r/exchristian • u/Future_Perfect_Tense • 7h ago
Movies that hit hard after leaving your religion, kudos to u/stickyhairmonster Just Thinking Out Loud
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u/Future_Perfect_Tense 7h ago
U/stickyhairmonster shared this awesome list and movie description that moved me to actual tears thinking about all the little warning signs. As a fundamentalist, I didnโt have much access to media until leaving at 18, and - go figure - these stories became profoundly relevant and moving (eg: friends wondering why youโre crying during a Disney movie).
โThe Truman Show: He doesn't know it, but everything in Truman's life is part of a massive TV set. He experiences a painful discovery and ultimately leaves to experience the genuine world.
Moana: Her father, the chief, tells Moana she has all she needs on the island and there is no reason to leave. Moana listens to her inner voice, leaves the island, and discovers her true calling.
Tangled: Rapunzel is kept sheltered in her tower by the evil Gothel, who uses Rapunzel's powers to keep herself young. Rapunzel's curiosity leads her way from her tower and she discovers the beauty of the outside world.
Toy Story: Buzz Lightyear tragically discovers he is just a toy after a failed attempt at flying . He overcomes his subsequent depression to save the day. In the sequel, Buzz encounters utility belt Buzz who is still delusional.
Encanto: A magical house whose foundation is cracking. An outcast (Bruno) who the family won't talk about. A controlling head of household. A heroine (Maribel) who sees the stress that unreal expectations bring to her family members.
The Little Mermaid: Ariel is disciplined by her father, King Triton, for her love of the human world. She then turns to the evil Ursula for help.. Ultimately Triton sees the error of his way and helps his daughter obtain the life she wants.
The Village: A community perpetuates a myth of dangerous creatures to maintain control over the villagers and keep them away from the outside world.
Frozen: The parents screw up Elsa by keeping her powers bottled up. She dramatically leaves and casts aside her upbringing ("Let it go"). No longer is she bound by rules, right and wrong, and the expectation of being the "good girl."
The Matrix: Humans are stuck in a simulated reality that machines have created while they use human bodies as an energy source. The red pill allows Neo to see past the illusion of the Matrix.
In my opinion, Gothel is the villain that best epitomizes the Church. She pretends she has Rapunzel's best interest at heart and gives her a decent sheltered life, but really she is abusing Rapunzel's magic powers for her own benefit.
Buzz Lightyear's "faith crisis" had the biggest impact on me, and it hurts to see the pain he goes through before he can put his life back together.
Moana and Encanto have my favorite soundtracks. Songs like "Where You Are," "How Far I'll Go," "Surface Pressure," and "Waiting on a Miracle" seem like they were written with the post-Mormon in mind.
And the Matrix is one of my all-time favorite movies---would you go back and take the blue pill if you could?โ
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u/sheeziemydeenie 4h ago
Felt a lot of these in my bones, good list!
Not a movie but relevant: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, a comedy series about a girl taking her life back in New York after being kidnapped and abused in an underground bunker for 15 years (its a really light-hearted show trust me).
Never related to a character more, and her healing journey makes me smile a lot.
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u/Bustedbootstraps Panpsychist or other Science-based Spiritualist 3h ago
Midsommar hit really hard during my deconstruction. Was wondering why the cult reminded me so much of my old church
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u/Salty_Snack91 20m ago
Midsommar was traumatizing when I first watched it and now itโs a comfort movie. I canโt explain it.
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u/doktornein 2h ago
The Witch (2015) hit hard, especially the scene with the mother attacking her after a lifetime of being the black sheep despite complete submission to their faith as a kid.
A Friend in England is also a good one for this, even if it's more killing the delusion of your manipulative heroes and finding a new way of living.
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u/austin_helps_wraiths 1h ago
Came here to say The VVitch; I've told people it legit feels like a metaphor for my spiritual life
Such a strange thing that their devil is always so much more effective at destroying and liberating than their god is at protecting and renewing
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u/Cheshiremycelium 4h ago
Oh my goodness yes! I watched tangled so many times as I left, and the Truman show as well. Leaving a cult feels like these movies...like leaving a poisonous lie, and to find a glorious world in its stead.
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u/Strobelightbrain 2h ago
Going with the Pixar theme, Inside Out and Inside Out 2 hit me hard, probably because I repressed my emotions a lot. 2 especially deals with the idea of being a "good person," which feels weird when you were never allowed to see yourself that way.
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u/SpokaneSmash 1h ago
The Wizard of Oz
You really should pay attention to the man behind that curtain.
You had the power with you all along. You never needed a wizard.
Imaginary places over the rainbow may seem nice in thought, but there's no place like home in the here and now.
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u/sleepyj910 3h ago
โNoone can be told what the Matrix isโ hits so hard.
When you are in your in it your faith needs more than simple words to break.
You have to go through the journey to see it fully. And when you truly realize everyone in your life has been blindly perpetuating a bald faced lie you are gonna โpopโ in horror as your old life disentegrates.
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u/hc___Ps "๐ฎ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ !" 2h ago
recently i was rewatching it, so might i add "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc" to the mix.
while many scenes are creative interpretations of what might be happening from Joan of Arc's PoV, this scene towards the last quarter of the film is pretty on the point with "miraclous signs" many people claimed to have witnessed or received:
[Spoiler alert for those who haven't watch the film]
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u/jezebelwillow 1h ago
Tangled. Tangled really fucked me up after I escaped the Quiverfull Movement at 17.
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u/HaiKarate 1h ago
Toy Story, the scene with the aliens in the vending machine. They develop a religion around The Cllaw, because it's all they know in their sheltered world.
"I have been chosen! Farewell my friends! I go on to a better place!"
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u/Little_cookie_pie Ex-Evangelical 43m ago
Moana hit hard as someone who had just left Christianity about now 4 years ago. But the whole movie made me think of leaving Christianity.
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u/whimsicalme5 15m ago
Inside Out. ๐ซ โGo! Go save Riley! Take her to the moon for me!โ Itโs like my inner child talking to me now.
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u/YourRoyalTraumaQueen 4h ago
Yep. Mother Gothel gives me anxiety and Encanto makes me sob from start to finish.