One of the most spectacular absurdities of American culture is the televangelist. The often flamboyantly dressed, vociferous carnival barkers of televised faith somehow inspire devotion and millions of dollars of donation. To properly examine such a phenomenon, it might help to be a foreigner. In 1981, Werner Herzog made God's Angry Man, a documentary about the televangelist Gene Scott. It's not a moralising film that seeks to come to a conclusion about the nature of American televangelism but, instead, like all of Herzog's films, focuses on the peculiar passion of an extraordinary individual.
Herzog interviews Scott's parents as well but most of the film consists of Herzog's interviews with Scott himself interspersed with clips of Scott's broadcast. In the interview segments, Scott complains about persecution and the burdens of his vocation, even his desire to give it up. The segments from his broadcast fulfill the film's English title, showing a man raving at the camera, occasionally relieved by amateur bluegrass performances. The film's centrepiece is a bizarre tirade in which he berates the audience for not sending the final 600 dollars of a pledge drive. He precedes his rant by quietly staring at the camera for several minutes, threatening that he will remain silent if no pledges come in.
It's hard not to think this man's business owes its existence to masochism. Why else would anyone willingly send this man money? Of course, Herzog is focused on one aspect of Scott's personality. Maybe there are other times in Scott's broadcast in which he provides his viewers with comfort or insight. But Herzog doesn't provide any perspective from Scott's audience, this is not an analysis of the televangelist phenomenon but an exhibition of a bizarre personality. It's certainly fascinating. Scott's presumption of dominance in relation to millions of strangers makes it seem that his delusion is absolutely flawless.
God's Angry Man is available on The Criterion Channel.
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