Saturday's Warrior (Musical Hell Review # 126)

[@billuraral1870]

The middle aged woman who already had around 10 kids had a miscarriage? Y'know, I think the creepy dad (who you just know believes planned parenthood and abortion are evil incarnate) is more to blame here than the son he beat up

[@kenthuang436]

Sounds like the Duggars. I think the only reason they stopped having kids is because they ran out of names that start with J that aren’t completely made up and just random letters combined together.

[@Cheezbuckets]

Don’t be silly, children bear sole responsibility for the violent emotional outbursts of their loving and responsible parents! :):):):):):):)

[@arakasi2]

​@Kent Huang I was hoping that they'd accidentally name the next one Jobu Tupaki

[@gracekim1998]

@@kenthuang436 but um all words are basically’made-up’😅

[@colleen4ever]

Um, abortion IS evil incarnate! But BIRTH CONTROL is not!

[@rainyrouge5123]

Wait, so the mom has a miscarriage because the dad got physically abusive with the kid...and the movie is saying that's the kid's fault. Not the fault of his dad who hit him. The movie is saying that if your parents are prone to hitting you when you do something they don't like, you should try to stay on their good side or else your mom will have a miscarriage. There is nothing not horrible about this.

[@colleen4ever]

Uh.....yeah. I'm Lutheran and my own Pastor would go "HUH?!" At that! While it's important to keep the 4th Commandment, when you father is BEATING YOU and the stress causes your Mom to miscarry, it;'s time to get another adult so they can DO something, like get you OUT OF THAT HOUSE!

[@gracekim1998]

Even without all the context that is horrible

[@TheMormonSorceress]

This was not in the original, sure the dad slaps the son, but he did insult his mother so he had it coming.

[@cartooncritique6625]

@@TheMormonSorceress No, he didn't. Physically assaulting your child because "they made you angry" is never a justification. That's just abuse plain and simple.

[@cartooncritique6625]

Obviously operating on that very erroneous ideology that the father of the household is "always right". 🙄

[@skyblueblazes9332]

24:11 I jokingly said “what, does she get hit by a car?” RIGHT WHEN THIS HAPPENED and I ended up laughing out loud for like a minute I think this might be the first time a movie was so predictable that I actually guessed a scene before it happened

[@seekerstheshy3842]

i have seen this exact shit in a dhar mann video. Wanna make your lead feel bad and reflect on their shitty actions? have their sibling paralyzed in some way by following a ball out into the street! (Never mind the ample time for anyone present to have stopped it)

[@trinaq]

Yes, it SHOULDN'T be funny, but because the rest of the film is so preachy and predictable, you can't help but laugh!

[@CAMarino92]

It’s the out of nowhere shot of the ballerinas to cover the accident that makes it extra funny

[@johnvinals7423]

5:27 Sidebar: Imagine if Latter Day Saints had the balls to acknowledge found family as a valid and beautiful thing and this was about all these people finding each other and coming together over the course of their lives, rather than just being born into the genetic line of the same two people. Not Settler Colonial enough for the Mormons, I guess.

[@georgeray1906]

To be honest I'm a sucker for the Found Family trope when it's done properly right because it just so heartwarming seeing people from all different backgrounds looking out for each other regardless of not being blood related and it shows that even one's friends can be your one true family.

[@derekstein6193]

That is apparently too much to ask in Mormon-land. If they believed in family not necessitating blood relations, then they might actually try adoption, instead of just spawning endlessly. And we certainly can't have that. /s

[@alexgrant7514]

I swear that the two missionary guys had some gay chemistry and it felt more believable then anyone else.

[@MusicalHell]

No lie, in their first scene the two of them are getting chummy on a bench and one of the background singers walks by just so Wally can check her out in a blatant (and not entirely successful) "no homo" gesture.

[@Sexysolja]

I thought I was the only one who saw that. 😂😂

[@cartooncritique6625]

I was starting to think I was the only one who noticed.

[@jamesonholbrook3969]

Ex-Mormon here, and you’d either be surprised (or probably not) to hear that there’s quite a lot of homo-erotic-ness between missionaries. My cousin had at least 3 different companions that got sent home cuz they were caught suckin each other. There’s a lot of guys that come home from missions and then come out as gay 🤷🏾‍♂️ that’s my story hahaha

[@AxelQC]

Gaston & Le Fou

[@MrBookworm01]

18:04 I'd say the stress of being in such a miserable marriage to such an abusive tyrant probably wasn't doing this pregnancy any favors either. Great thrashing of a garbage movie, and beautiful continuation of Diva's internal conflict. Love how she and Donna have gone from semi-hostile frenemies to genuine allies and friends

[@MusicalHell]

I'm not sure if the problem is the actor's performance or the script, but I never got the impression that Mom truly wanted another child. She seems so miserable and beat down as it is, and it's stated multiple times that the family has barely enough room or finances as it is. It feels like something she's being forced into.

[@gamestation2690]

@@MusicalHell What's the next case? It's not in the credits.

[@gentlemanlygeeky4088]

@@gamestation2690 Dear Evan Hansen

[@JoshFreilich]

@@gamestation2690 clue: the both of them sing a bit of “Waving Through a Window.”

[@juliebogen1797]

@@MusicalHell yeah I grew up in Utah, and every time I encountered one of those families with 10+ kids I'd always think: that woman has essentially been pregnant nonstop for a decade. I mean, it would take an unusually resilient woman to not be at the very least eXTREMELY TIRED

[@GrandCorsair]

We're not going to talk about how parents let their child run out into the street? Scratch that they didn't teach her not to run after a ball that rolls onto the road?

