Arts & Entertainment

'Bob' Dobbs Coming To Montclair: Church Of SubGenius Documentary

The Church of the SubGenius and its icon, J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, will be spotlighted at Montclair Film's 1st Annual Documentary Weekend.

The Church of the SubGenius and its icon, J.R. “Bob” Dobbs, will be spotlighted at Montclair Film's 1st Annual Documentary Weekend.
The Church of the SubGenius and its icon, J.R. “Bob” Dobbs, will be spotlighted at Montclair Film's 1st Annual Documentary Weekend. (Image via Montclair Film)

MONTCLAIR, NJ — It started out as an inside joke among two self-proclaimed “weirdos.” But it soon evolved into something much, much more.

Montclair Film's inaugural Documentary Weekend will include a screening of “J.R. ‘Bob’ Dobbs and the Church of the SubGenius” at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 20 at Cinema505, at 505 Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair.

Director Sandy Boone will in attendance for a post-screening Q&A session. (Learn more about this local event)

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According to Montclair Film, the Church of the SubGenius and its icon, J.R. “Bob” Dobbs, are a long-running postmodern joke that have drawn the attention of some of pop culture’s biggest icons.

Here’s how the nonprofit describes the Church of the SubGenius:

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“Frustrated by the rising consumer-driven culture, out of work pals Douglass St. Clair Smith and Steve Wilcox decide to turn their conservative southern ideology on its head and invent a new religion all their own. Spurred on by the overreach of religion and zealous televangelists of the day, the pair concoct religious monikers (Reverend Ivan Stang and Dr. Philo Drummond), a newly minted prophet (J.R. “Bob” Dobbs), and devised a crusade to expose the conspiracy of normalcy by using humor as the ultimate weapon.”

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