Steve Deace on Storytelling: Our Best Hope to Save the West
Blaze TV star's 'Nefarious' hopes to shake up faith-based movies, industry
Steve Deace isn’t the only conservative railing against Hollywood for its relentlessly progressive messaging.
Hardly.
The Blaze TV star is in good company, but while his peers weigh in on their various platforms Deace took the matter to the next level.
He made a movie reflecting his values and those of countless consumers.
“Nefarious,” in theaters April 14, is the prequel to Deace’s two-book series. The story takes place before both “A Nefarious Plot” and “A Nefarious Carol.” The film features a fierce interrogation between a death-row inmate (Sean Patrick Flanery) and the psychiatrist (Jordan Belfi) tasked with assessing his mental state.
The inmate claims he’s doing the devil’s bidding, and he has a compelling case.
Deace opened up to The Hollywood in Toto Podcast about the film, why it matters and how it differs than most faith-friendly features.
Listen to “HiT 160: How ‘Nefarious’ Shatters All Expectations” on Spreaker.
He also address the larger political debates in the country with a warning, and a lesson, for us.
Deace says conservatives better rethink their political strategies if they want to forge real change in the coming election cycle.
“We have to abandon the old paradigm of the Boomer era … every two, four or six years I represent the silent majority and vote straight-ticket Republican,” he says, a system that only works if the party has the public’s best interests at heart. “Very few people with an R after our name that seek our votes that truly care about us … no one with a D after it does.”
Voting isn’t enough.
“We have to consider that the place left where real persuasion can happen is storytelling… when the Lord came, much of his preaching was in parable or story form,” he says.
“We don’t tell great stories in the West anymore … they used to tell great stories … when you go to [liberal Hollywood] movies now, they’re actually doing the ham-fisted stuff that Christian filmmakers were attacked for in the past, checking boxes, making sure my woke talking points get in there, and producing cringy fare.”
“There is an opening for [conservatives] right now to tell great stories. We have the greatest truths, the greatest content, the greatest stories, the greatest storyteller ever at our disposal,” he says, adding how [nearly] 20,000 people paid it forward for others to watch the counter-culture Angel Studios’ film, “His Only Son.”
“I’m not saying to completely divest from politics,” he says. “Instead of sending that last 50 bucks a month you have to that Republican politician who hates you. Maybe send him $25 and spend the other $25 supporting people like us, or VidAngel or what the [Irwin] brothers did with films like “I Can Only Imagine.”
“Trying to tell good, mature, redemptive stories that confront the culture in ways they’ll understand…. that’s the last piece of cartilage left in American culture, the last place that’s somewhat flexible, and listenable and persuadable is the storyteller arena,” he says.
“The pop culture is the most influential mission field in America. More minds are made up and converted in pop culture than in our pulpits, in our classrooms, at our kitchen tables, that’s where we need to be,” he adds.
Deace also shares the last-minute switch that saved the film plus much more in the rest of the conversation.
Steve Deace has impacted my life [#IamABoomer – at that] in how I view what my christian walk should be like & he finally put all the correct words & phrases together, making sense of the many needles & easily fixed faults of the Republican Party. My first Vote at age 18 was for Jimmy Carter. Then 2 1/2 years later I joined the Military, went to U.S.N. Hospital Corp School but ended up serving my entire tour of duty as an FMF Corpsman embedded as a Battle Field Corpsman with The 2nd Marine Division. BTW – that was an initial shock as I hadn’t read the small print. I wasn’t at Camp Lejeune 6 to 8 months total before switching to the Republican Party & casting my 2nd Vote for Ronald Reagan. It didn’t take me long to acclimate to what serving with (I always say As) the USMC, with Hostages in Iran, potential “Boots on the ground” action in S. Central America” well kept secret that, that was to notice every 2 to 4 hours daily, how everything from our issued weapons, Tanks & big Guns, tents, Jeeps, even our still used (circa 1979-83) C – Rations including those left over from WW2, Korea & Vietnam placed us one small & one moderate sized War'(s) away from disaster. I understood how & why President Carters attempted rescue of our Hostages in Iran failed. I don’t think I’d have noticed so many failures at each step where maintaining an up to snuff USMC Fighting Force every day – has I been assigned to a specific USN Ship, Base Clinic or Naval Hospital. Every one of my “young, dumb & full of rum tee dum rum pum” youthful Political experimentation as a naive Carter Voter/Demonrat moved & left no forwarding address as I went full – on “Viva Ron Reagan” never looking back. While I’d never again consider voting Democrat – Political Crisis after crisis wasn’t an easy fix as I’d yet to discover what RINOS & NEOCONS were. From the swearing in of George The First – to George The Second – through every Candidate chosen by The RNC … Bob Dole, John McCain, Mitt Romney & every Republican Candidate (2015 – 2016) except for Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Dr. Ben Carson & Donald Trump (towards the end) were of the awful “Lesser of two Evils Votes. Both Bushes, including Jeb as my