[@jordangerardpotier]

Exactly! 👏🏾

[@seekerstheshy3842]

FATHER WAS LITERALLY STANDING RIGHT THERE AND COULD HAVE STOPPED HER

[@jordangerardpotier]

@@seekerstheshy3842 he had one job!

[@kenthuang436]

It was the 70s. People didn’t wear seat belts still, women still drank during pregnancy until near the end of the decade, there were some Halloween costumes that were extremely flammable, and a few states in the US actually allowed kids under the age of 18 to buy packs of cigarettes which were about 50 cents so I don’t think teaching kids not to run out in the middle of the road for safety reasons was on people’s minds.

[@johnvinals7423]

@@kenthuang436 And there was so much lead in gasoline it filled the air and helped spawn the epidemic of serial killers that plagued the 1970s.

[@littlebird862]

As a physically disabled person it's always fun to see disability being treated as some horrible fate worse than death

[@derekstein6193]

Well, if this film taught me anything, it is you just have yet to be used as a tool for the emotional manipulation of somebody for the sin of them exercising their free will. Maybe one day that will be you as a poorly written, maudlin, storytelling device disguised as a person. You just have to believe in The Plan.

[@kenthuang436]

@@derekstein6193 The woman that verbally and emotionally abused me used a severely autistic kid as some sort of tool to force me to "appreciate" my life and a way to force me to act the way she wanted me to behave. The part that is extremely messed up is that she admitted she made me meet this kid for this reason.

[@WaywardAce420]

Damn, Donna had me ready to run to the confessional and ask for forgiveness and I’m not even Catholic.

[@v1de0gamr23]

Three things all wise people fear: 1. The night with no moon. 2. The sea in a storm. 3. The wrath of somebody gentle.

[@jordangerardpotier]

I had a feeling this would bad, but I didn’t think it would be this horrendous! Even Donna can’t stand it, it’s that bad.

[@Eviltwin531]

At least the Hi-Tops had the 80s cheese factor to make it amusingly bad. This is bad and dull.

[@deen7530]

This is one of the best Musical Hell's she's ever come out with, so that makes up for the terribleness of the movie

[@jordangerardpotier]

@@deen7530 true that.

[@diarythebookwyrm566]

as someone who was raised mormon and had to watch the 1989 version of this monstrosity, can I just say, Donna and Diva treated this EXACTLY how it deserves to be treated. Thank you for this!

[@johnvinals7423]

Why is this so beloved when it’s such a generic “Prodigal Son” family drama? Why wouldn’t the most beloved Mormon musical be a retelling of Joseph Smith’s life and times or an adaptation of some beloved story or another from the Book of Mormon?

[@amberdawn868]

@@johnvinals7423 Probably nostalgia. My dad was a child in the 70's and always thought so highly of the musical.

[@diarythebookwyrm566]

@@johnvinals7423 probably because this is Plan of Salvation propaganda at its finest. "Oh look! Everything's planned, even our suffering!" combined with, in the 70s and 80s, the mormons closing ranks even tighter in the face of second wave feminism, queer rights activism, and overall ppl becoming more secular.

[@johnvinals7423]

@@diarythebookwyrm566 I think what I hate most about Mormonism is how so much of its theology is just “Let us justify our desire to commit Settler Colonialism by turning it into a theology!!!!!”.

[@TheBattlesword]

It just occured to me that in your entire 10+ year run, you've never taken a single bribe from actual hellspawn like the Raid: Shadow Legends people. As if I needed more validation that you're one of the best channels I follow

[@MadameSomnambule]

Yeah. In fact, the only sponsors in her vids are for other indie productions. That's pretty sweet tbh.

[@kenthuang436]

I find the Raid promos extremely annoying. No I’m not interested in your stupid game because it looks uninteresting to me! And no I’m not using a promo code to get some characters that I don’t give a freak about! Screw you Raid Shadow Legends or whatever you’re called!

[@AMoniqueOcampo]

Oh, the Donna/Diva dynamic is adorable. Never even heard of this musical/movie. Let's have some fun!

[@trinaq]

Agreed, I love when Diva reviews a musical I've seen, but it's interesting when she reviews an obscure one as well.

[@ConorCarlisle]

They're a genderbent Azirophale and Crowley

[@ForrestFox626]

I wish we could have had more of these kinds of reviews before Diva retires the show

[@dunes8817]

Dad straight up looks like a live action Ned Flanders.

[@Anachronismgorl]

A Vaguely 1970s Ned Flanders. But Ned Flanders none the less.

[@themysteriouscrumpet]

Did you see any purple drapes in their house?

[@TheMbmdcrew]

And his surname is even "Flinders", which is one letter off! XD

[@deen7530]

How dare you slander the good name of Ned Flanders by comparing him to this abusive tyrant of a father!

[@karrihart1]

Hey you leave Ted Lasso out of this!

[@Eviltwin531]

OK, that brick wall/birth canal metaphor line at 7:30 absolutely slayed me.

[@benburke3015]

Well I guess it's good to know that the cavalcade of Swan Princess sequels isn't necessarily the most embarrassing move of Lex de Azevedo's career. lol.

[@amberdawn868]

At least the Swan Princess movies have a wider appeal to more people, and their flaws are easier to overlook.

[@robbiewalker2831]

@@amberdawn868 the first two sequels have potential, but the moment the 3D comes in, everything falls apart.

[@benburke3015]

@@robbiewalker2831 Also, let's not forget the film where Odette and Derek host, as Laura Crone described it, racist Eurovision. Lmao.

[@bl3343]

The people responsible for the Swan Princess also made a bunch of animated adaptations of Book of Mormon stories.

