Episode 4: Voidcast #4 – First Reformed

Voidcast

In this episode Carlos and Lenny share their thoughts on the 2017 movie First Reformed, written and directed by Paul Schrader:
"Reverend Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) is a solitary, middle-aged parish pastor at a small Dutch Reform church in upstate New York on the cusp of celebrating its 250th anniversary. Once a stop on the Underground Railroad, the church is now a tourist attraction catering to a dwindling congregation, eclipsed by its nearby parent church, Abundant Life, with its state-of-the-art facilities and 5,000-strong flock. When a pregnant parishioner (Amanda Seyfried) asks Reverend Toller to counsel her husband, a radical environmentalist, the clergyman finds himself plunged into his own tormented past, and equally despairing future, until he finds redemption in an act of grandiose violence. From writer-director Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver; American Gigolo; Affliction) comes a gripping thriller about a crisis of faith that is at once personal, political, and planetary."
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Voidcast Linktree: https://linktr.ee/veganvoidcast
Voidcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/veganvoidcast
Voidcast email: [e-mail]
Voidcast channel on the Vegan Antinatalist Club Discord server: https://discord.gg/VFkUJKJ2Wb
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First Reformed official website: https://a24films.com/films/first-reformed
First Reformed on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6053438/
First Reformed official trailer: https://youtu.be/hCF5Y8dQpR4
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David Benatar & Michael Benatar: “A Pain in the Fetus: Toward Ending Confusion about Fetal Pain”, Bioethics 15/1 (2001), 57–76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8519.00212 (restricted access).
David Benatar: The Human Predicament: A Candid Guide to Life's Questions. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2017, p. 95.
Patricia MacCormack quote: https://youtu.be/BfQH-uUjVxE?t=1272 (at 0:21:12)
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00:00 (intro)
01:19 synopsis
02:06 Paul Schrader
04:06 Calvinism
05:46 main characters
05:55 Reverend Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke)
09:44 First Reformed and Abundant Life
11:23 Mary Mensana (Amanda Seyfried) and Michael Mensana (Philip Ettinger)
13:59 first scene: Toller and Mary
15:05 conversation of Toller and Michael
17:49 anthropodicy
18:47 conditional (anti-)natalism
20:18 Toller's response and view on hope and despair
21:06 bringing someone into and taking someone from this world
22:54 Toller's pro-life and pro-natalist arguments
24:41 environmentalism and stewardship in Christianity
27:02 martyrdom
30:08 Calvinist calling
33:40 Abundant Life and Head Pastor Joel Jeffers (Cedric Antonio Kyles)
35:35 Ed Balq (Michael Gaston)
36:54 Toller's new mission
40:24 the last day
43:06 ending
44:12 cinematography
50:01 veganism
51:26 conclusion
52:19 (outro)
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intro / outro music: TrackTribe – Lost At Sea