By David Tassell Christian culture has had a knack for finding its story of the salvation of the world through the sacrifice, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ mirrored in myriad other stories. These “Christ-types” often have less to do with authorial intent, and more to do with recognizing how the story’s pattern seems to…
The Bardo, Purgatory, and the Soul Stone
By A.G. Holdier In a matter of hours, fans will learn the fate of Thanos, his victims, and the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the grand finale to The Infinity Saga. While it’s been almost a year since the Snap (and two more MCU films have since been released) we’ve enjoyed essentially no…
“Sometimes Dead is Better,” Even at Easter?
By Danny Anderson Is it going too far to call Pet Sematary an Easter movie? Hear me out. First, let’s admit up front that Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer’s 2019 adaptation of Pet Sematary doesn’t explore the depths of human grief that it’s source material does. Stephen King’s 1983 novel is a classic work of…
Fan Theories, Eschatological Anxiety, and Avengers: Endgame
By Rev. Samuel Blair Our popular culture has had a long love affair with the end of the world. The word “apocalyptic” is commonly used in reference to something being cataclysmic and destructive, but in Biblical literature it referred not to “end of the world” doomsday scenarios, but to revelatory passages where the veil of…
Easter Arrives Early: Lenten Reflections and Redemption in Queer Eye
By Katherine Billotte-Kelaidis The third season of Netflix’s Queer Eye dropped the first Friday of the Eastern Orthodox Lent. So, after going to the Akathist to the Theotokos, I came home and put on Queer Eye. Then I engaged in some very un-Lenten conduct: I binged. By the time I was done, I had not only watched…
When Did Magneto Become Jewish?
By Alana Vincent It’s 2019. We all know that Magneto, the longest-running and most recognisable X-Men villain, is Jewish. More than Jewish, he’s a Holocaust survivor—the most Jewish sort of Jew.[1] It’s worth interrogating exactly when, and how, and why, Magneto became Jewish. When the character was first introduced in 1963, he was a fairly…
How to Train Your Dragon and The Hidden Good Creation
By Corey Patterson The third and (most likely) final installment to the How to Train Your Dragon film franchise is another heartwarming addition to the series. The film highlights the dragon riders’ new calling as dragon liberators. Hiccup, Astrid, Toothless the Night Fury, and the rest of the crew travel from island to island in an…