[@ToHoldNothing]

@@benburke3015 Kingdom of Music? It's sad I could piece that together, but I briefly wrote up a fan panel for the franchise, though I think you'd have to pay me about $200 up front to even consider reviving that for conventions

[@trinaq]

Yay, I always love it whenever Donna returns. When even SHE can't stand a preachy Mormon musical, you KNOW that it's truly awful!

[@thomasbradley4505]

The establishing shot of the Golden Gate Bridge looks like it was lifted from the opening credits of Full House

[@jeremyusreevu237]

"I never draw people the way they are. I draw people the way they could be" is one of the most pretentious lines I've ever heard. Like, I could imagine someone saying that while sipping a latte, wearing a goofy hat, and listening to some indie band that they only like because nobody has ever heard of them. Also, HELL YES YOU'RE COVERING DEAR EVEN HANSEN 2021 NEXT!!!!! CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!

[@derekstein6193]

I think the "I draw people the way they could be" line could've been redeemed if he revealed that all of his sketches depicted the subjects all suffering their worst possible fates. Each subject would appear worse than the last, such as one being a ravaged junkie, another a compulsive gambler being abandoned by their family, and yet another contracting rabies and not getting treated before symptoms set in. Then let the last one be a depiction of that one cocky missionary from the B-plot, unaltered. I think that could've been a Saving Grace, but maybe that is just me.

[@inkfeather1152]

"Julie has all the spinal integrity of a slug in the River Phlegathon" Was that a Hades reference? Because I've definitely fished up quite a few of those lol.

[@andrewollmann304]

Given that Diva’s Hell is baseed on Dante’s Inferno, I’m guessing that the Phlegethon is the river of boiling plood that the violent against others (tyrants, murderers, highwaymen, etc.) are submerged in.

[@inkfeather1152]

@Andrew Ollmann Yes, but in the video game Hades you can fish in the River Phlegathon when you visit Asphodel. One of the fish you can get is a Slavug :)

[@MusicalHell]

You're both right, actually--Diva's Hell is largely based on Dante's inferno (which in turn borrows a lot of Greek Underworld geography), but I definitely had Slavugs on my mind when coming up with that mental image.

[@fablethewolf825]

Wait, so there's a fatal condition which has the victim die by slow deterioration that's caused by getting hit by a car at least a decade beforehand? I thought Pam was born with her legs nonfunctional or suffered from one of those diseases that slowly eat away at your muscles. Of course, a large chunk of those tend to be inherited, and it would be absolute sacrilege to imply that the perfect father would have less-than perfect genes to carry one and in fact might be a feather in the hat for Jimmy's evil song, so we can't have that, can we?

[@MusicalHell]

Pam is implied to be in chronic pain because look-she-just-is, and was getting some vaguely defined spinal surgery to correct that. The implication is that she died on the operating table but again, the movie doesn't bother with details because the important thing is that she dies so Jimmy can come home and go on mission like a good boy.

[@johnvinals7423]

@@MusicalHell Again, what is the purpose of the family having eight children? Why not just have Jimmy, Pam, Julie, and Emily?

[@DJ_Mystic]

@@johnvinals7423 It seems to be a common LDS thing to have large families. In my family, my mom's the only one who stopped at two.

[@user-kw7mr6xt9n]

@@MusicalHell i thought it was gonna be she was born like that and it was jimmy's fault because he was singing a whole musical number at 7:30.

[@reptilerestaurant6168]

Hey, I love your work and I understand Music burning you out- that movie gave me Actual nightmares. I'm glad you've picked something you can have fun with next, but never worry about taking a break if you need to! As always, wonderful takedown of an absolutely hellish musical.

[@mightyfilm]

How come the only religious media that isn't a horrific, dystopian propaganda piece involves talking vegetables and space penguins? Oh. Cuz the guys behind it have talent. Duh. Answered my own question.

[@thelittleredhairedgirlfrom6527]

And Prince of Egypt

[@thema1998]

Firstly, I had never heard of "Yesterday's Warrior" until now. Secondly, you know that the movie is bad when even Donna hates it. This had her best commentary and roasts to date! 😂

[@drewbear1969]

"I don't speak English" and Donna going Old Testament on the writers were my favorite parts ❤ The movie portraying the patriarch of the Flinders family as a model husband and father was my least favorite.

[@leedriver7029]

Being an LDS member, I did watch the ‘89 video when my mom showed to me and my siblings. Even when I was a kid, I remember thinking “somethings don’t seem right with the story”. As an adult, I REALLY don’t see myself watching the 2016 movie. The musical probably should have stayed in the 70s/80s where it belongs

[@TheJFish94]

OMG, she's doing Dear Evan Hansen next!

[@trinaq]

Yep, I'm glad that Diva won't be hanging up her pitchfork without ripping this abomination to shreds.

[@Eviltwin531]

@@trinaq That and I'm holding onto hope for "Zombies 3" just to finish it off.

[@jacobbelow]

I'm eagerly looking forward to when that case comes out!

[@alexanderklepp]

@@jacobbelowDitto. Honestly, even as someone who isn’t familiar the show, the movie really missed the mark.

[@kenthuang436]

ZOMBIES 3 is going to be ripped to shreds and then turned into confetti that will be set on fire to be rained down upon the Disney Channel.

[@dunes8817]

In all fairness, the movie looks like something you'd run into at a Goodwill.

[@kenthuang436]

And the one DVD that continues to be left on the shelf and ignored by shoppers for over a year until the employees take it off the shelf and toss it knowing it is just taking up space and it is clear no one even wants it.

