Hail Satan?
Director: Penny Lane
Year Released: 2019
Rating: 2.0
Lane interviews members of the nontheistic group "The Satanic Temple" (not to be confused with Anton LeVey's "The Church of Satan") which was co-founded by Lucian Greaves (not his real name) as he and his cohorts fight for the separation of church and state, social justice reform and bodily integrity. Their performance art is sometimes intriguing - the intent to place a statue of Baphomet next to a Ten Commandments statue in Arkansas is ingenious - and I can see what Greaves and company are going for (they're cheeky provocateurs, like The Yes Men), but what does trouble me is how some members of TST don't really "get it" (at least based on interviews with them): you can see how the organization attracts misfits and outcasts just wanting to "belong" (and never got over an infantile need for attention) although some seem to take it literally - like Jex Blackmore, who got booted after she talked about wanting to inflict harm on the President - which makes me a little uneasy about Greaves-as-Koresh (he needs to be careful about how he 'sways' his own acolytes). Anyone else remember Chris Pontius wearing a cheap devil costume and running around with a sign that said "Keep God Out of California"? Now that hit the spot.