Anti Racist Film Club: Recent Episodes
South Sound Methodist Co-op
The Anti Racist Film Club podcast is a monthly conversation about films which highlight stories of Black people, Indigenous People or People of Color (BIPOC) in order to grow together in our intercultural competency, awareness of systemic racism, and our role as people of faith in the work of anti racism. We are a ministry of the South Sound Methodist Co-operative... but we also just like movies too.
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Miss Brittney from First Olympia UMC to discuss The Book of Life, Mexican culture, All Saints Day, traffic lights, bullfighters, and how we can foster curiosity in children to grow their cultural awareness.
Learn more about ARFC: https://bravestfire.com/arfc
Read some reviews of the film:
https://medium.com/@lauragba39/the-book-of-life-a-cultural-metamorphosis-41992ea59b7d
https://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2015/01/23/the-book-of-life-puts-latino-culture-front-and-center/
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Alexa from First Olympia UMC to discuss The Wiz, colorism, Motown Productions, L Frank Baum, learned incompetence, and how to negotiate the "canon" of beloved adaptations.
Learn more about ARFC: https://bravestfire.com
Read some reviews of the film:
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/anxiety/articles/what-the-wiz-was-and-is-to-black-culture
https://heycheyennehey.com/2016/08/20/the-unapologetic-blackness-of-the-wiz/
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Kellen from Tumwater UMC to discuss Creed, boxing films, healthy masculinity, Michael B Jordan, Ryan Coogler's filmography, Philadelphia, and the repeated subversion of genre expectations .
Read some reviews of the film:
- https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jan/07/rocky-race-and-reality-why-creed-is-a-heavyweight-knockout
- https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/artsentertainment/review-creed/
- https://birthmoviesdeath.com/2018/02/14/ryan-cooglers-creed-and-its-images-of-blackness.html
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Heather from First Olympia UMC to discuss West Side Story, musicals, gang violence, gentrification, trans representation, accuracy vs authenticity, Rita Moreno, and a few flaws in the American Dream.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Read the NY Times article Lauren mentioned:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/24/opinion/west-side-story-broadway.html
Watch a video essay on changes between the 1961 and 2021 versions of the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwGsNPHvghU&ab_channel=BeKindRewind
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Kelly from Shelton UMC to discuss Next Goal Wins, deconstructing the white savior, soccer, satire, Taika Waititi, American Samoan culture, and trans representation.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Alexa from First Olympia UMC to discuss The Wind Rises, anime, complicity, Studio Ghibli, resisting the spiritual forces of wickedness, secret police, and the beautiful cursed dreams in our world today.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Watch Miyazaki animate the last frames of this movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFIE-ISqNoU&ab_channel=GermainLussier
Read an online review: https://cinemafromthespectrum.com/2016/05/26/the-wind-rises-review/
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Kellen from Tumwater UMC to discuss Flamin' Hot, Cheetos, representation, problematic endorsement of capitalism, initiative, and how the flavors of a Mexican neighborhood changed chips forever.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Read the articles Pastor Kellen mentioned:
https://www.latinorebels.com/2023/06/09/flaminhotreview/
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/26/opinion/flamin-hot-propaganda.html
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Heather from First Olympia UMC to discuss The Six Triple Eight, historical dramas, systematic racism, Major Charity Adams, intersectionality, and the heroism of these forgotten American soldiers.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Watch an interview with Kerry Washington: https://youtu.be/LS2Rnq4sCpk
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Kelly from Shelton UMC to discuss Stamped From The Beginning, the myth of Whiteness, Harriet Jacobs, the evolution of lynching into police brutality, Black progress, and questions we should all ask ourselves about the myths we've been taught (or might still believe).
