Writing for Chronicles about The Story of Everything, journalist John Zmirak hits a very sensitive and important point: this is a movie to share with young people, if you can possibly do so.
The good news is that if you can persuade a high school or college-age student to go see the film, which opens April 30, it could well be free. Donors have made it possible for Fathom Entertainment to subsidize tickets for students, “while supplies last.” Find more information about the offer, and how to take advantage of it, here.
Troubling Directions for the Young
From, “A Film That Could Change a Student’s Life”:
If I had high school or college-aged children, I’d be dragging them to see this film.
Surveys show a 70 percent drop-off in religious practice during college, even at many faith-based schools. Why do so many students drift away from the moral and religious beliefs their parents worked hard to pass on to them?
The common explanation offered by self-congratulating secular academics is that once-sheltered religious students, freed from the “indoctrination” of their parents and churches, find intellectual freedom and more persuasive answers in secular materialism than in religion. It’s certainly the story many students tell themselves, as they follow their friends into sexual experimentation or radical politics. Likewise, young people who plunge into the dark world of conspiracy theories and online far-right influencers believe that they have been “red-pilled,” set free from the comfortable illusions their parents and pastors still cling to.
But what if there’s a better explanation?
I just saw a post on X by Vivek Ramaswamy about the nature of challenges from college students that he receives: “Back in 2024 when Charlie [Kirk] & I visited campuses, the crazy questions we got came from the woke left, but now there’s a new trend emerging.” He’s referring to that last group mentioned by Zmirak, as you’ll see from the video Ramaswamy posts there.
Things are definitely trending in a variety of troubling directions for young people, but there’s hope. Read the rest of John Zmirak’s very welcome comments on The Story of Everything.