Understanding Jack Black

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Retro_Ace

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I think everybody knows about Jack Black in terms of lighthearted comedy movies

School of Rock

Nacho Libre(my favorite)

and some know him for his controversial material

joking around about Satan likes its not a big deal(which as I understand it its because he really doesn’t have any real spirituality which I will cover)

How his video game Brütal Legend portrays the church(personally I just like 3D platformer games, I loved Banjo and Kazooie and Alice Madness Returns and I was just searching for good 3D platformers on Steam) plus adventure games (grew up with most of the Legend of Zelda games)

However after seeing Tenacious D which if it is indeed a ridiculous Tall Tale of Jack’s actual life I think I understand a bit of why he seems to have this passive aggressive beef with religion, notably ours.
  1. Trauma from a controlling fundamentalist family (a lot of atheists I know were from fundamentalist households) though he probably wasn’t aware of the Fundamentalist’s vitriolic hatred of the Catholic Church and the true nuanced history and beliefs
  2. The characters he portrays even in Brütal Legend do show a lot of virtues that align with our beliefs, Eddie Riggs from Brütal Legend has shown a lot of virtues of selflessness, friendship, self-sacrifice, and defending the weak I forget that the villains have a perverted Catholic Church Aesthetic
  3. Jack seems to have the wrong impression that the Church and God are pair of petty unforgiving control-freaks who toy with peoples lives and keep them stupid and that those of darkness are trying to liberate them. Basically Jack seems to mistaken God and Lucifer for the Greek Gods and Prometheus.
In other words when Jack through his characters talk about freedom, justice, and doing the right thing and not let others control what your free will, the church completely agrees with him, the Church believes all forms of art, including metal, can be used, God has given everyone the right to live and choose their path, and we aren’t as controlling and manipulative as the rest of the world makes us out to be.

Yes, we have committed wrongs, we admit them, which for those of the church has hurt may feel like thats not enough, but what do you expect from fallen man?

my point is, Jack Black while has much rancid sex jokes and in a passive way complains about us, seems to also share a lot what we believe in but due to being abused in a controlling, holed-up, isolationist and idolatrous sect has who is good and bad backwards

I tend to think we should try confronting such things than insulate ourselves, it makes us look cowardly and childish when if we are spiritually mature enough can handle and respond to criticism
 
I myself haven’t given a thought about Jack Black lol. I mean most of Hollywood is anti Catholic, what’s so special about him? The key mission given to the Catholic Church by Christ is the salvation of souls. Cozying up to satan is not a means to salvation no matter how much spin you put on it. Not sure why the accusation of cowardice. Go ahead and confront him if you feel you are called to do so.
 
Interesting psychoanalytic profile of Jack Black. Personally, I just consider him a typical modern-day comic who has made some so-so movies, certainly not to everyone’s taste, but if you like his kind of raunchy humor, he can be entertaining.
 
Retro_Ace said:
joking around about Satan likes its not a big deal(which as I understand it its because he really doesn’t have any real spirituality which I will cover)
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That is satire of the folks who think rock music is satanic and the bands that feed that image.
 
Retro_Ace said:
Trauma from a controlling fundamentalist family (a lot of atheists I know were from fundamentalist households
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I have found this also to be the case, especially with some people I know who are from the American South.

I have from time to time pointed out to them that Catholicism as I experienced it was a totally different type of “Christianity” than their experiences, which seemed to involve getting told on a regular basis during their childhood and teenage years that they were going to Hell if they didn’t somehow come to Jesus and stop listening to that devilish rock n’ roll music. I am sympathetic to anyone who grew up in that sort of environment and as an adult rejected Jesus and/or religion.

Also, many of them didn’t meet any Catholics until they were college age or older, because the Catholic population of some of those areas is pretty small. So apart from what they see on the news about Popes and clergy scandals, they know nothing about Catholicism. I visited one guy in the town where he was living and during a 5 mile drive I probably saw 20 different Protestant churches of one or another evangelical type with maybe a few Calvinist branches thrown in. I’m sure there was a Catholic church somewhere, but where I grew up, you drive 5 miles and see 3-4 Catholic churches, and while there were Lutherans, Episcopalians, Methodists around, the evangelicals weren’t even on my radar screen. It was a totally different culture.
 
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Retro_Ace said:
However after seeing Tenacious D which if it is indeed a ridiculous Tall Tale of Jack’s actual life I think I understand a bit of why he seems to have this passive aggressive beef with religion, notably ours.
Click to expand...
I would note however, that Jack Black was raised in the Jewish faith in California, so this Tenacious D story is made up. I thought that was the case, just double checked before I posted.
Tenacious D is a satire.
 
Honestly, I’ve never thought much about Jack Black. I always thought he was odd and rather Annoying. :man_shrugging:t2:
 
I had at least one friend who was really into Tenacious D and related to a lot of the stuff in the movie, especially the anti-fundie stuff.
I also happened to watch “School of Rock” once while on an airplane and it was reasonably funny.
I am not a huge fan of him myself however, and for years would routinely confuse him with Jack White, who I’m also not a huge fan of.
 
As others say, I probably would not have given much thought to him, but actually I think it’s a really good thing to take note from time to time that celebrities are people just like us and need our prayers all the more, and God loves them just as much as any of His lost sheep. That’s nice of you. I don’t really pay attention to celebrity’s lives, but I do remember once seeing a video of Brittany Spears exhibiting some really strange behavior, and I felt bad for watching it, it reminded me that she’s just another person and I felt really bad for her so I prayed for her.

Personally I think Jack Black is pretty hilarious sometimes, though I try to avoid the vulgar stuff. School of Rock came out when I was about 10 so it’s kind of a childhood classic for me.
 
he was funny as the polka king! (based on a true story)
and he was Catholic!
 
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I pray for the folks in Hollywood occasionally. Especially the Lord of the Rings cast, though I guess they’re not really Hollywood.
 
Instead of when you say " we " - can you please put " I " -

"In other words when Jack through his characters ( demons )
talk about freedom, justice, and doing the right thing ( sin )
and not let others control what your free will, ( rebellion )
the church completely agrees with him "

What church completely agrees with him ?
The church of Satan ?
 

Listen at the 1:32 mark - and it causes laughter.
 
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"In other words when Jack through his characters ( demons )
talk about freedom, justice, and doing the right thing ( sin )
and not let others control what your free will, ( rebellion )
the church completely agrees with him "

What church completely agrees with him ?
The church of Satan ?

did you not read my whole post on what the good things he represents

Plus by the logic that all rebellion is sin, then it was sin for the Moses to rebel against Egypt who was oppressing his people,

people who control free will who tend to believe they are higher than God or there is none so they may control others and decide what is right and wrong (Pharaoh of Old Testament, Nero, or modern times Stalin, Kim Jong Un, Chairman Mao)

And I am guessing a Panda and a silly Monk who both realize its more important to fight for whats right and charity of others are more important than becoming idols for the greedy to worship are demons anyway because they are portrayed by Jack Black

or how at the very end the Monk comes to terms with Celibacy

Or how the teach in School of Rock acted like a responsible adult and not let one of his students get caught up with drug addict edge-lord rock bands

You read things like wooden and literally

Plus I am spiritually mature enough to not let something like that make me ashamed or twist my beliefs

I understand if it was a “Weaker Brother” who lacked that spiritual maturity and allow themselves to be swayed by the words of a celebrity or a video game or what have you

I recommend reading this link Fantasy, science fiction, and Christianity
 
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