Morally Offensive

This week, Bill and Stephanie drag Atlanta filmmaker Nicole Kemper into the delivery room to talk David Cronenberg’s The Brood (1979), a horror movie which doubles as the world’s worst sex-ed film. We’re talking cinematic birth control, belly-buttonless mutant murder children, slutty vintage men's bathrobes, and why men are absolutely terrified of the female body. Diversions include Oliver Reed's drunken shenanigans, an attempted cult kidnapping, the Canadian public's outrage over finding out their tax dollars were financing gorey art, and, of course, we read another Catholic review which completely disregards the artistic merits and possibilities of the horror genre. This is definitely an episode to listen to if you're still comtemplating bringing children into a violent world which is on fire. For us, the Brood proved to be far more effective than abstinence-only sex education.
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Mae West struts into the spotlight in I’m No Angel (1933), the pre-Code sensation that saved Paramount and scandalized the censors. Co-hosts Bill and Jess welcome Sara Shea of Shea Cinema to talk about Mae’s wit, sexuality, and the double entendres that made Catholic watchdogs sweat. Along the way we meet Joseph Breen and Will Hays, the moral gatekeepers who tried to rein her in, and discover how Cary Grant was launched into stardom with her assistance. From her Broadway scandal Sex (and a stint in jail) all the way to her campy swan song Sextette, we trace Mae’s career of outsmarting the men, proving why her comedy still feels dangerous today.

Bill and Cisco take a deep dive into The Pope’s Exorcist, the horror film where Russell Crowe channels his inner Super Mario Bro, and chews scenery as Father Gabriele Amorth, the wacky, self-proclaimed "Chief Exorcist" of the Vatican (he wasn't). We unpack the real Amorth’s history and his outrageous claims about what opens the door to demonic possession,- from Harry Potter books to yoga classes, from Freemasonry to the soothing music of Yanni. Along the way we compare the movie’s Hollywood exorcisms with the actual Catholic ritual, talk about the Church’s checks and balances within the practice of exorcism, critique the FACT that children and teens can be exorcised without their consent, and laugh at the over-the-top sequel setup that plays like the Pope (played by B-movie favorite Franco Nero) is putting together a ragtag team of supernatural warriors. It’s a mix of film criticism, Catholic weirdness, and irreverent comedy that only Morally Offensive could deliver. 

The wounds of Christ. A chain-smoking atheist. Gabriel Byrne as a brooding Vatican investigator in designer black. Welcome back to Hot Priest Summer.
This week on Morally Offensive, we’re going full incense-and-industrial as we revisit Stigmata; the aggressively 1999 Catholic horror film where Patricia Arquette becomes an accidental mystic and Gabriel Byrne has his faith (and sex drive) tested. It’s a heady mix of the Gospel of Thomas, the Nag Hammadi library, anti-clerical paranoia, and… Chumbawamba? 
We break down the film’s chaotic theology, its obsession with silenced gospels and Vatican coverups, and why so many ex-Catholics thought they were watching something dangerous. We also take a deeper look at the real history of stigmatics, from St. Francis of Assisi to Padre Pio, and dare to ask the question: Why was Padre Pio hoarding Carbolic acid?
Featuring a Billy Corgan-curated soundtrack, strobe-lit nightclubs, exorcisms of non-demons, and 90s fashion choices we can’t unsee, Stigmata is a movie best enjoyed with your Catholic brain turned off, and your popcorn thoroughly buttered.
Our guest this week is film teacher Christopher Hoppe, with co-hosting duties from Kevin of A24 On the Rocks.
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Dogma looms large in the canon of Morally Offensive films, casting a long shadow over many millennial Catholics. For those of us who were teens when it premiered, Dogma felt like the ultimate “anti Catholic” movie we were warned about, crafted by ”satanic” filmmakers from Hollywood (never mind that Smith is from New Jersey). Written and directed by Kevin Smith, it sparked national outrage and became one of the most high profile targets of Bill Donohue and the Catholic League in their crusade against media, which they viewed as attacking the Church. Starring Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, Jason Lee, Alanis Morrisette, George Carlin, Chris Rock, Jason Mewes, Alan Rickman, and many others, Dogma is a comedic epic which has persisted, despite attacks from religious groups and attempts by Harvey Weinstein to suppress it's re-release.
In this episode of the Morally Offensive podcast, Bill and Cisco are joined by comedian Ross Childs aka Crabman732 to revisit the controversy. Was Dogma truly as offensive as the Catholic League claimed, and does it hold up?
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On this episode of Morally Offensive, Cisco takes a break, so Bill is joined by frequent guest and film presenter Stephanie Sack along with television producer and writer Ken Melvoin-Berg to dive headfirst into The Devils (1971), Ken Russell’s blasphemous, banned, and still shocking masterpiece. Based on Aldous Huxley’s The Devils of Loudun, this true story of sex, power, witch hunts, and moral panic in the Catholic Church proves that real life is often stranger, and in this case even more offensive, than fiction. The crew breaks down the history behind the Loudun possessions, digs into the background of filmmaker Ken Russell, and reads scathing “Condemned” reviews from outraged Catholic news sources. Tune in to find out why some are calling Morally Offensive the "podcast equivalent of a forced enema exorcism".
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Jim Marcus (author, musician, and designer) joins us to dissect the controversy surrounding Cruising (1980), the William Friedkin thriller that pushed Al Pacino into New York’s underground leather scene. We explore the film’s legacy, the protests it sparked, and the moral outrage it provoked, including strong reactions from Catholic reviewers. We also discuss the film’s ongoing re-evaluation, its impact on queer visibility, and why it continues to divide audiences over 40 years later. Plus, Bill takes the Hanky Code Quiz.
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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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This week on Morally Offensive, Bill and Cisco are joined by Matt Harding of Severin Films to unpack Blood for Dracula, the 1974 cult horror film that’s part vampire flick, part Catholic fever dream, and weirdly anti-communist.
Directed by Paul Morrissey (a devout Catholic and outspoken conservative) and presented by Andy Warhol, the film follows Count Dracula as he travels to Italy in search of a virgin bride, because, naturally, good Catholic girls are presumed to still be pure. We explore Morrissey's strange blend of conservative ideology and avant-garde aesthetics, his collaborations at The Factory, and his time managing the Velvet Underground and Nico.
This episode dives into the film’s bizarre politics, its critique of socialism, and how Catholic values, exploitation cinema, and vampire lore collide in one of the strangest art-house horror movies ever made.
Content Warning: This film includes disturbing content involving minors and sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised.
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