eyed fear we inspired in the UN when they found out they couldn't shut off the requests for proof of the Watchtower's involvement. I was a little tickled at the assumption by the UN officials that someone was in charge of the requestors and we could somehow turn off the tap.

  The ex-JW community is a vocal one, that is for sure, and it's a grassroots movement. Give them a voice, and they won't shut up.

  As an aside, I thought Casibalas' and Leolaia's thorough and scholarly review of the supplementary materials to be exemplary.

  http://discussions.pbs.org/viewforum.pbs?f=203
• 

  Junction-Guy

  I never got to post at the Knocking Forum. Since I hadn't seen the film, I was waiting until I saw it. Now it is closed, and I wont get that opportunity. This shows that PBS is very one sided. When they didnt get the positive responses to the JW's, they just closed the forum. I dont know who I am more disgusted with, Joel or PBS?