Proibido por Deus: O Escândalo que Destruiu uma Dinastia

Seriously guys, who in gods green earth did the sound mixing for this? They need to be fired and never allowed to work on a film again. The documentary starts with the subject giving an interview with rap blasting in the background at the same volume! It's insanely hard to hear what someone is saying with lyrical rap music playing over it.

I thought that the intro would be the end of it, but unfortunately this continues throughout the entire documentary. It's an ok story, but the aggressively loud "background" music is just way too distracting. Do yourself a favour, watch it on mute and read the subtitles.

I saw an ad for this documentary on TikTok and knew I had to watch. I recognized the Falwell name but was unaware that any of this occurred. I had a vague recollection of some type of scandal but that was it. The documentary does well laying out the way GianCarlo was drawn into their world and the repercussions of that decision. This was a good documentary, but the background music was too loud for me. The music would stop for a moment then start again. It would have been a 9, or maybe a 10, but the music was distracting. It is probably just me and this won't stop me from recommending this doc to others, but I had to pause frequently and restart. I finally turned the volume down and watched with subtitles.

So many reviewers here are stating that this started out great, then nosedived because there were "unrelated" stories about Trump and Co. For those who actually paid attention, this doc starts out great and remains great throughout. It exposes ALL the hypocrisy, not only of evangelicals, but of the political right. Jery Falwell Jr.'s endorsement of Trump in 2016 opened the door for other evangelical preachers to also endorse him, and thereafter have the evangelicals wrapped around his pudgy little finger. This is an extremely important part of this story. Falwell endorsing Trump and showing him the "loyalty" he so craves, made Falwell think that he was an all-powerful god among men, and that he could get away with anything. Trump offered him the Secretary of Education for his loyalty!

It still sort of shocks me that there are some people who will make statements about people like Falwell and Trump as though the nebulous "Left" is always after Trump or people like Falwell, even though they've NEVER done anything wrong. This documentary puts the truth out there, and it's still called a lie. As a great Senator once said, "everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but they're not entitled to their own facts." If you're one that has an opinion about Giancarlo Granda, or Falwell, or his wife, or even Trump, watch this so that at least you're armed with facts to back up your opinion. We still do that, right?

I thought the documentary was well made and clearly well researched. It exposed not only the hypocrisy of the Falwells, but the white evangelical movement as a whole. I found Granda to be believable and well prepared to support his account of events. He was not innocent, and he admits that freely and in detail, but they ran over him and damn near cost him his life and then Jerry threw his own wife directly under the bus to preserve....what? His godly reputation? I live not far from Falwellville (Liberty) and I don't know anyone who was surprised by this. His alcoholism and lack of character and moral compass were the worst kept secret in Lynchburg. While I believe that what you do in the privacy of your relationship is of no concern if no one is getting hurt (ultimately granda was damaged), when you make your fortune and grab political power by oppressing others you deserve the fall from the grace you pretended to embrace.

Judging by some of the user reviews, this excellent documentary reveals too much painful truth about the virulent hypocrisy and corruption that lies beneath the Evangelical right.

People are okay with all the lurid details of the sex scandal, but don't like the political aspects of the film. The problem with that is that Evangelicals have made themselves political so, when you connect all the dots, you can't get away from the uncomfortable truth that America is at a dangerous tipping point when flagrantly hypocritical conmen (and women) are putting on a religious act and telling you how to vote.