Just got back from the movie “Honk for Jesus.” It felt familiar. A woman told my wife, “That’s the Eddie Long story.” Yes, it is similar to the iReport I did in 2010.
“Honk for Jesus” was immediately familiar.
As I watched the “Hunk For Jesus” character Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs, it was evident that the movie mimicked a story I had covered over a decade ago. I told my wife it was a story about a homophobic pastor I covered in real life, but I could not remember his name.
After the movie, Linda went to the restroom, she came out and told me that a woman in the bathroom told her the movie was about Bishop Eddie Long, aka Eddie Lee Long.
“Yes!” I told her. “That is who I blogged about several years ago.”
I think the movie did a great job portraying the pathology of many men of the cloth. What I loved about the film is that while Eddie Long never fell out of favor with most of his congregation, Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs’ attempt at a comeback with his church failed. In other words, Eddie Long did not pay the price for his abuse of some in his congregation, nor did he lose the ability to continue the con.
My daughter and niece were not happy with the film at all. They thought it mixed too much context both of the black church and of the story it was mimicking. I explained that had she known the original story she may have been able to read between the lines inferred by each segment of the movie.