Coffee With Bernie

Brianne Bilyeu, ,

A gentleman named Gary DeSomber sent me a video short that he wrote, produced and appeared in (he plays Boppa). He created Coffee With Bernie for an atheist film festival. It won 1st place in two film festivals, Cedar Rapids Iowa and La Jolla, California and was shown in two other fests.

Gary knows that I’m posting his video today, and I’ve invited him to browse the comments for any feedback y’all might have. He is about to start filming a longer production (30-35 minutes), and may even attempt a feature length film one day soon. He’s active in one of his local Freethinkers groups, and plans on taking “lots of jabs at organized religion” in his upcoming works. He has a website where you can watch his other short film and learn more about him. If you have any constructive criticism on Coffee With Bernie, or ideas for future productions for Gary, I invite you to write them below.

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Coffee With Bernie

About the author

Thoughts from a Minneapolis-based nerdy, liberal, humanist progressive on topics such as science, skepticism, religion, atheism, critical thought, politics, and local and global humanitarian and equality efforts. Biodork <3's geek culture, groan-inducing puns, world travel, cultural exchange and sharing and listening to stories.
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146 thoughts on “Coffee With Bernie”

  1. F
    Reply
    1

    Yet again I have to apologize for not having any sound, so me watching the film, I’m sure, will do little good with respect to the request.

    I’ll just offer my thanks for anyone producing good media with atheist content. And congratulations on taking first-place recognition.

  2. Mark
    Reply
    2

    I like this video, and I agree with pretty much all the atheist arguments in it, but I still don’t find either one of these guys all that likeable. Maybe because they don’t seem to like each other, and it makes you wonder why they (presumably) meet for coffee once a week. Neither guy seems curious about the other’s opinions, and neither seems to learn anything.

    What bugs me the most is that the theist guy keeps hopping from one tactic to the next, and the atheist guy never calls him on it. He refutes the theist positions one by one and never points out how the theist drops each argument as soon as it meets any resistance, until finally the theist trots out the old standby, “You’ll go to hell for disagreeing with me.”

    I think a more instructive approach might have been for the atheist to question the theist about his beliefs with genuine interest, until it becomes clear those beliefs are not rationally based or internally consistent. I see more people doing that these days, and it gives both sides a chance to learn something. But alas, cross-examination is a lost art these days.

    1. herp
      Reply
      2.1

      I agree with the fact that the conversation seems a bit too forced. It’s argument-rebuttal for the whole conversation. Guiding the theist through their thought process to end up with a conflict is a valid way to make them realize there is an inconsistency.

      The real problem, as I see it, is that the theist does not talk enough. It’s a one sided conversation. With some validation on both sides it would have seemed more normal. I have no problem with comments about Easter at the beginning. There has to be something that starts the conversation. I imagine that these two do not get together regularly to discuss theological topics. They probably enjoy each others company outside of it.

  3. Alyson Miers
    Reply
    3

    When the film opened up, the characters were talking about Easter much like many Christians talk about Christmas, and about the Easter Bunny as if he were Jesus. This could have been an interesting parallel, but it never really goes anywhere except to use the plastic eggs as props.

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