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Alexa from First Olympia UMC to discuss See You Yesterday, Black excellence, time travel ethics, sucking teeth, Caribbean influence, 40 Acres and a Mule.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Read the articles Pastor Alexa mentioned:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2021/02/18/america-black-excellence-declaration-exceeds-trends/6788074002/
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/see-you-yesterday-2019
Watch a video on the culture of sucking teeth: https://youtu.be/l9x84MgFwYQ?si=rOoH7-yBSkl0Fk0x https://www.ankataa.com/blog/suck-teeth-in-west-africa
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Kellen from Tumwater UMC to discuss Christmas in the Clouds, the vile history of Indigenous peoples on screen, subversive normalcy, fantasy romance novels, militant vegetarians, and goofy holiday hijinks.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Read the article Pastor Kellen mentioned:
https://www.nhonews.com/features/christmas-in-the-clouds----a-movie-review/article_224f8f3d-0ae0-5319-955f-a200130c5660.html
Watch a short interview with Marian Tosca: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCxIRQUxAKE&ab_channel=argosgem
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Heather from First Olympia UMC to discuss Black-ish, sitcoms, bi-racial identities, Black History Month, Lewis Howard Latimer, and what it looks like to learn through laughter.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.orgWatch an interview with the cast: https://youtu.be/cDQxanaj0H0?si=FJj-33XqwTIUz_J9
In this spooky kickoff to season 3 of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Denise from St Andrews UMC to discuss Nope, horror movies, exploitation, jellyfish anatomy, processing trauma, and the inherent contradictions of spectacle.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Get on the ARFC mailing list: multimedia@fumcoly.org
Watch a video essay on the theme of spectacle in Nope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n74ZpnPY_yI&ab_channel=ThomasFlight
Watch and interview with the cast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__SNN6xpFx4&t=941s&ab_channel=EntertainmentWeekly
TW: Discussion of Sexual Assault
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Alexa from First Olympia UMC to discuss The Woman King, white greed, the Agojie, how community fights patriarchy, TULIP, Afrofuturism, and the beasts we must name to heal together.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Listen to the podcast Pastor Alexa referenced: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/623/we-are-in-the-future-2017Watch an interview with the cast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBYm8uyLZ78
Octavia Butler: https://www.octaviabutler.com/
NM Jemisin: https://nkjemisin.com/
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Kelly from Shelton UMC to discuss 42, baseball, segregation, the color of greed, racial slurs, hate mail, and the exceptional life of Jackie Robinson.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Read a few reviews of the film when it first came out:
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/12/movies/42-with-chadwick-boseman-as-jackie-robinson.html
https://www.pajiba.com/film_reviews/42-review-a-black-story-told-by-a-white-man-full-of-sound-and-fury-signifying-little.php
https://www.mic.com/articles/32663/42-movie-review-film-enables-public-to-discuss-racism-in-entertaining-way
See you next month!
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Brittney Gilleland from First Olympia UMC to discuss Kung Fu Panda 2, children's ministry, inner peace, processing trauma, found family, and why the difficulty of anti-racist discussion is a necessary burden.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Watch a cultural breakdown of the first Kung Fu Panda film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1eHIfUyYfs&ab_channel=XiranJayZhao
See you next month!
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Heather from First Olympia UMC to discuss Bend It Like Beckham, soccer, LGBTQ+ themes, hypocrisy, curry, and navigating the preservation of culture in diaspora.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Read my college paper (for fun!): https://storage2.snappages.site/JDVQQW/assets/files/ENG-464-Final.pdf
Watch an interview with Gurinder Chada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shnHWt_-jHg
See you next month!
TW: discussion of sexual assault, self-harm, and violence
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Kellen and Laura Edmonston from Tumwater UMC to discuss Wind River, the historical portrayal of "cowboys and Indians" on film, cultural genocide, coyotes, systemic barriers to justice, and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Crisis.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Learn more about the MMIW movement:
https://www.nativehope.org/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-mmiw
https://www.nativehope.org/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-mmiw
https://www.wsp.wa.gov/crime/alerts-missing-persons/missing-indigenous-persons/
https://www.king5.com/article/news/community/facing-race/missing-indegenous-women-people-in-washington-state/281-488a7687-bafc-49dd-9d0d-b38fdc46844a
https://apnews.com/article/indigenous-people-cold-case-unit-washington-96a1bab5f5e124c3d8b183c688733983
https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/treaty-justice-revisits-the-1974-boldt-decision-and-its-far-reaching-impacts/
Read the article Pastor Kellen mentioned:
https://www.hcn.org/issues/49-18/tribal-affairs-why-do-white-writers-keep-making-films-about-indian-country/
See you next month!
