Brother Dan
Still riding the success of her 2020 release Jesus and John Wayne, historian and lecturer Kristin Kobes Du Mez has announced a sequel to her bestseller, Satan and Jane Fonda.
“It’s all about the history of how white Evangelicals came to view every liberal as the devil incarnate,” Kobes Du Mez says of her new research. “I view it as a companion piece to J&JW, as a lot of the same factors that contributed to the hyper-masculinization of the American Church also led conservatives to adopt an inherent distrust of liberals.”
When asked why Jane Fonda was selected the title, Kobes Du Mez says the choice was obvious. “Her trip to Hanoi in 1972 is kind of a perfect case-study for my main thesis. Conservatives viewed that moment as an affront to the prisoners of war and the US military, and to America as a whole. Keeping this in context with my research in J&JW, it’s no surprise Evangelicals came to view Fonda as a godless anti-American liberal.” Kobes Du Mez adds that this view persists to this day, as “conservatives just have this intense, often obsessive hatred of Jane Fonda.”
Eagle-eyed readers may notice John Wayne’s pistols have been replaced with dance shoes on the book’s cover. “That was my personal touch,” Kobes Du Mez says, “Its a nod to Jane Fonda’s Workout, which, by the way, is still the best exercise video on the market.”
Asked if readers can expect a third book to round out the trilogy, Kobes Du Mez is not giving anything away. “I’m still keeping that close to my chest at this point, but I will say I’ve been spending a lot of time with Krishna and Englebert Humperdinck.”
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