10 Film Documentaries That Accidentally Uncovered Major Scoops
9. Marjoe - The Manipulative, Shady Underbelly Of Evangelism
Marjoe Gortner had a difficult upbringing. He suffered abuse at the hands of his parents, who trained him to become a preacher from an early age. Travelling across the U.S., he delivered many sermons, where - at the behest of his parents - he conned people into buying items that could supposedly heal injuries, and even prevent death.
Marjoe became something of a child celebrity, until, in his late teenage years, he decided to abandon his preaching career - but this wouldn't last forever. A few years later, he returned to the scene, culminating in a final tour which was recorded by a film crew for the Oscar-winning documentary, Marjoe.
That was the initial pitch for the film - to follow Marjoe on his 1971 tour, watching how he conducted his sermons. The directors certainly accomplished that goal, but they also got more than they bargained for in the process, with the film also exposing the manipulative, shady underbelly of the evangelist lifestyle.
At one point, Marjoe explains that he's actually a non-believer, while other scenes detail how preachers successfully con people into giving them their money. At one point, the camera captures a minister (who isn't aware a mic is in the room) counting a huge pile of cash while bragging about the day's earnings.
As she explained in a 2014 interview, co-director Sarah Kernochan had no idea she was going to capture such revealing footage, which ended up turning the film from a profile centred on Marjoe, to an exposé of the industry as a whole.