Morally Offensive – Détails, épisodes et analyse

This week, we were slightly concerned that we would not have our Freddy Got Fingered Episode done in time, so we prepared a backup episode to buy us time to wrap it up. As it turned out, we were able to complete both, so our listeners get a double dose of Catholic guilt this week. In an early episode covering Barbara Stanwyck's iconic performance in Baby Face, we still thought our average show length should be about an hour and a half, so we removed a large chunk of the conversation with our guests.

The more we sat on the "missing" parts of this episode, the more we realized that we were sitting on some pretty relatable and heart-felt content, that really needed to released into the wild. In this "lost" material, we dig into the way Catholics scare children and teens into compliance with fear of God and damnation, the problematic quackery that is abstinence-only "sex-ed", and Bill and his wife Kelly talk about that one time they saw a DIY exorcism at a Basilica.

Also in this episode, we talk with ex-Catholic producer/director Dalila Droege about her Kickstarter campaign for her latest horror movie project, with directly ties in with the themes of this week's "missing episode". To learn more about Droege's film "Beauty Night", please check out her Kickstarter campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/beautynight/beauty-night-a-horror-film-about-puberty

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On this episode of Morally Offensive, Bill and Cisco dive headfirst into Freddy Got Fingered (2001), Tom Green’s aggressively unhinged film that might be the worst comedy of the 2000s, or a misunderstood absurdist masterpiece, according to some. Filled with horse semen, broken bones, and a wildly uncomfortable false molestation subplot, it was a critical disaster. Yet, it somehow features Rip Torn, an Oscar-nominated actor who fully commits to Green’s chaotic vision. With the release of Tom Green Country and a new stand-up special, we ask: is it time to rethink Green as a proto-absurdist innovator rather than just an MTV shock jock?

We trace Green’s legacy from late-’90s shock humor to anti-comedy pioneer, clearing the path for the surreal chaos of Tim and Eric and The Eric Andre Show. The guys ask if Freddy belongs in the tradition of absurdist theater à la Ionesco and Beckett, the surrealist works of Bunuel, or if this is Tom Green using his blank check to self-sabotage his career in full public view. Either way, it’s one of the most deranged movies ever made, made with unique, original voice, and somehow, it might have changed comedy forever.

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"Immorality may be fun, but it isn't fun enough to take the place of one hundred percent virtue and three square meals a day."

What was it about Design for Living—the film by Ernst Lubitsch, Ben Hecht, and Noël Coward—that sent critics and the Catholic Legion of Decency into an uproar? This pre-Code classic tackled themes of polyamory, infidelity, and sexuality with a wit and sophistication that became known as The Lubitsch Touch. But its bold approach was too much for Catholic censors, who saw it as a moral threat.

Shortly after, the infamous Hays Code transitioned from loose guidelines to rigid Hollywood law, enforced by anti-Semitic Catholic crusader (and official enemy of this podcast) Joseph Breen.

Fast forward to the 1950s: a new generation of French film critics rediscovered Lubitsch’s work, cementing its place in cinema history. By the 1960s, with the Hays Code collapsing, countercultural college students embraced these once-"Condemned" films, reassessing their impact.

With President Donald Trump hinting that he wants to send Mel Gibson (another famously problematic Catholic) to be an "Ambassador" to Hollywood, it’s worth asking: Should religious groups or governments have the power to censor artists? Join us as we dive into Design for Living and the battle over artistic freedom.

Please check out the latest episode of Morally Offensive, and, as always "Go and Sin No More".

Habemus Papam!

We weren’t initially planning to cover Conclave, but since launching our podcast in late October, the film has sparked intense debate. Despite not receiving a "Morally Offensive" rating, Conclave has faced significant criticism from Catholic Bishops and prominent right-wing figures including Ben Shapiro and Megyn Kelly, who claim the movie is anti-Catholic.

On the other hand, Conclave has earned multiple Oscar nominations and won a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay, making it a major contender this awards season. To dive deeper into this heated conversation, Bill and Cisco decided to don their metaphorical Zucchettos and watch Conclave themselves to determine if it truly deserves its controversial reputation and if they find the film morally offensive or anti-Catholic. (Spoiler alert: plenty of plot twists!)

Before tackling the weighty topics of dead Popes, vaping Cardinals, petty church politics, and oppressed nuns, the hosts take a moment to reflect on how David Lynch has shaped their careers and worldviews.

Charlize Theron's action-packed cold war passion project, Atomic Blonde, was not well received by audiences when it dropped in late Summer of 2017. Some dismissed the film as a "female John Wick" knockoff, or criticized it for it's confusing, labyrinthine plot. 8 years later, the guys re-examine this singular, unique entry into the Action genre, and look at how it's reputation has grown since it's release. The film takes place in the late 80s, and centers around a British Spy, tasked with a extracting an East German Stazi defector into the West. The officer, codenamed "Spyglass" has access to a secret list, which could have terrifying ramifications for all major powers involved in the cold war. The cast is a star-studded affair, featuring James Mcavoy, Sofia Boutella, John Goodman, Toby Jones, a young Bill Skarsgård, Sam Hargrave and James Faulkner, with direction by one of the top Stunt coordinators in the field, David Leitch. As always, the guys look at the contemporary US Catholic reactions and reviews, to determine whether or not the film truly is "Morally Offensive". Bill and Cisco are joined by Chicago comedian Thomas Bottoms as well as his co-host in radio broadcasting, Mike Borden.

