hmm, interesting documentary

There isn't much in the way of discussion on the board for the film, so I figured I would post my musings, and thoughts of it. I happened to catch it by chance today, but it turned out to be fairly good. The documentary was fairly short - maybe an hour and a half or less, but captured a group of teens who participate in the Bible Quiz competition. The wasn't much of "Bible thumping" in the film, but as it was about the "Bible Quiz", there were moments of prayer and religious song.

Most of it, however, had a universal feel. The teens seemed like most other teens. Mikayla has her first crush, although she never described it in that fashion in the documentary. The competitive JP, who hoped to win the Bible Quiz competition as a senior. There was a discussion of faith between two brothers while one was playing Starcraft. Both Mikayla and JP also displayed moments of wisdom regarding their lives that I did find admirable for both individuals.

Overall, the film has the feel of "Spellbound", although it also reminded me of "Wadjda", a Saudi Arabian fictional movie about a girl who enrolled in a Koran recitation competition. "Bible Quiz", like "Wadjda" wasn't so much about the faith, as it was about the lives that happen to be part of the competition. In a couple of humorous / interesting moments in "Bible Quiz", a group of religious girls meet up with a (presumably) atheist guitar singer, and a brief interview with what looked like a orthodox Jew who was a member of an Afro-American team in the Bible competition.

Lastly, Mikayla's comments on not being hung up by the rules echo some of the recent statements by Pope Francis, who criticized the "small-minded" rules that he believed has distracted the Church from the core teachings of compassion and caring for the poor.