[@dragletsofmakara1120]

So the youngest Emily was shown with the siblings at the train station. Then it was implied that Jimmy caused Emily to be miscarried. Then baby Emily was born. Since another pre-born child didn’t exist, God never intended the miscarried baby to survive. But the movie blames Jimmy?

[@BEE-oz7yd]

This whole Flick can be summarized in the "Go to the church and ask God for forgiveness!" meme!

[@sarahpace5376]

I am right there with you, Diva. This was draining. I thought we had scraped the bottom of the barrel with Music, but oh no. Instead we got a live action film adaptation of a Chick tract! None of the shit that happens is Jimmy's fault. His dad should've gotten young Pam out of the road, Dad should've not been slapping his son around stressing out his wife and Pam chose to proceed with a risky surgery that she wouldn't have needed if her dad had been paying attention to his kids. If anything, the dad is the cause of all of the worst events in this film! Jimmy at best became a binge drinker and a bit of a jerk for a bit, both of which he decided to work on after hitting rock bottom. Meanwhile, the dad never has any self reflection and is never punished in any way for his negligence and physical abuse. In any other movie, his actions would mark him as a villain and the fact that the writers didn't see this makes me very concerned. I also don't appreciate the hinted idea that women have no agency of their own and would only do something dangerous because of a man in the case of Pam going through with the surgery with Jimmy's emcouragement. Sure, it's not the usual women are evil temptresses theme you usually see in these kinds of pieces, but it's not much better. Granted, as you showed, the whole thing disallows any agency to the female characters and they all suffer and/or die to motivate a man, so we got fridging in there too. The whole subplot with the missionaries and sketch artist could've been dropped entirely and nothing would've changed. They built up the whole soul mates finding each other and it's barely an afterthought, so why include it? The souls train station has so many disturbing implications. So souls of kids can go to Earth, only to find out they were miscarried and have to go back? Why waste their time and get their hopes up? Also was the implication that she instead got to go into the body of the rainbow baby? That comes off as saying that that people and souls are interchangeable, which I'm pretty sure several religions would be offended by that implication. And why did she start out as a young kid soul when everyone else was either an adult or an older kid/teen? Was the implication that the miscarriage was preordained? It was also disturbing how dead Pam hugged her also dead sister with the biggest smile on her face. "Sure, we never got to live or had painful, difficult lives and horrific deaths, but it's great to see you again!" I can only assume incoming passed souls aren't allowed to interact with outgoing souls because I have a hard time believing that many of the experienced souls wouldn't tell them it's not worth it to live mortal lives. Also reading the comments, if souls live full lives in Heaven, where's the incentive to go to Earth? Is it something the Mormon God commands? The film seems to indicate that he doesn't give outgoing souls any sense of what they're getting themselves into and is very hands off even before the souls get to Earth. Not sure how much of this is in the actual Mormon theology, but the more I think about it, the worse it gets. Anyway, with that wall of text out of the way: the acting sucks, the production values suck, the singing and songs themselves suck, and the story is an affront to all that is morally decent. The only reason it should continue to exist is due to freedom of speech and expression because it otherwise holds no positive value and makes the faith of the people that created it look utterly evil to any sane person, religious or otherwise.

[@poohbear4515]

Gotta admit. When his soon-to-be-dead sister had died, and she picked up and held her miscarried little sister tightly, it was a very sweet moment.

[@deen7530]

It gave me cavities

[@firecrakerj3312]

@@deen7530 I lost a foot to diabetes

[@caliph95]

Better moment than the movie deserves

[@futuremovieactor]

Yeah it was. It was also highly manipulative and cheap though too.

[@billuraral1870]

I think it'd work better if the small sister died as a little kid instead of the whole stupid miscarrieg plot, but yeah, it did tug on my heartstrings

[@thegayghost872]

I was raised Mormon, my brother is even a missionary, and I've literally never heard of this movie. I guess that's a good thing. Also, if there's only a year of Musical Hell left, I'm gonna miss it when it's gone!

[@henrygvidonas9573]

They did the ball bouncing away from the off-camera accident... They _actually_ did the ball bouncing away from the accident! AAAArrrrghhhh!!!

[@baalgodofrain]

23:57 Not going to lie, this would make for a pretty good Silent Hill game opening, a man on his knees in a rainy alleyway with a pay call phone dangling down, then he sees the image of a young girl and begins to follow it into a school bus (which kinda gave me SH1 VIbes) and then wakes up in the misty town, there, I just made a better story then this movie did in 2 hours!!!

[@MusicalHell]

The fact that the driver of the bus is mysteriously absent just makes the whole thing even creepier.

[@kenthuang436]

Actually seeing a little dog hidden in a control room playing God would make this movie more entertaining. It would explain the low intelligence everyone in this movie seem to have and explain all of the crazy randomness thrown into the movie.

[@TellyKNetic]

"I... don't speak English." Was that even an actress, or a random woman they stopped on the street while filming?

[@IntoTheGigerverse]

I'm not the only one who thinks the "people in a pre-incarnate state who know the people they will one day know in their physical lives but then forget when they're born and have to find them again" thing is actually pretty creative, am I? Deserves a better movie than this, maybe a sci-fi head trip a la Everything Everywhere All At Once (Best Picture yay!).

[@johnvinals7423]

That crossed with “Moon Knight”. Just imagine the poor Angel who’s trying to get them all back on track. Mormon pop culture should really just ignore the stupid “Good White Nephites displaced by those EVIL DARK-SKINNED LAMANITES AND THEIR INDIGENOUS DESCENDANTS!” bullshit in their mythology and just focus on the existential questions raised by the idea of pre-existent souls.

[@roristevens2810]

1987's "Made in Heaven" is a version of this premise as a secular romantic comedy.

