Chicago’s ‘Prophets’ on Display

When “Groundhog Day” premiered in 1993, Hasidic Jews picketed outside a California theater, according to director Harold Ramis. But they weren’t protesting the movie. Their signs read, “Are you living the same day over and over again? Call the Chabad.”

Zen Buddhists, yogis, Baptist ministers, and even psychoanalysts reached out to Ramis, too, insisting his film expressed their own philosophies.

This kind of spiritual-artistic overlap is the focus of “American Prophets: Writers, Religion, Culture,” a new exhibit at The American Writers Museum downtown. It explores the influence of religion on well-known writers, pulling from 100 different works across creative mediums. Seriously, the range is broad — from Flannery O’Connor to Joan Rivers.

And it makes sense why. As I learned in “American Prophets," about one-third of American adults identify as nonreligious. However, more than half of even nonreligious types say they believe in some “higher power.”

Determining where you fall on the spectrum can lead to some pretty interesting stories.

Ramis was, famously, a Chicagoan. Growing up on the city’s West Side, he was raised Jewish but picked up Buddhism throughout his life. He called himself “Buddish” and liked to pass out pamphlets on Buddhist philosophy, styled like take-out menus.

These concepts appear in Ramis’ work, which is a cornerstone of “American Prophets.” In addition to an interactive video on “Groundhog Day,” you can pick up one of Ramis’ pocket primers: “The 5-Minute Buddhist."

Other Chicagoans featured include:

• Samira Ahmed, who grew up in Batavia and explores ancient Islamic legends through her young adult fiction.
• Chance the Rapper, who explicitly references Christianity in his songs, most notably on “Coloring Book.”
• Patti Smith, who, while raised in New Jersey, was technically born here. Oh well, any reason to analyze her lyrics is enough for me! (In this case, her song “Gloria.”)
• Larry Gelbart, one of the creators of "M*A*S*H," was also Chicago-born. His film “Oh, God!” features in the exhibit.
• Oscar Brown Jr., a South Side playwright and activist whose musical “In De' Beginnin’” tells the story of Genesis. This year, Brown was inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame and added to the American Writers Museum’s permanent Chicago Gallery.