What do MaXXXine, Pearl, Promising Young Woman, and Midsommar have in common with a 1933 pre-code melodrama starring Barbara Stanwyck? They all fall under the banner of the "Good for Her" film. Barbara Stanwyck stars in this pre-code film that sent the Catholic "Legion of Decency" into a rage, and which gave them the firepower they needed, to force the hand of the studio moguls to self-censor their films. Bill and Cisco are joined by Milwaukee Professor, Dr. Jess Sellin-Blanc (and Bill's wife Kelly) to talk the Hayes Code and censorship in Hollywood. They get into the making of the film, as well as the social conditions which informed it's content. In this episode, they ask the question: Is it immoral for a woman to do whatever she has to do, to survive in a world which is not built for her, and which wants her to fail?

"The death ship has a new captain!"

To celebrate the release of Robert Eggers' remake of Nosferatu, the guys decided to cover the original classic, in a slight deviation from the Catholic Legion of Decency "condemned" list. The film was released in the US in 1929, seven years after it's Berlin premiere, but it was still too early to be OFFICIALLY condemned by the American Catholic ratings system. However, being that Nosferatu is both the FIRST occult film AND one of the rare films to grace the Vatican's top 40 films list, it only seemed appropriate to cover it this month. Joining hosts Bill and Cisco, is the associate producer of the Chicago Horror Film Festival and film presenter, Stephanie Sack. Stephanie invited the boys down to Chicago, from Milwaukee, to take in a live accompaniment to Nosferatu by famed lutist Jozef van Wissem.

Deviations include eating unconsecrated communion wafers with cheese, fake Eucharistic miracles, host desecration, that time Bill ran into a family of Bulgarians roasting an entire sheep, Catholic scapegoating of minorities, goth club visuals, and, of course, SpongeBob SquarePants.

It's Christmas time in NYC, and three friends are about to embark on their very last annual Christmas rager together. Joseph Gordon Levitt is an orphan, stuck in a dead-end job with no real career prospects and no romantic partner. Seth Rogan is coming to terms with his fears over being a father, and Anthony Mackie is a pro athlete, so obsessed with fame, that he's willing to risk his family, friendships, and integrity for his career.

That's where the 2015 Holiday and Christmas future classic, The Night Before begins. What will ensue is a journey which includes Michael Shannon's weed of Christmas Past, Present, and future, a quest to deliver an illicit gift to the "messiah", and obstacles ranging from the hijinks of Ilana Glazer's "Grinch" to a psychotropic freakout during midnight mass. Diversions include that one time (or more?) Bill puked during Catholic mass, Michael Shannon skipping the Oscars to drink at Old Town Ale House in Chicago, and the very real fact that the Catholic Mass contained antisemitic language until the early 60s.

So, spike your egg nog, hang your stockings by the chimney with care, and deck the halls as we join Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anthony Mackie, Seth Rogan, Jillian Bell, Miley Cyrus, Lizzy Caplan, Nathan Fielder and more for 2015's The Night Before.

"Why Are Men?" It's the question Bill and Cisco find themselves asking, after viewing 2010's comedy about time travel and friendship, Hot Tub Time Machine, starring John Cusack, Craig Robinson, and Daily Show alum Rob Corddry. The guys talk male friendship, the 2024 election, toxic masculinity, the butterfly effect, and the difficulties of maintaining solid friendships, as one enters middle-age. Diversions include the manosphere, Cardinal Burke's dislike of girl altar servers, Matt Walsh's fear of platonic love, the new E-Man-gelization, Crispin Glover's rat poetry, that one time Bill saw Echo and the Bunnymen spin Pink Floyd 45s, and why Chevy Chase doesn't work much these days. Will they find the answer to their question? Will Hot Tub Time Machine provide clues? Will Cisco fulfill his quest to find a copy of the film on Blu Ray? Only time will tell.

It shouldn't be surprising that an episode about William Friedkin's The Exorcist would be plagued with technical problems (if you believe in that kind of thing) but the episode is finally live! Cisco makes Bill watch a film that he has put off seeing for years, due to a deep-seated fear of the devil and the demonic. Bill gives his first reactions, and the guys get into the post-Exorcist panic over demons (and consequent spike in exorcisms in the US), the increase in the number of Exorcists in the US, and the film's troubled production. Tangents include why Bill has never played Dungeons and Dragons, Hot priests, New Age synth music as gateway to the devil, the actual Pope's Exorcist, and irrational Catholic fears over yoga.