[@ОлегЕршов-м3с]

The Blue Bird by Maurice Maeterlinck exists for more then 100 years.

[@DJtheBlack-RibbonedRose]

I'm sorry to hear that your recent bout of burnout has largely come from your review of Music. Granted, it can't be easy in general to talk so much negativity for several years, but yeesh, as if Music hadn't caused enough harm already for its mere existence alone. I was wondering when you'd cover Dear Evan Hansen (2021), so I *do* look forward to that bit of dissection, but if you need to take a break after that, to concentrate from Musical Hell to Mental Health, then by all means do so, Diva. 🙏✨

[@AndrewB..]

Oh boy this is gonna be a good one I'm ready!

[@samuelloyd2540]

And now Diva, because you’ve waited so patiently for it, The Top 10 Book of Mormon Jokes to make in this review. 10. 2:55 🎶In 1978, God changed his mind about black people🎶 9. 11:06 🎶And 80% of us have AIDS 🎶 8. 11:11 🎶Sal Tlay Ka Siti🎶 7. 14:45 🎶Turn it off, like a light switch🎶 6. 17:44 🎶My dad would say to me now don’t you dare start crying 🎶 5. 19:43 🎶Hello my name is Elder Price🎶 4. 5:36 🎶Who had a little Donny Osmond flair🎶 3. 24:27 🎶I’ve lived that guilt all of my life and the terrible vision that I had that night🎶 2. 6:26 🎶But mostly me🎶 (ok that’s cheating because you did it and not me, but the number 1 spot will make up for it) And the number 1 Book of Mormon joke to make in this review is: 22:40 🎶She laid there dying with my father and mother. Her very last words were Where is my brother🎶 (Play me off Paul!)

[@trinaq]

Wait, if I've interpreted the obvious clue correctly, "Dear Evan Hansen" will be the next case! I WANTED to like it, but it just didn't translate as well from stage to screen. It had obvious problems from the get go.

[@colleen4ever]

One of which was the heavy Dawson casting for the lead, and they didn't even try!

[@Kahran042]

@@colleen4ever I didn't really notice it, but I did notice how they made Connor look like a total NPC.

[@nolanmcbride5653]

Thank you for the seminary Spring Break gift. If only one of my professors would accept tearing this musical apart as an essay topic. I did get away with using A Strange Loop as a sacred text for my preaching class once

[@MusicalHell]

I can see that...Usher's quest to understand his sense of self does have elements of a spiritual journey (albeit one deeply traumatized by conventional expressions of the spiritual).

[@tvestal100]

I listened to this episode while commuting to work and when you hinted at the next case, I started screaming with joy. Can't wait for you to tear into it.

[@EllieC130]

I really see myself in “I don’t speak english” lady.

[@citizennancy]

I had the pro shot follow up to this called Star child. It was in a free VHS cart at a thrift store. To say it was duller than used dishwater is an insult to used dishwater.

[@seekerstheshy3842]

at least used dishwater can give you some amusement in gagging at it

[@americaroleplayer]

This movie almost seems like they *wanted* to talk about some of the darker things (depression, sexism, ect.) but like they were stopped halfway. I wonder if there's an alternative script where they address things properly that was cut out.

[@amberdawn868]

Frankly I think keeping the story in the 70's held it back. If the movie had updated to the 2010's properly, maybe it could have gone further into talking about those things.

[@Talisguy]

​@@amberdawn868It tends to be the opposite, in my experience. Films are generally a lot more comfortable attacking *past* bigotry than *modern* bigotry. If, for example, you're making a film about racism in America, it's a whole lot less risky to set it in the pre-Civil War South than to set it in the modern USA. Very few modern viewers are going to look at a plantation owner treating Black people as literal property and feel called out, but if the film's about the horrors of *modern* American racism then you risk losing white audience members who aren't far-right reactionary shitheads, but maybe have some unexamined racist assumptions that can cause genuine harm to people, by making them too uncomfortable. And, to be blunt, "white people with unexamined racist assumptions" are likely to be a large chunk of the audience for most films. It's much easier to look at the past and go "wow, things were awful for marginalised people back then" than it is to look at the present and go "wow, 'normal life' has been a dystopia for marginalised people *the whole time."*

[@samuelline9573]

"Whats the story hold glory?" Just phenomenal

[@LittleMissLounge]

I'm familiar with Saturday's Warrior due to the God-Awful Movies podcast, but the actual product is worse than I imagined. Pam's portrayal alone fills me with rage, LOL. Julie looks like Taylor Swift and another celebrity whose name escape's me love child. Edit: WAIT. Is this supposed to be a period piece? Jesus Christ, this is the worst period piece I've seen in a while. Maybe even worse than Babylon. [sigh] Well, at least Edward Furlong is still getting work.

[@kaitlynlehman7414]

As a catholic Wiccan i actually did back away from my PC due to Donna getting mad: for a second there I thought she was gonna go full-on "avenging angel with the flaming sword". You know it's bad when even a literal angel gets mad XD

[@ThatRandomEncounterGuy]

I don’t remember if I pitched either of these but I would love to see Pound Puppies- Legend of Big Paw or any of the Care Bears movies; I certainly feel any of those 4 deserve a day in court.

[@kenthuang436]

The third Care Bears movie is actually not too bad and is an imaginative take on Alice in Wonderland. It’s not perfect but out of the three Care Bears movies, it is the one that deserves to be reviewed by Diva the least. I mean the only really bad parts of the Wonderland movie are the plot holes with Alice not discovering something that makes her special and the end credits rap.

