Cinema, like theater, can heighten our belief or make us believe the unbelievable. It can also disrupt and deconstruct our belief. Without condescension we hope to show that what is crass, campy, or even profane in the eyes of one group is sacred and full of communal significance in the eyes of another. We consider this project a continuation of the cinematic exploration of the links between class, commerce and American ritual that is central to our work. In an era when fundamentalism in both faith and politics rules the national stage, we hope to present a drama that explores the complex nature of belief and the fluid nature of faith but also provides personal windows into the issues and problems facing America as a whole.

This guide is an invitation to dialogue. It is based on a belief in the power of human connection and designed for people who want to use The Gospel of Eureka to engage family, friends, classmates, colleagues and communities. In contrast to initiatives that foster debates in which participants try to convince others that they are right, this document envisions conversations undertaken in a spirit of openness in which people try to understand one another and expand their thinking by sharing viewpoints and listening actively.

The discussion prompts are intentionally crafted to help a wide range of audiences think more deeply about the issues in the film. Rather than attempting to address them all, choose one or two that best meet your needs and interests. And be sure to leave time to consider taking action. Planning next steps can help people leave the room feeling energized and optimistic, even in instances when conversations have been difficult.

For more detailed event planning and facilitation tips, visit communitynetwork.amdoc.org.

Eureka Springs, Arkansas is known for two things: being a southern haven for LGBTQ+ people and their allies, and the long-running The Great Passion Play, replete with a giant statue of Jesus and a walkable reproduction of the streets of Jerusalem. The Gospel of Eureka invites viewers to consider the parallel universes of the evangelical Christian production and a popular local drag show that is irreverent and raucous. It takes a personal, and often comical, look at the use of performance, political action, and partnership to negotiate differences between religion and faith. Stereotypes fall away as we meet some of Eureka’s citizens, each involved in a quest for love, spiritual devotion, and civil rights.

Key Film Participants

Lee Keating (1954–2017) and Walter Burrell (b. 1960) – co-owners of the bar Eureka Live Underground. Earlier in life, Keating was a professional Latin dancer and hairdresser. The pair have been together since 1986 and married when it became legal. They were the first gay couple married by a Baptist preacher. Both are active in their church, where they established a ministry to care for people with AIDS. Burrell also teaches Sunday school.

Kent Butler – stars as Jesus in the Passion Play, as well as doing much of the behind-the-scenes production work. He also serves in a variety of roles at the venue where the Passion Play is staged, including as the director of marketing and tour guide (in character as David the shepherd).

Randall Christy – CEO of the Eureka Springs Passion Play

Roxie Howard – trans rights activist, married to Earl

Jayme Brandt – religious t-shirt shop owner and father of young children

Ginger Styles – drag performer at Eureka Live Underground

Felicia Blackheart – drag performer at Eureka Live Underground

Charnay Malletti Cassadine – drag performer at Eureka Live Underground

Missy Klien – drag performer at Eureka Live Underground

Key Issues

The Gospel of Eureka will be of special interest to people who want to explore the following topics:

American South/Southern culture

Arkansas

“camp” as performance genre

drag queens/shows/culture

LGBTQ+ rights and cultures

LGBTQ+ Christians

Passion Plays

storytelling

transgender “bathroom bills”

Eureka Springs

Eureka Springs, Arkansas, was founded in the Victorian era as a spa town and named for its healing waters. Today, the town of 2100 is a destination for over 1.5 million tourists a year from all over the world. It has long been a destination for two types of pilgrims: evangelical Christians and members of the LGBTQ community.

Many know Eureka Springs for Christ of the Ozarks, a seven-story-tall white statue of Jesus that peers down over the Ozark mountains. The statue stands on the site where The Great Passion Play, an elaborately produced reenactment of Jesus’s life and crucifixion, is performed.

Eureka Springs is also a haven for LGBTQ+ people and is known throughout the region as the “gay capital of the Ozarks.” During the town’s three annual diversity festivals, rainbow flag parades fill the streets; couples kiss at the Public Display of Affection celebration. The Eureka Live Underground, the gay-friendly bar owned by the film subjects Walter Burrell and Lee Keating, hosts regular drag queen performances. In 2007, before same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide, the city created a domestic partnership registry that allowed gay couples to affirm their partnerships publicly.

Eureka Springs reaffirmed its commitment to inclusivity in 2015, when the city council unanimously passed an ordinance that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The ordinance was a response to Senate Bill 202 (now Act 137) a statewide law that had just passed in the Arkansas legislature and was designed to prevent cities from passing their own anti-discrimination policies. Although the state law’s backers claimed it was intended to render non-discrimination rules uniform in an effort to help businesses, in practice the bill voided laws designed to protect LGBTQ residents like those in Eureka Springs and limited the authority of local municipalities.

