The Church of the SubGenius is a religion, but really a parody of religion. Learn all about this group of weirdo outsiders in this classic episode.
AI Summary
# Stuff You Should Know - Church of the SubGenius
Josh and Chuck dive into the bizarre and hilarious world of the Church of the SubGenius, a deliberately absurdist parody religion founded in the late 1970s by two Texas weirdos as a satirical jab at consumer culture and conformity. The episode explores how what started as an in-joke about not being geniuses but "subgeniuses" evolved into a genuine cult-like phenomenon complete with sacred pamphlets, a mysterious prophet named Bob Dobbs (literally borrowed from clip art), elaborate philosophy around the concept of "Slack," and live gatherings called devivals where devoted followers embrace anti-music and mock evangelicalism. Whether you're a skeptic or find yourself weirdly intrigued by how a joke religion could attract thousands of dedicated believers, this episode perfectly captures why the Church of the SubGenius represents either pure genius social commentary or an elaborate prank that's been running for nearly fifty years.
American Psycho
2000
1h 42m
★ 7.4
"Patrick Bateman psychotic look on his face. Patrick Bateman meets Ward Cleaver. — Describing the appearance of Bob Dobbs as resembling a character 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. — Comparing the danger of taking the Church of the Subgenius joke too seriously to Fight Club fans taking the film's message literally."
Leave It to Beaver
1957
★ 6.9
"Patrick Bateman meets Ward Cleaver. Exactly. Yes, Chuck. — Chuck agrees with Josh's comparison of Bob Dobbs' appearance to Ward Cleaver from the TV show."
— Chuck
"It's almost as if Mad Magazine started a religion, and Alfred E. Newman was the god. — Mad Magazine was used as a comparison to explain the Church of the SubGenius aesthetic."
— Chuck
Pee-wee's Playhouse
1986
★ 7.1
"he shows up all over the place. It's almost like code. And so you probably have seen it even if you're not familiar with the church of the subgenius. — Discussing how Bob Dobbs imagery appears in unexpected places, including the background of Pee-wee's Playhouse."
— 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, pretty great documentaries recently, including Tower. I don't think it's the Tower, just Tower, the one about the Charles Whitman, the shooting at the University of Texas back in the 60s. — Mentioning that documentary director Sandy K Boone previously made Tower, a documentary about the University of Texas shooting."
— Josh
The Tao of Steve
2000
R
1h 27m
★ 6.1
"Did you ever see that movie? No, I need to though. — The Tao of Steve was mentioned as having similar philosophy to the rewardians in SubGenius doctrine."
— Chuck
This Is Spinal Tap
1984
1h 22m
★ 7.4
"I saw Spinal Tap in concert. They actually toured when I was in college. And I was such a fan of the movie and when they played the Fox theater and we all went. — Josh compares attending a Church of the Subgenius devival to seeing Spinal Tap in concert, noting the difficulty of knowing how to react to comedy presented as performance."
— Josh
Waking Life
2001
1h 41m
★ 7.5
"And that whole thing Linkletter did with the animation. They did that for this documentary and it really like had a great impact. The rotoscoping cool. — Referencing Richard Linklater's animated film technique (rotoscoping) used in the Church of the Subgenius documentary."
— Chuck
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