Elmer Gantry – Studying Religion in Culture

Elmer Gantry: The Trap of Hypocrisy and Greed

January 26, 2016 by admin

By Ashley Daugherty Ashley Daugherty is a senior majoring in Anthropology and Spanish. She is looking to work in Applied Business Anthropology. The following was written for REL 360: Popular Culture/Public Humanities. Elmer Gantry is a film that exposes hypocrisy and greed among religious leaders who seek to exploit gullible citizens looking for something in which to believe. This abridged version of Sinclair Lewis’s novel of the same name focuses on Elmer Gantry, a con man expelled from seminary school, […]

Elmer Gantry and A Little About Race

January 21, 2016 by admin

By Sarah Griswold Sarah Griswold is a senior double majoring in Mathematics and Religious Studies. She spends her “free time” analyzing her favorite shows on Netflix, which of course winds up ruining them. The following was written for REL 360: Popular Culture/Public Humanities. “Elmer Gantry was drunk,” begins Sinclair Lewis’s 1927 novel. That’s how the movie Elmer Gantry begins too. The story is of Elmer Gantry who loves women and whiskey more than just about anything else. A fast-talking salesman, […]

Movie Night on the Way! REL 360 Presents: Elmer Gantry

October 6, 2015 by admin

Our one-credit course — REL 360 — is having another movie night. This time we’ll be following the antics of a fast-talking con man who’s on his way to “sell” religion to small towns across America, while combating a few troublesome love affairs along the way. […]