Tensions have occasionally flared between Eureka’s gay community and the town's conservative Christians. In 2015, the annual Easter parade coincided with the LGTBQ-led Diversity Weekend; the Easter parade organizers barred an LGBTQ-friendly Methodist congregation from participating. Some conservative organizers campaigned to overturn the town’s anti-discrimination policy, but when it was put to a referendum vote, Eureka’s residents voted to uphold the ordinance with 72% of voters supporting the ordinance.

Sources

Arkansas General Assembly, Senate Bill 202. An Act To Amend The Law Concerning Ordinances of Cities And Counties By Creating the Intrastate 11 Commerce Improvement Act; To Declare An Emergency; and for Other Purposes. http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2015/2015R/Bills/SB202.pdf

“Arkansas Senate Bill 202 (2015).” Ballotpedia. https://ballotpedia.org/Arkansas_Senate_Bill_202_(2015)

Dart, Tom. “Welcome to Eureka Springs, Arkansas: a 'desirable homosexual destination.'” The Guardian, Apr. 5, 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/05/arkansas-religious-gay-discrimination-eureka-springs

Fausset, Richard. “In Arkansas, Gay Rights Ordinance Highlights Clash Between Two Faces of Tourism.” The New York Times, Apr. 19, 2015. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/20/us/gays-and-christians-two-faces-of-tourism-are-clashing-in-arkansas.html
Meyers, Jessica. “Arkansas Towns Reveal a More Nuanced Divide Over Religious Liberty and Gay Marriage.” The Boston Globe, Apr. 21, 2015. https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2015/04/21/arkansas-towns-reveal-more-nuanced-divide-over-religious-liberty-and-gay-marriage/otWwPCn12iyZqgbkzUyI7N/story.html

Christ of the Ozarks and the Passion Play

Christ of the Ozarks is a 66-foot mortar statue that was built in 1967 by Gerald L.K. Smith, an evangelical Christian preacher and politician who was also a vocal anti-Semite and white supremacist. Smith commissioned the statue as part of a Christian theme park to be called Sacred Projects. The park was never fully developed, but the statue was completed by Emmet Sullivan, a sculptor who helped carve Mount Rushmore.

On the site of the statue, Smith organized the first performances of The Great Passion Play, inspired by a Passion Play performed every ten years in Oberammergau, Germany. In the show, period-costumed performers reenact the life of Jesus of Nazareth in an amphitheater that seats 4,100. The Great Passion Play is still performed on the site, although it closed briefly due to financial problems in 2012; Randall Christy, a Baptist minister and founder of a Christian radio network, eventually revived the play. According to Christy, the play attracts 50,000 visitors every year.

Sources

Dart, Tom. “Welcome to Eureka Springs, Arkansas: a 'desirable homosexual destination.'” The Guardian, Apr. 5, 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/05/arkansas-religious-gay-discrimination-eureka-springs

Fausset, Richard. “In Arkansas, Gay Rights Ordinance Highlights Clash Between Two Faces of Tourism.” The New York Times, Apr. 19, 2015. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/20/us/gays-and-christians-two-faces-of-tourism-are-clashing-in-arkansas.html

"Gerald Lyman Kenneth Smith (1898–1976)", The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=1767

Immediately after the film, you may want to give people a few quiet moments to reflect on what they have seen. Or pose a general question (examples below) and give people some time to jot down or think about their answers before opening the discussion:

If you were going to tell a friend about this film, what would you say?

Describe a moment or scene in the film that you found particularly disturbing or moving. What was it about that scene that was especially compelling for you?

Did anything in the film surprise you? Was anything familiar?

If you could ask anyone in the film a single question, whom would you ask and what would you want to know?

The film opens with a reference to the importance of stories, noting that a story of healing water first brought folks to Eureka Springs: “Soon enough, Eureka discovered that stories themselves were a natural resource.” Who tells the stories in your community? What stories do they tell? How have those stories shaped the community and the lives of the people who live there? How do stories serve as a “natural resource”?

What types of storytelling did you see in the film? In terms of effect on the audience, what’s the difference between reading a story and seeing it acted out?

The film’s narrator says, “The Bible isn't the only holy book. A photo album also holds guidance in the past and visions of things to come. Like a passage of scripture, a photograph can be both a memorial and a prophecy.” What sources of stories do you view as sacred? How do stories in different mediums express visions for the future?

What did you learn from the pastor’s eulogy for Lee Keating? How do eulogies serve as a form of storytelling? In addition to honoring the deceased, how do eulogies reflect the values of a community?

The film juxtaposes drag queen performances and the performance of the Passion Play. What parallels do you notice? How are the experiences of the performers and the audiences similar? How do they differ?

How does the history of Anita Bryant’s crusade against gay rights relate to the performances of the Passion Play and the drag show?