[@KaminoKatie]

@@kenthuang436 And the fact that the Care Bears movie clapped The Black Cauldron at the box office is only cultural impact that film has

[@mackenziegivens6061]

As do Roadside Romeo Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart Uglydolls & (Insert animated movie musical I can't remember the name of here) Let the records show that I don't hate any of them (especially not Uglydolls for giving me that BANGER of a villain intro), but I think it'd be fun to see how they fare in court.

[@ThatRandomEncounterGuy]

@@kenthuang436 true enough; I didn’t feel like Christmas is Here Again or Yellow Submarine had enough faults to justify their place in court, but I’d still be happy to see Diva take her shot.

[@ThatRandomEncounterGuy]

@@kenthuang436maybe…but it still feels like, if the first two count, might as well at least acknowledge all 3. It’s certainly the least bad of the three, but it’s also the one that seems like it has the least reason to use the title characters.

[@SuperEasywalker]

7:39 It’s saying something that RIVERDALE, the show not the Archie’s comic version, have gone though crazy storylines, yet it is way more interesting/entertaining than this movie’s Riverdale. I’m surprise you two didn’t make a joke about RIVERDALE given the set up.

[@seekerstheshy3842]

man oh man do i hate the movie framing it as the dude's fault his sister is disabled just to kick him down more. its like the whole thing is a guilt trippy rant a parent would go on to their child who isnt obeying them like a zombie anymore "If you dont stay with your abusive family of almost a dozen you're gonna end up doing DRUGS and LOSING everything >:( also lol its totally your fault your sister is dead"

[@OverlyPositiveFanboy]

So basically, this Mormon musical's approach to hardships in life is "turn it off?"

[@colleen4ever]

Rather than...say...take it to God? Which is what they're supposed to be saying?

[@bl3343]

Yes.

[@Niobesnuppa]

Like a light switch.

[@kenthuang436]

@@Niobesnuppa And go click. It’s a nifty Mormon trick!

[@cubey]

How the hell does THAT work? Souls hang around in a train station waiting to be born, but they are wildly different ages before they are born? Shouldn't they all be crying infants, since that's the form they take on?

[@gracekim1998]

I have no IDEA 😂

[@colleen4ever]

Shouldn;t they be angels until God calls them to be born?

[@cubey]

@@colleen4ever They technically are meant to be, they just didn't have any budget to convey it.

[@kenthuang436]

Pixar’s Soul did a much better approach with the unborn Souls being children that are put into a pre-Earth education program with someone that had a very notable life.

[@kenyastarflight]

You know, I wondered when one of the review channels would cover this... thing. Thank you for dissecting it. As a lapsed Mormon myself, I grew up watching this musical (the 80s version) and thinking it was amazing, but now I look back at it and cringe like hell. (Also the "villains" get the most absolute banger of a song in "Summer of Fair Weather," which is par for the course for a lot of movies like this.)

[@DJ_Mystic]

I come from an LDS family, and I must have lucked out because they don't act like this at all, thank goodness! They're not a perfect family by any means, but they're not the horrible people this movie portrays!

[@a.t.m873]

I like seeing Diva and Donna working together. Reminds me that opposites can work together well.

[@lauradietrich9424]

Has anyone else noticed that the dad looks EXACTLY like Saul's "Gene" persona from "Better Call Saul"?

[@bjornjonsson6583]

People in wheelchairs are surely not too well represented in media (with a few exeptations, but still). If they aren't told that they are going to die, like here, they magically gets better for no other reason than a cheep happy end, like in Heidi. I feel quite bad for them☹

[@kenthuang436]

That’s ableism for you!

[@kenthuang436]

Malcolm in the Middle is the only thing I can think of when it comes to portraying someone in a wheelchair that isn’t going to be killed off later on in the series, get miraculously cured, or seen as being unhappy with being disabled. Stevie might have health problems but he’s still a regular kid who isn’t afraid to cause trouble or pull pranks on others.

[@Kahran042]

"I guess twins come earlier." Phrasing! :D

[@NukeOTron]

Oh! This one. ...and it's not even the '80s version, which had too many songs, hardly any budget, tried to justify cheating on your boyfriend with a song (BEFORE Todd showed up), distinctly had the one black guy in the whole cast associated with the bad guys (which were more or less '80s street punks), and made young people think that reincarnation was a thing, because people come out of Fog Machine Heaven to go to Earth, and come back into Fog Machine Heaven when they died! (...and strangely enough, that last part made more sense.) Of course, if you think this is bad, try It's A Miracle, which feels even more like a big fat lie. Then again, that's a stage production with a probably rare pro shot, not a movie. Not to mention, Janice Kapp Perry put her name all over it.

[@hiygamer]

I'll miss this show when it does come to an end, but I'll be looking forward to seeing what you move on to after it's finished.

[@kokepasu4583]

My dad actually starred in a production of this back in the 90s. The church is trying to rebrand itself haha 😆 trying to cover up stuff like this. Mormons have insane beliefs

[@colleen4ever]

To be fair, not as insane as Scientology.

[@bl3343]

​@@colleen4ever that's like saying "at least a Fiat doesn't break down as often as a Yugo".😅

[@goosegas2087]

@@bl3343 Or at least the dog didn't have diarrhea on your floor, it just had a regular shit.

[@alzoruledura7416]

I had a feeling Donna was due to show up soon.

[@Jarakin]

Really love Donna snapping and going full on Old Testament for a moment there

[@Multifandom_mess12]

I half expected to hear The Plauges from the Prince of Egypt during her speech

[@robbiewalker2831]

3:45: Actually, Donna, most people thought it was a very foggy Roman Temple Garden.

