Somebody goofed! Animating a Jack Chick tract

Have you read the old Jack Chick evangelism tract Somebody Goofed? BoingBoing today is talking about an amazing animated version of the tract:

The animated version was created in 1997 by Syd Garon and Rodney Ascher; the BoingBoing post has some additional links and commentary. The animation is weirdly compelling and a bit creepy in a way that the campy tract is not; the music choices in particular really add to the effect.

I think one of the main reasons it works so well is that the creators walk a careful road between mocking parody and straight seriousness. Here's a quote from Ascher that sums it up:

It was designed to be something of a Rorschach test: we followed the original comic as rigorously as we could, resisted any temptation to change things around (for pacing, content, whatever) and allowed the audience to interpret however they liked. During its premiere at DFilm, the audience was mostly quiet and thoughtful but at a screening at the SFMoMA it played pretty much as a spoof with a lot of appreciative laughter. On the other hand, when it was shown at a screening for the Television Commercial Industry, the awkward, confused, slightly hostile silence was deafening. Happily enough, we've gotten very nice responses from both Chick Publications and The Suicide Girls.

If you liked the "Somebody Goofed" animation, the same animators recently put together another one based on the "Titanic" tract, also by Jack Chick.

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Comments (6)

I have always loved Chick tracts. A very powerful film. It's amazing how well the Chick tract has stood the test of time as far as the "arguments" people have against placing their faith in Christ, and the way they mock believers.
I personally have always hated Chick tracts. (Sorry Christiane Li!) I am sure God may use them to bring people to Himself, but they have always repelled me. Despite the fact that I am no longer a Roman Catholic because of my conviction of the truth of reformed theology, I still find his anti-Catholic tracts to be particularly ignorant and oversimplified caricatures of Catholicism.
If this is the tract I think it is, I don't remember anything about Roman Catholics. It is, however, an absurd anti-Biblical piece of fear mongering, having little or nothing to do with the Gospel.

The whole idea that God plays a game in which a devil (never described in this role in the Bible) can try to "trick" people into his own domain by manipulating them into refraining from reciting a magical incantation, is about as far from the principles taught by Jesus as you can get. Jewish rabbis correctly criticize this aspect of Christianity as a Manischean syncretism. The many variations of the prayer of salvation are a perfectly good way to make a commitment to Jesus, and millions have done so. They are not the sine qua non of entering into the kingdom.

Satan, as he appears in Job, is not God's enemy, but God's tester, a loyal servant. The entire framework of the tract is so absurd. Save it for Halloween.
I agree that Satan's acts are used by God to test as - as in Job like you mentioned. However, I do not think he is a loyal servant of God. In our culture, he is often used as a symbol of rebellion against goodness - we have the choice to be like him or the choice to be like Jesus. How much this is Biblical, I do not know, but it seems to me dangerous to say he is a loyal servant. Whether he is or not is not really important - what is important is to allow Jesus to work in our hearts to help us to stand firm through the tests.
The video seems to suggest that Satan's words are a temptation to the boy - which seems valid to me. To force him to avoid certain things, such as reading the pamphlet, does not seem technically accurate, but if it is just representing temptation then I think it is close enough.

As for an anti-Biblical piece of fear mongering, I definitely do not agree. It may put too much of an emphasis on the fear side of things for my tastes, but I would not go so far as to say it is anti-Biblical. It may be inaccurate, but how can human words accurately describe the wonder of God's plan and reality? All descriptions are mere approximations, which may help some people and not others, and should not be defended to those who they do not help.

As for what you said about reciting a magical incantation, I absolutely agree.
I always wonder how those who insist there is no devil explain away the temptation of Christ in the wilderness, presented in three of the Gospel texts, which portray a very real deceiver who used the tactic of Scripture manipulation to trick the Lord Jesus into taking His own life.

If one doesn't dismiss the book of Genesis & the book of Revelation as merely symbolic, then the deceiver is present from beginning to end in the Holy Bible. Even if it is presented as completely symbolic, it is significant that a deceiver is present from start to finish. That's one of the reasons I like this tract - sometimes our seeming best friends may give us advice contrary to Scripture - even Jesus told one of His best friends, "Get behind Me, Satan."

Amy - I'm sorry you were hurt by Chick tracts. I hate stereotypes too! But one Chick tract, called "Somebody Loves Me" touched my heart as a young person, and I can still remember it clearly. What did you think of this particular presentation?
Couple thoughts: There's a Gospel baby in the campy bathwater of Chick tracts. They are a bit weird, but many of God's instruments (human and otherwise) have been weird, weak and foolish-looking vessels. These tracts (arguably tracts in general) may well have served somewhat better in the time and culture they were originally written, but still may work today.

Siarlys, salvation isn't presented in Chick tracts necessarily as a "magical incantation", I see that they're trying to convey the true principle of being reconciled to God through faith in Christ as Lord (Rom 10:9-13, many others), without which people do perish in their sins. The medium may be a bit silly at times, but the message is true.

It's also a false dichotomy between Satan as God's enemy and God's tester - he's both. As Martin Luther said, "he's God's devil", i.e. his evil is used by God to accomplish His sovereign purpose - exemplified on the cross. Satan is also called in the Bible the "enemy of our souls", whom Jesus came to "overcome" and "destroy his works".

The devil actually is portrayed in the Bible as actively "blinding the minds of unbelievers" (2Cor 4:4), and needless to say his deceptions can work through the negative influence of humans as portrayed in the tract/animation. Chick portays the devil as preventing the "incantation" as an allegory of keeping people from putting their faith in Christ, of which the "prayer of salvation" represents the mere beginning - whatever form it takes, and I agree with you the form doesn't matter so much as the faith, and the object (Christ).

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