Performing the Passion Play requires actors to act out brutal violence. What do you think the impact of that is on the actors? How about on the audience?

What is “camp”? Would you label any of the performances in the film as camp? Does a judgment of camp depend on how seriously performers approach their work? Their goals? A set of techniques? Audience reaction? Something else?

The site where the Passion Play is performed was developed by a white nationalist, but, as the narrator points out, “The great statue of Christ he constructed faces away from his grave and the stage.” How does the current version of the play honor the community’s spirit without celebrating the founder’s history of hate? Do you think efforts to do so are successful?

How do drag performers use humor and costumes to subvert traditional notions of gender?

Drag shows are one sliver of LGBTQ+ culture (and of the range of activities hosted at the bar). What are the benefits and drawbacks of representing a larger culture with this (or any) single aspect of LGBTQ+ life?

What was your reaction to drag queens singing gospel songs (performing as Patti LaBelle) or spoofs of gospel themes (like “You Can’t Pray the Gay Away”)? Are there aspects of drag political commentary that resonate with you? How would you bridge the gap between those who interpret the performances as innocuous humor or camp and those who view them as sacrilegious and offensive?

According to the scholar Joseph Campbell, mythology plays an important role in society: As he is quoted in the New York Times, “Mythology is an organization of symbolic images and narratives metaphorical of the possibility of human experience and fulfillment in a given culture at a given time.” What is the role of reenactment and public performance in passing down collective visions of personal fulfillment? How do the performances in The Gospel of Eureka represent different visions of society? What myths and values do the bar owners hold in common with the Passion Play CEO?

Drag culture has been controversial in some feminist communities: some have accused drag performers of representing a caricatured and mocking version of femininity. Do you think drag culture can coexist with women’s empowerment? In your view, does drag destabilize or reinforce traditional binary gender identities?

The word “gospel” typically refers to a set of ethical teachings. What were the moral lessons of the stories told in The Gospel of Eureka? Why do you suppose the filmmakers chose that title?

A pastor preaches, “The Bible is the most abused book in literature. Taken the wrong way, this book has been used to abuse and terrorize a certain segment of our population… If we can't love one another, then we can't fulfill this book, and we should stop pretending we are.” What does/should that love look like in action? Do you see any examples in the film?

Jayme Brandt (who compares his own finding faith to the plot of E.T.the Extra-Terrestrial) explains, “Jesus says that unless you become like a little child you will never see the kingdom of heaven. My heart, it feels like it's still seeking, still desiring, I wouldn't say knowledge, but desiring a connection.” What’s the power of evoking childhood in this context? How does religion function as a way for people to connect? How is it used as a wedge to divide? How can it do both?

Randall Christy says, “I'm not gay. I don't agree with gay lifestyle, but I'm not a bigot. A lot of them don't agree with my fundamental Christian lifestyle, but we can still love each other, care about each other, or at least get along. That's America.” Is that the America you have experienced? What would change if every Christian adopted Christy’s view? Do you believe people have a right to be fundamentally against people of a sexual orientation, as long as they treat them with respect?

Kent Butler explains the addition of Satan to the Passion Play thusly: “We wanted to show that Jesus won and Satan did not make the right choice.” The film’s narrator also describes Satan: “In these parts, they say the devil walks at night stirring up trouble. And there are stories to prove it. Black men and women lynched and hanged. Lonely valleys, telling of gays and lesbians beaten, imprisoned, living secretly in fear. Back roads tell the story of a trans woman shot in the head and dragged behind a car. Around here, the Devil demands his due.” Do you think both depictions of the devil are illustrating the same thing? Do you think certain religious notions of good versus evil can help minimize/obscure the role of people and social values in creating hate and violence?

Lee Keating and Walter Burrell are devoted Christians. Other Christians see gay couples like Keating and Burrell as betraying their faith. How is it possible for people from the same faith tradition to come to such different conclusions?

Jayme Brandt’s young daughter is puzzled that anyone would be excluded from church because they were gay. She suggests that they could just lie about being gay and then they’d be able to attend. Her father responds, “Yeah, but what if you had to pretend something about yourself so that people would like you? Wouldn't that be sad?” She agrees that it would be sad. Do you?

Roxie Howard explains, “God has no problem with me. I don't see faith as a barrier to being who I am. I see faith as a reason for who I am. In order to be honest with myself and everyone else, I had to live life as I believe, and that was as a woman and that's what I've done.” Why would faith require honesty?

The pastor of a church that welcomes LGBTQ+ members questions the selective use of Biblical teachings to crusade against gays but not against people who, for example, reject the Biblical edict not to eat pork. How would you explain certain Christians’ adamant adherence to some Biblical precepts but not others? In your opinion, what reasons not found in the Bible might there be for the church to reject LGBTQ people?