[@skyslasher2297]

A lot to unpack for me 3:52 There was so much focus on them in this opening I legit thought they were gonna be the main characters but no its barely a subplot wtf. Also this whole our souls held their own lives in Heaven before we are born thing that an actual Mormon belief or is the movie being dumb. 10:41 Oh joy its gonna be one of those Religiously charged productions. 13:09 Personally I subscribe to there was no plan beyond creation and that God gave us free will argument. 28:03 Same Diva I'm still not over that abomination pretending to be cinema.

[@SuperSwordman1]

Hey I largely subscribe to that school of thought on the odyssey too.

[@amberdawn868]

The LDS religion does believe that people's spirits lived in heaven with God before coming to earth, BUT the doctrine also says that people have their agency and can choose their own paths in life. This movie just has a bad blend of stale romantic tropes and poor writing.

[@georgeray1906]

I agree full heartedly with you on the idea of there was no plan beyond creation and God gave us free will since deep down we've all the capability of doing good or evil as they are two sides of the same coin which is somewhat funny since I'm agnostic.

[@lizzyvalentine5938]

So im curious if Donna is going to give Diva a kind of get out of hell free card. Maybe not to heaven but maybe she gets to go to earth as a mortal and get to try things out for herself in a new life

[@dianakosianka5344]

It would make some really nice foreshadowing for the series' grand finale

[@kokepasu4583]

Yeah, we were taught that disabilities would be "cured" in heaven. :/

[@gracekim1998]

Oh god🤦‍♀️

[@kokepasu4583]

@@gracekim1998 yeah, I can't wait to see what I'm like when I'm stripped of my autism! Oh boy! 🙄

[@colleen4ever]

Well, kinda yeah. After all the spirits are in Heaven, not the bodies.

[@SiRenfield]

Kind of reminds me of that anime cult movie Mother’s Basement reviewed “I am Helen Keller”

[@kenthuang436]

I’m autistic and I don’t want to be “cured.” I literally have no idea what it’s like to not have autism and the symptoms were always with me even when I was undiagnosed. What the here am I supposed to do if I get “cured” of autism since that is literally what makes up my personality and thoughts and everything?

[@CharliArmstrong]

I actually liked the play. It was so eighties, which added to its charm. It was a missionary who told me about it, but none of the missionaries I've encountered knew it had been made into a movie. Now I see why.

[@cobrahotly]

She’s doing Dear Evan Hansen next???!!! To quote Lizzo, “I’ve been WAITING for this one!”

[@colleen4ever]

Me too!!!

[@gageperuti5519]

Good gravy, as far as religious films go, this is worse than Left Behind (either version) and Saving Christmas. Those films are at least hilariously awful. This is just rage inducing.

[@jacksampsonforever]

Aww, Donna really does love Diva, deep down

[@colleen4ever]

She's an angel; of God, she loves everybody.

[@gombocdimensional9050]

@@colleen4ever more like an angel of gay.

[@colleen4ever]

@@gombocdimensional9050 She loves all males and females, that's what angels do!

[@mcwyman7928]

19:43 Ok that was legitimately and unironically hilarious

[@AxelQC]

I had no idea you were an Exmo. No non-Mormon would ever have heard of this, let alone have so much insight into Mormon culture.

[@MusicalHell]

I'm not, but I have a lot of people who send me strange things. I'd also recently read both "Under the Banner of Heaven" and "Unmask Alice" prior to writing/recording this, so I'd had some unsettling insights on the darker side of that culture.

[@johnvinals7423]

6:52 I’m just going to pretend those two missionaries are those brothers who disappeared from the town of Gravesfield, Connecticut in the 1650s.

[@kelleyceccato7025]

The 1940 Shirley Temple vehicle "The Blue Bird" did the whole "couple in love in Eternity are separated when they go down to Earth" MUCH better, if I do say so myself.

[@douglasfreer]

What’s funny is one of my favorite authors is LDS and he is one of the more understanding and respectful people out there. While people like Rowling are spreading hate towards marginalized groups he’s actively lifting those same groups up, especially by having so many of his characters be women, LGBT, of different faiths or colored differently. That authors name? Brandon Sanderson. To show how much he respects others there is a person in his Cosmere books researching the science behind all the magics and she’s black! Then in his big series, Stormlight Archives, we have a guy dealing with PTSD and massive depression, a woman who’s bi and suffering from a variation of DID, a woman who’s atheist and not treated as being in the wrong, a woman of the ‘evil’ race trying to stop the war because it’s the right thing to do and a couple men who have done monstrous things in the past and are trying to, for one, redeem themself and, for the other, seek revenge on his people who put him in that position in the first place. As for LGBT it’s a little hard for him to retcon the current major players into that slot so he’s had to settle for secondary and minor characters but since he has plenty of books still planned he’s trying to include more, especially since one who’s confirmed gay in Stormlight will be a major focus character in the second half of the series.

[@slashnyaoi]

I look forward to this so much - please don't tell me it 's going to end after a year

[@erikbihari3625]

Maybe could have donna and you switching places for a while! That way you'd cover some good stuff and rejuvinate yourself while she knows what you go through, sounds good huh?

[@DJtheBlack-RibbonedRose]

Ooh, that sounds like a great idea! I hope she sees your suggestion. 🤞🖤

[@erikbihari3625]

​​@@DJtheBlack-RibbonedRose. Thanks!🎩👌Ditto, it'd feel good to be finally listened to.😢

[@MrKlausbaudelaire]

She did review Sweeney Todd once, would be fun to see her review other good musicals and just criticize what is a genuine flaw or even personal opinion like Chicago, Hunchback, Jack and the Beanstalk (that trippy as here japanese version)...

