Chappell Roan of Arc dominates VMAs and my heart

Back by popular demand*, Modern Relics is a newsletter about religion, pop culture and the internet. The vibe is kind of like…

Rest assured, I’m still alive, although some wanted me dead. I have missed you! Thank you to everyone who kept sending me good posts while I’ve been away, and I’m sorry if I neglect to credit you when I repost them. I’ve totally lost track of who sent what.

I’ve been watching Kaos on Netflix, which is a very good show! Modern Greek pantheon, very gay, and Orpheus is very Hillsong-coded. Give it a go! Also you'll be thrilled to know that my Bard in Baldur's Gate 3 has had a conversion experience in the Githyanki creche and taken a single level of Life Cleric (worshipping Lathander, naturally).

Chappell Roan at the VMAs is the gay warrior saint we all needed

Chappell Roan's performance of Good Luck, Babe at the 2024 VMAs was cool as hell and added more weight to the argument that female pop stars deserve swords. The queer, religious, feminist themes scream Joan of Arc. Here's a good analysis.

I love Joan of Arc, even though I’m certain that if she were alive today she would swerve out of her way to hit me with her car. But come on, a mystic warrior shaman who carries a sword? Ecstatic visions, breaking gender norms, striking fear into the English? What’s not to love!

It really is kind of wild how such an ardent Catholic has become de facto patron saint of queer and rebellious women, but that’s religion for you. St Joan pray for us!

By the way, there is so much fan art of St Chappell Roan on Tumblr.

It's now well and truly Christian Girl Autumn in the northern hemisphere

Click through to watch the video.

Meanwhile I am barrelling into Brat summer but it’s in the southern hemisphere so it is but it’s not

Click through to watch the video. Good for her.

Brat cube

Bratsuble

Be proud of your infection

We’re having a Mormon moment

God I love Mormons. Hopefully that’s not a weird thing to say, but they’re the most interesting religious group to me by far. I think it’s partly because as a Protestant they are very similar to me, but have just enough differences to still surprise me. Plus they’re one of the oldest religious groups where we still have all the records of how they came to be and why. Did you know there’s an actual photo of LDS prophet and founder Joseph Smith? That is so cool! Jesus and St Paul could never.

So I’m absolutely thrilled that we have not one but TWO trashy reality TV shows orbiting the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Season 5 of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and a new show, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which follows the LDS influencers who were involved in the Mormon swinger TikTok scandal.

If you’re interested, I wrote about it a few years ago back when it happened.

One of the things I love about RHOSLC is that it shows that religions are not monoliths, and the people that follow them do so in their own ways. Is Lisa Barlow, who identifies as Mormon despite not wearing temple garments and owning a tequila company, a “real” Mormon? That’s not for me to say! Religious observance is a set of negotiated practices, even in groups that are known for being very strict. There’s nothing really real about the show, but it demonstrates that idea very well.

Also please enjoy this supercut of Mary’s taglines from all of her seasons (thanks to Aunty Barb for sending it to me!) Mary is the leader of a nondenominational Pentecostal church in Salt Lake City, and manages to be a villain and an icon at the same time.

Click through to watch the video.

Archibald Asparagus Saint Sebastian

Babe, I have a mezuzah on the door I’m not an animal

Bimbo shrine maiden

Here's that video on TikTok in case you can't watch on X.

This article in The Conversation about the ethics of grave cleaning videos references this specific creator and is an interesting analysis of this trend.

Do not call this woman Queen

Click through to watch the video.

I posted something from this creator in the last edition and said I couldn’t work out if it’s ironic or not. Since then, my zoomer Christian friend told me she’s legit. The just really loves the Catholic Church and loves to post. I support it.

btw I did a sermon

Not very Modern Relics-coded but I thought I’d post it here anyway. A few weeks ago I delivered a sermon to my congregation here in Sydney. The reading that week was Mark 9:42-50 which, honestly, kind of sucks lol. It might be the most difficult thing I’ve ever written, but I’m proud of how it turned out.

Ok thanks for reading! I have a backlog of so many posts for future editions so hopefully I'll be back soon!

*four different friends each saying “Have I dropped off your mailing list? I haven’t gotten Modern Relics in a while.” Thank you for checking on me 😭