In this alternate universe episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Pastor Alexa sits down with Lauren to discuss Lilo & Stitch, deleted scenes, alienation, the Hawaiian language, the insidious tourist industry, Pudge the magic weather-controlling fish, and how this film walks the fine line between cultural appreciation and appropriation.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Read the essay we mentioned about Aloha 'Oe: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=suurj
Watch some BTS footage:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd2SlEFuj4o&ab_channel=Arrghigiveup
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Kelly from Shelton UMC to discuss the original adaptation of The Color Purple, the portrayal of black men on film, Steven Spielberg, white supremacy in prisons, Hollywood marketing, and the holistic beauty of black joy.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Read the Clarence Page article I mentioned: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-03-30-8601230650-story.html
EDIT: the information I was referring to was actually from this NY Times article. My bad: https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/27/us/blacks-in-heated-debate-over-the-color-purple.html
Watch an interview with Whoopi Goldberg about some of the film's controversy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIh4uaLyJMI&t=4s&ab_channel=FoundationINTERVIEWS
Watch LOTS of behind the scenes footage from the filmmakers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfVlK58Zm-g&ab_channel=WarnerBros.Entertainment
See you next month!
To kick off an exciting new year of Anti-Racist Film Club, Lauren sits down with two members of the South Sound Co-op: Kim Fuchs and Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger (a retired NASA astronaut herself) to discuss the film A Million miles Away (2023), butterflies, influential teachers, the harmful narrative of sacrificing heritage for success, three American tragedies, and bringing tacos to space.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Watch an interview with the REAL Jose Hernandez:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ACcI_Ede9o&t=444s&ab_channel=ABCNews
Watch a interview with Michael Pena (who played him in the film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7MBYIvtm1g&ab_channel=SAG-AFTRAFoundation
See you next month!
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Heather from First Olympia UMC to discuss the film Black Nativity (2013), musicals, historical context for the birth of Jesus, avant garde dream dancing, holiday welcome, and the enduring legacy of Langston Hughes.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Read "Harlem" by Langston Hughes: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46548/harlem
See you next month!
In this episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Kelly from Shelton to discuss episode 3 of the Netflix food documentary High on the Hog, oysters, American foodways, enslaved celebrity chefs, why you shouldn't "meet" your heroes, fish heads, and the enduring joy of black food.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Read the NY Times article Pastor Kelly mentioned: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/dining/osayi-endolyn-high-on-the-hog.html
Watch a video with the filmmakers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAf7AAeTYkw&ab_channel=Netflix
See you next month!
In a spooky Halloween episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Kellen from Tumwater UMC to discuss Jordan Peele's film Us, the horrors of unacknowledged privilege, eating some unusual protein, ballet, Biblical doomsday context, and performative acts of justice.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Watch some BTS footage with Jordan Peele: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB1aA1iAsYA&ab_channel=UniversalPicturesAll-Access
See you next month!
TW: Discussion of suicide and self-harm.
In a BRAND NEW season launch of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Denise Roberts from Lacey St. Andrews UMC, to discuss Alaskan Nets,high school basketball, the last Native American reservation in Alaska, deep sea diving, the importance of ritual, and the dominant culture's influence on our perception of 'success'.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Read an interview with the film director here: https://www.slamonline.com/the-magazine/alaskan-nets-metlakatla-chiefs/
See you next month!
In a special bonus Summer episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Heather Sparkman from First UMC Olympia, to discuss the BRAND NEW Barbie film,tokenism, commercial racism in beauty standards, gynecologists, the flattening of Biblical Women's stories, and strategically pink ties.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Read more about about Mattel's recent history of representation: https://creative.salon/articles/features/this-barbie-is-inclusive
Watch Greta Gerwig and Margo Robbie discuss aspects of the creative process for this film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuWr-v3TOO8&t=672s&ab_channel=ABCNewsIn-depth
See you next month!