Governor, Dole, McCain & Romney were “lesser than’s” and would be votes that carried much shame. While I voted for Trump twice, he was Initially a lesser than vote but because his promises were so much different than all those others. I give him much credit for shining light on how sinister Institutions [I’d naively assumed were there to keep us safe, keep the Trains & Planes running, the Mail moving, etc.,] he took the veil down. But, he also did nothing about them, surrounded himself with RINO/Neocon Deep State elements, allowed his Son in Law to move & shake major deep state players into his sphere which gave us the horrid Pro – BLM /future WOKE “Prison Reform” which is the Quaalude of Soros Backed D.A.’s. When Covid struck he allowed Jared & Evangelicalism – Light’s “Mike Pence” to push through every Item on the Wish List of Anthony Faucci & Debra Birx while keeping his Guy on the Inside Dr. Scott Atlas – at bay. He allowed the Deep Staters embedded in Administration to stop him from acting to quell every BLM/ANTIFA Riot & allow them to continue the Burning, Looting, Murdering, by those CHAOS Monsters to continue & did NOTHING either as POTUS in his final day’s or since leaving Office to help what will become over 2,000 (so says Bidens DOJ) January 6th Political Prisoner’s. He hasn’t raised one Dime to help with their legal fees, to help them find decent Lawyers or to help their families, many of whom have lost everything as both male & female bread winners were arrested & carted away as political prisoners. Even with all the latest facts on his Operation Warp Speed Jabs failures to protect one from either getting or spreading Covid 19. With the release of 1000’s of pages of PFIZER Documents which Pfizer intended to keep hidden until 2096 (that fact alone is nefarious) & with Health Agencies the world over showing Excess Death Rates amongst the healthiest age groups here, throughout the E.U., Asia, and Africa – President Trump refuses to admit that the Vaccines he gave Billions of Dollars toward Creating have caused anything other than Saving multiple millions of people. These are all reason enough for me to hope that DeSantis becomes our Nominee & then our POTUS.
let’s face it, “as evil & unconstitutional, in full on lawless mode their actions have been, when they broadcast THEIR Intent, they never fail to own their obvious wrongdoings, hence speaking their truth”
I like what you wrote and agree with most of it. But please dig a little deeper… DeSantis is RINO establishment too. One glaring indicator is how he skipped CPAC and attended the GOP’s donor class Club for Growth conference along with Mike Pence and Nikki Haley. He could have chosen grass roots, but he went donor class. He’s also a lesser evil. Please do a little more research before casting your vote. Lastly, thanks for pointing out some Trump shortcomings I hadn’t previously considered.
Lord, help us all. This country needs a leader and a hero.
Your story is much like mine. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I believe DeSantis is the guy either. The only guys I truly believe are Alan Keyes, Ben Carson and Rand Paul. All three I think are as above board as you’ll get. Others such as Comer, Roy and the guy from Ohio, I’m not sure about. It’s quite the quagmire especially with all this latest doc dump which I’m not sold now as the workings of this kid. Ugly stuff and soon to be terribly ugly when Digital currency comes on board maybe next year and the outlawing of Bitcoin and such.
Although DeSantis appears to be a “wholly” conservative, voter beware. There are underpinnings of his being beholden and compromised to leftist powerbrokers. I’m not convinced but cautious.
I am with you on the frustration and confusion of why Trump would push the vax. IMO, ego, is the answer. He wanted so badly to be the hero and save everyone. He was fooled by the evil-doers and still can’t/won’t admit it for fear of showing weakness and admitting he was capable of being bamboozled. He said from the beginning that it was your choice to take it, which he likely feels is his “out.” I questioned many times why Trump kept so many of his enemies close and didn’t “drain the swamp.” Was it a master-plan? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer? Those are the interview questions I would like answered. The fact that the left is working 24/7 to destroy Trump is proof to me that they fear him and the exposure and (God willing) prosecutions that would come in a 2nd Trump term.
At this fairly early stage in the ’24 race, Vivek Ramaswamy appears to be the best, “true conservative” with thought-out and common-sense answers to the left’s relentless, insane and Godless borage of challenges to societal order.
I hope that a ’24 election actually takes place! I’m sure the evil-doers have plans to blatantly cheat their way to complete power or if they calculate that can’t be achieved, will create an “event” prior to Nov ’24.
Deace said it correctly, “to save America, we need to save the people.” We need apostles!
I remember Mark Steyn, filling in for Rush Limbaugh one day shortly after Obama had defeated Mitt Romney. Steyn said that Republicans spent $1 billion on that election to elect Mitt Romney, and looked what we got out of it.
He said that we could have spent that money making four major blockbuster movies that promoted conservative values and gone much further to advance our cause than using that money to buy ads for Romney.
Dude had a point. It’s the same point that Andrew Klavan makes. The storytellers are the ones who shape the culture, not the politicians.
Great Point.
right on!!!