I have noticed a sad lack of Mennonite representation in dystopian literature and cinema. Apart from a couple of cameos in the zombie apocalypse genre, we actually seem to be entirely absent from the world’s terrifying visions of the future. Perhaps the dystopian thinkers imagine that we’ll all just die off in a plague or … More The HandMenno’s Tale
No, really. You shouldn’t have. At first glance, I thought that the new CBC Fifth Estate piece on the “Mennonite Connection” was just a piece shamelessly capitalizing on CBC’s Pure, a low budget filler piece reflective of reduced CBC budgets, or a kinda sad example of a show needing to remind itself and others of … More That’s sweet, but really you shouldn’t have.
CBC’s Pure has mercifully come to an end, at least assuming that it won’t go past season 1. It arrived with a splash but seemed to dwindle after the first episode – perhaps after all the Mennonites stopped watching. The Mennonite world responded much as expected. Opinion was divided over whether to hate the show … More Pure No More
There was a scene, back in episode 1, when Bronco Novack proudly identified himself to Noah Funk as a detective. Noah was, appropriately, unimpressed. If episodes 1 and 2 set up the difference between the Mennonite and the secular communities, episodes 3 and 4 make valiant efforts at bridging the gap through the unlikely alliance … More CBC Pure S01E03 and E04: Law and Ordnung
Once upon a time, a group of Ontario Low-German speaking Mennonites with ties to Mexico broke off from their home Church denomination and decided to start a new sub-sect, calling themselves The Edenthaler Mennonites. All this happens before the action opens in the first episode of CBC’s Pure but it is crucial for all that … More Pure S01E01 and S01E02: Who are these Edenthaler Mennonites?
The posters have been all over bus shelters for months. The trailer’s been online and there have been a few promotional interviews. Canadians are supposed to be all atwitter in anticipation of a new CBC drama called Pure. It’s about Mennonites! Drugs! Crime! The early reviews are pretty positive. But I don’t care about them; … More Oh, what fresh hell is this?
There are Mennonites out there who equate the television set with abomination and vow to have nothing to do with it. These are mostly, I understand, either Holdeman Mennonites, Amish or young parents. When I was in my 20s, I too declared TV a waste of time and my spouse and I renounced the boob … More If Mennonites wrote for TV