Keating and Burrell’s pastor recalls, “Lee ministered to those who were victims of the AIDS epidemic before there was much understanding or acceptance of the disease. He and Walter both recognized their blessing not to have been affected by AIDS personally, and they passed that blessing on by helping to take care of others.” Why do you think it is important for Keating and Burrell to see their bar as a ministry grounded in their faith, especially given the number of churches that openly rejected people with AIDS?

Howard tells the story of a preacher who tried to physically “cast out the demons” from her. She ultimately rejected those who tried to convince her that something was wrong with her, concluding, “Probably the only devil in the room was his behavior.” Where do you see incarnations of evil in the film?

A protestor supporting the ordinance to prevent discrimination comments, “What's disappointing to me is how they focused on little girls being molested in the bathrooms. Focusing there is just focusing on a lot of lies and fear.” What do you know about so-called “bathroom bills”? Why have opponents zeroed in on the bathroom accusation to derail calls for the establishment of laws protecting the civil rights of transgender people?

Christy (the CEO of the Passion Play) opposes the anti-discrimination ordinance because he believes that there are “paragraphs hidden in the law that specifically attack the church’s ability to regulate itself.” How would you reconcile legal conflicts in which the right to practice one’s religion comes into conflict with the right not to be a victim of discrimination? How has Christianity been used before in the history of the United States to justify discrimination?

When Keating has a heart attack, a hospital nurse reassures Burrell, “I just want you to know we will respect your rights here and you don't have anything to worry about.” Why do you think she believes that Burrell needs to hear that? What could communities do to make sure that no couple would ever fear that their union wouldn’t be respected?

At the end of your discussion, to help people synthesize what they’ve experienced and move the focus from dialogue to action steps, you may want to choose one of these questions or prompts:

Fill in the blanks: One thing I learned from this film was ________. One question I still have is _________.

What did you learn from this film that you wish everyone knew? What would change if everyone knew it?

What do you think the complexity of belief displayed by many subjects of the film reflects about the U.S. in general?

If you could require one person (or one group) to view this film, who would it be? What would you hope their main takeaway would be?

What question(s) do you think the filmmakers were trying to answer? Do you think they found answers?

Complete this sentence: I am inspired by this film (or discussion) to __________.

Additional media literacy questions are available at: https://www.amdoc.org/engage/resources/media-literacy-questions-analyzing-pov-films/using-framework/

If members of the group are having trouble generating their own ideas for taking action, these suggestions can help get things started:

Study Biblical teachings related to LGBTQ equality and dignity in order to deepen your understanding of how some LGBTQ people are devoted Christians, while other Christians believe that their faith requires them to reject LGBTQ members or rights.

Visit a cultural or religious site in your community that reflects the lives of people with whom you don’t typically interact. Spend some time reflecting on what you learned about them and about yourself from the visit.

Create and perform a show that celebrates your community’s culture or beliefs.

Convene a reading group to look at the history of camp or drag. Starting places might include Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay “Notes on Camp” and Esther Newton’s 1972 book Mother Camp: Female Impersonators in America.

FILM-RELATED WEB SITES

Explore content related to The Gospel of Eureka on the POV website, where you’ll also find other relevant features, shorts and digital projects.

The Gospel of Eureka – The film’s official website.

Walter Burrell interview – Walter Burrell talks about the experience of being in the film.

LGBTQ Rights

“Everything You Need to Know about the Debate Over Transgender People and Bathrooms” – A 2015 TIME magazine overview of the debate over so-called “bathroom bills” that would prevent transgender people from using restrooms that correspond to their gender identities.

Human Rights Campaign – This national advocacy group provides a state-by-state list of the current status of state laws on issues related to LGBTQ rights, as well as updates on federal bills like the Equality Act.

LGBTQ Christians

Queer Grace – An LGBTQ-friendly encyclopedia-style resource of questions and answers related to being and welcoming LGBTQ Christians.

Gay Church – Resources include a search engine to find LGBTQ welcoming churches across the U.S., as well as a collection of articles exploring Bible teachings about homosexuality.

Eureka Springs

Gay Eureka Springs – A travel site describes this unique LGBTQ-friendly town.

Eureka Live Underground – The bar featured in the film.

The Great Passion Play – The official website of the production featured in the film.

Writer

Faith Rogow, InsightersEducation.com

Guide Producers, POV

Alice Quinlan

Director, Community Engagement and Education, POV

Ione Barrows

Senior Associate, Community Engagement and Education, POV

Rachel Friedland

Community Partnerships Associate, POV

Thanks to those who reviewed this guide:

Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher

Filmmakers, The Gospel of Eureka

Sandy Martin

Chair, Mayor's Task Force on Economic Development

President & CEO, ProcommEureka