The Ray Franz Movie (page 3)

Vidiot

A biopic about Ray Franz, huh?

Hmmm; adapting Crisis of Conscience to screenplay form probably wouldn't be that hard, either, particularly if it were a collaborative effort.

Frankly, I'm surprised no one's suggested this before.

I'm picturing the end of the film showing a photo montage of the major Bethel players in the 70s and their ultimate fates.

Fred Franz' entry could show the Wikipedia pic of him (in his lumberjack shirt) with the following tag:

"Frederick W. Franz continued on as the Watchtower Society's nomimal president and leading theologian up until the late 1980s, at which point his mental state had apparently deteriorated to the degree that he was regularly seen talking to his shoes. He was quietly and unofficially retired, and passed away in 1992 at the age of 99.

He left no protege, and his interpretation of Revelation has essentially remained Watchtower canon."

(BTW; "Millions Now Living!: The Musical", LOL!)

nonjwspouse

Nathan Lane as Rutherford, PERFECT! Better than perfect!

insearchoftruth

I remember a few years ago PBS in the US showing the knocking documentary, at a minimum an effort like this should get similar airplay.

Giordano

LOL Vidiot!

One way to proceed is to write about what happened and try to get it published in a magazine like the New Yorker that's often the springboard for a Doc.

Also the limitations of a magazine call for a documentary approach. You have to show as well as tell.

Nathan Natas

Great idea! You have my permission to proceed.

You weren't planning to ask for money to suppport your grand dream, were you?

Asking for money to support an XJW film project is an old tradition here in aposta-land. The beggers and grifters have not produced a single frame of film, but the collected money was somehow all consumed while nothing happened.

Go ahead, ASK!

SecretHeart11

Ok, I don't want to be "one of those people", but it's dangerous to film that and drive! Also, good idea.

neverendingjourney

Maybe Watchtower leadership is smarter than we think.

One of the major reasons the WT has avoided much public scrutiny is because they've carefully disconnected themselves in as much as possible with links to famous members.

The reverse is true with Scientology. They actively court celebrities. The WT has tried as much as possible to distance itself from Michael Jackson and the like.

On the one hand you have high-profile exposes of Scientology and a first-rate movie about their founding (The Master). On the other hand, JWs barely register on the public-consciousness scale even though there are far more witnesses than scientologists in the world.

There simply isn't a big enough market for a Ray Franz biopic. Outside of the current and former JW world, people barely even know JWs exist.

I may be wrong, but I believe the guy who runs JW Facts has said the area of his site with the most hits is the section regarding famous JWs.

EdenOne

It's a GREAT idea - but very, very hard to execute.

Perhaps you could reach a much broader audience if you could make a movie, not about Ray Franz per se, but about the rejection of religious bigotry.

If you could then pick up a couple of other case-studies, dealing with the catholic church and another from the protestant field, then combining it with Ray Franz's history, THEN you would reach a much much vaster audience.

Here's an example on the catholic field: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyacinthe_Loyson

Eden

Quarterback

Don't get Aronofsky to direct it

The Ray Franz Movie