[@DJtheBlack-RibbonedRose]

@@MrKlausbaudelaire *aRe yOu hApPeeE?!* 😆😅 (That line delivery has lived in my head rent-free since I watched the Nostalgia Critic review).

[@MrKlausbaudelaire]

@@DJtheBlack-RibbonedRose as for me its been in my head ever since I had it in VHS back in 2000 xD 15 years later I realized “wait… I can rewatch it now! I have the internet”

[@ToHoldNothing]

Is it sad that I mostly known LDS stuff indirectly via Don Bluth and Richard Rich? Heck, I probably know more from Trey Parker and Matt Stone. But Lex De Azevedo rang a bell, he along with Brian Nissen, worked with Richard Rich on Swan Princess stuff (and even stuff before) and they're both LDS affiliated, Brian Nissen more directly, though Don Bluth has the most info I could find on stuff like his mission country (Argentina)

[@Rahshu]

It's fun seeing you two collaborate. I've long had a sense that the forces of Heaven and Hell have always worked at last in a sembiotic sort of way. I hope you'll get a really tasty, juicy cut in your next case. You've given us a lot of fun over the years, and be there more or none, we'll still be grateful. :D

[@colleen4ever]

With us, Diva, you will be found! Sorry, couldn't resist.

[@valmarsiglia]

Fucking hell, this makes Seventh Heaven look like Liquid Sky.

[@VincentMariethe4th]

Y'know, a really twisted part of me finds the scene of Pam's accident hilarious cuz all I could think was, "They stole that from FRANKENWEENIE!!" 😠On the other hand, the way Pam was treated in this movie as a whole makes me wanna read the complete unabridged version of Dickens' "Old Curiosity Shop" if it means never having to deal with these witnessing types again. I'll take all the tired treacly tropes of Little Nell's death over more of this crap. Dickens' fluff chapters at least still usually have some very lively & imaginative prose going for them.

[@sammyvictors2603]

I just hope this doesn't mean Diva is ending this review channel soon.

[@colleen4ever]

You heard Donna, we got at least 1 more year.

[@mitkitty]

She's been planning this for a while, stuff like Know the Score will keep going but after the finale Musical Hell will be done

[@bl3343]

"you know those Kirton McConkie lawyers make ours look principled, right?". Truer words were never spoken.😂😂😂

[@MelanieNLee]

One thing I hate about these so-called "Christian" movies--and I haven't seen that many of them--is that they don't know how to present the opposing side fairly--that is, they can't make a believable antagonist. A line like "Legalized abortion is the answer" might--MIGHT--appear as a sarcastic line in a Stevie Wonder song like "Big Brother", but here, it's unartistic, clunky, and in the context, unfair. I'm not against the idea of huge families, but having one after the other after the other must be exhausting for the mother, and can be fatal. I think that's what happened to Margaret Sanger's mother. A woman producing that many children that frequently needs good medical and social support.

[@earn635daily]

"Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice." ---Wayne Dyer

[@andrewollmann304]

If I had to guess, “righteous hara-kiri” means that the missionary’s words will split the listener’s sould open to receive the love of the Lord. But, goodness, is that a violent image. Never reference suicide when talking about conversion.

[@TonySamedi]

I'm wondering if it was meant to be a reference to the Hare Krishna and they just remembered it wrong and never corrected it. Hare Krishna where pretty big around the time the original musical came out and the time this one is set, and they were associated with airports a lot.

[@andrewollmann304]

@@TonySamedi I understand, but “harry-carry” is usually an anglicized version of “hara-kiri,” as in seppuku, the samurai’s act of suicide.

[@nickchabot1302]

17:28 I’m fairly callous, but that made me clutch my pearls

[@kelseighingram]

Do what you need to do to look after yourself, Diva. It’s not your job to set yourself on fire to keep the rest of us warm.

[@Sandlot1992]

never heard of this musical until now!

[@kenthuang436]

Diva beat me to the Book of Mormon joke! I was literally going to type the same thing when she said it.

[@rami_ungar_writer]

I love Alex Boye and the Piano Guys, but they were wasting their talents being in this film!

[@LovlyHorror]

Hey, here's an obvious question; if these people's theology says that we have souls from the moment of conception, we does the youngest kid get a second chance? Shouldn't her soul have died when her mom miscarried? It seems like these people are playing pick and choose with when their rules apply.

[@colleen4ever]

No,. her soul was called back to Heaven. Souls don't die. bodies die. Guess they decided to give the kid another chance so she could live? I dunno, Lutherans don't believe in reincarnation;

[@MusicalHell]

I'm not sure how well this aligns with general Mormon theology (I suspect not very well) but this movie is very weird about the way souls incarnate. The general idea seems to be that souls have preordained bodies (hence the "have all the kids and don't even THINK about abortion" message), but Emily obviously gets another chance after her initial miscarriage and Token Soulful Black Guy remarks about how he's sent people to the wrong bodies by accident (transgender Mormons, maybe?). The more you think about it, the less sense it makes.

[@valmarsiglia]

29:40 LOL! he's not even trying to pretend to know how to play guitar.

[@kamryngray8978]

Oh my gosh my dad was in this LOL. I didn't know it was this well known.

[@JoeEnglandShow]

Gotta say, I never thought I'd see a whole movie this determined to proselytize against the evils of... saying that overpopulation is an issue.

[@tristanmichels5721]

A little late here, but: (At the end, sees that the next Musical Hell video will be on the Dear Evan Hansen film adaptation) Oh, this is going to be so fun....

[@sabrinamcclain162]

I thought the pre-born souls part was an interesting idea but then it had nothing to do with the rest of the musical.