The Church of the SubGenius is a religion, but really a parody of religion. Learn all about this group of weirdo outsiders in today's episode.
AI Summary
# Stuff You Should Know: The Church of the SubGenius
This episode dives deep into the Church of the SubGenius, a deliberately absurdist parody religion founded in the late 1970s by two Dallas weirdos who were tired of mainstream conformity and consumer culture. The guys explore the bizarre theology around the prophet Bob Dobbs (literally a piece of clip art), the philosophy of "Slack" as a form of personal freedom, and how what started as an underground joke with pamphlets and CB radio pranks somehow grew into a legitimate cult classic phenomenon with devoted followers and actual gatherings called "devivals." It's basically what would happen if Mad Magazine decided to start a religion—hilarious, cynical, and confusing unless you're in on the joke.
American Psycho
2000
1h 42m
★ 7.4
"almost like a Patrick Bateman psychotic look on his face. Patrick Bateman meets Ward Cleaver. — Comparing Bob Dobbs' appearance to Patrick Bateman from American Psycho."
— Josh
Fight Club
1999
2h 19m
★ 8.4
"It's like when Fight Club got too serious. They started blowing up buildings and stuff. — Using Fight Club as an analogy for what happens when a satirical work is taken too literally by serious followers."
Pee-wee's Playhouse
1986
★ 7.1
"he has popped up everywhere from the background at Peewee's Playhouse — Discussing how Bob Dobbs imagery appeared in various media and cultural references."
— Josh
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
2002
2h 59m
★ 8.4
"Sandy K Boone, who was involved in a few other pretty great documentaries recently, including Tower — Mentioning Tower, a documentary about the Charles Whitman shooting, as another project by the Church of the Subgenius documentary director."
— Chuck
This Is Spinal Tap
1984
1h 22m
★ 7.4
"I liken it to when I saw Spinal Tap in concert. They actually toured when I was in college. — Comparing the experience of attending a Church of the Subgenius devival to seeing the Spinal Tap movie tour live."
— Josh
Waking Life
2001
1h 41m
★ 7.5
"Waking Life, that whole thing Linkletter did with the animation. They did that for this documentary — Noting that director Sandy K Boone used rotoscope animation similar to Waking Life for the Church of the Subgenius documentary."
— Chuck
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