In this season finale of Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Denise from Lacey St Andrews UMC to discuss the documentary Summer of Soul, the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969, words from the poet Gil Scott-Heron, Black erasure, and how this monumental social, historical, and musical event was almost entirely forgotten entirely.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Watch Questlove's short interview for the 2021 Sundance Film festival: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiEdJ4OzQVI&ab_channel=DeadlineHollywood
See you next year!
In another episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with her own mother, Elizabeth Castro, to discuss Everything Everywhere All at Once, the loss of language through familial diaspora, hot dog fingers, racist IRS policies, generational trauma, and one REALLY big bagel.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Watch Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan's emotional acceptance speeches for their academy awards last weekend:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v9wrK_j6Cc&ab_channel=ABC7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvAdahLczGk&ab_channel=ABC
See you next month!
In another episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Alexa from the First Olympia UMC to discuss Till, how filmmakers choose to show violence on film, biased policies in the workplace, the role of women in tragedy, and the many tropes that lead to dehumanization.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Watch the filmmakers discuss aspects of making Till: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bPezLP4kuA&ab_channel=FilmatLincolnCenter
See you next month!
In another episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Denise from the Lacey St Andrews UMC to discuss Lee Daniels' The Butler, assimilation, American civil rights history, the filmography of Sidney Poitier, and a painfully jagged edge to the moral arc of the universe.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
The Butler is largely based off the Washington Post Article about Eugene Allen, a real-life White House Butler who served through 8 different administrations. Read that article here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/a-butler-well-served-by-this-election/2019/01/02/b2a805a6-07b1-11e9-88e3-989a3e456820_story.html
A correction to what was said in the episode... Hattie McDaniel WAS invited to accept her Oscar at the official ceremony but was forced to sit in a segregated area and went against the hotel's strict policy against black guests. Her invitation was made possible by special request from the film's director. Read more about Hattie McDaniel's incredible life: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/04/hattie-mcdaniel-gone-with-the-wind-oscars-autobiography
See you next month!
In the first 2023 episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Heather from the First United Methodist Church of Olympia to discuss In the Heights, gentrification, the Latinx diaspora to a certain Manhattan neighborhood, colorism in Hollywood casting, and about $96,000 (before taxes).
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Read / Watch more about this film:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/21/movies/in-the-heights-colorism.html
https://www.theroot.com/lets-talk-about-in-the-heights-and-the-erasure-of-dark-1847064126
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGaqW29ikuM&ab_channel=RottenTomatoes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4GDtrW6Km8&ab_channel=Broadwaycom
See you next month!
In a quasi-festive edition of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Alexa from the First United Methodist Church of Olympia to discuss Last Holiday, code-switching, the imaginary threat of black womens' dignity, and Hallmark movies.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
See you next month!
In another edition of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Kellen from Tumwater United Methodist to discuss Lion, global adoption, language barriers, Jelebi, a few non-existent binaries, and how we can reconcile our own identities with our search for community.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Read some additional helpful articles:
Watch an interview with the REAL Saroo Brierley and his mother Sue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvLAwvqbO80&ab_channel=BUILDSeries
See you next month!
In another edition of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Angelina from the First United Methodist Church of Olympia to discuss Jordan Peele's Get Out, red-lining, why "voting for Obama a third time" isn't necessary, and how we can redirect our gaze to see racism through different eyes.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Read some additional helpful articles:
https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/3/7/14759756/get-out-benevolent-racism-white-feminism
https://deadline.com/2017/10/jordan-peele-get-out-film-independent-forum-keynote-speaker-diversity-inclusion-1202192699/
See you next month!
In the VERY FIRST episode of the Anti-Racist Film Club Podcast, Lauren sits down with Pastor Ann from Shelton UMC to discuss the Disney film Encanto, the history of the club, how stereotypes can be subverted, that guy no one talks about, and why change is so darn hard to look at.
Find more info about the ARFC here: https://fumcoly.org
Read the Polygon Article: https://www.polygon.com/22851932/encanto-disney-latine-colombia-in-movies?fbclid=IwAR0D7ovvsWpLWwDdl7qT8NmlYCxChJ-GcoyCYmmjBbLbhilH6v6iSJWN-uo
See you next month!