The latest TikTok trend involves sounding like a brainless sycophant to mimic ChatGPT, a senior prank goes wrong in Georgia, and Hail Mary packs art, science, and Ryan Gosling into a family-friendly movie. But first:
Song of the Week: “Choosin’ Texas” by Ella Langley
Hovering at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, Spotify, and Apple Music charts for weeks now, the song “Choosin’ Texas” is a country ballad about being left for another woman, who is personified as “Texas” (with the singer embodying “Tennessee”). The song has been praised for its traditional country style and structure, and for the confidence implied by Langley not feeling the need to add vocal fillers to every half-second of her choruses.
And now for our three conversations..
1. The G Stands for Glaze
What it is: The “ChatGPT to someone right now” trend on TikTok is poking fun at the ways AI chatbots tend to always validate and agree with their prompters, even if they robbed a bank or hit someone with their car.
Why it’s really about discipleship: While ChatGPT can help you organize a spreadsheet or figure out your math homework, if you ask it for life advice, it will repeatedly build you up and help justify your actions, even if you’re totally in the wrong. LLM chatbots require users to keep the conversation going with it; otherwise, it fails— hence chatbots “glazing” their users. (This is something we noticed and called out when we spent some time with ChatGPT last year.) Despite it seeming like it’s a common use, AI chatbots are woefully unable and unprepared to disciple people, to lovingly call them away from unhealthy–or even sinful–behavior and gently guide them back to Christ.
Continue the conversation: Who is someone in your life who won’t let you get away with things? Do you like that or not?
2. Unthinkable Grace
What it is: Senior prank season is upon us, and teens in the U.S. are coming up with all manner of light vandalism to seal their legacy. But in one case in Georgia, a senior prank gone wrong changed an entire community forever.
Why it points to Jesus: From all accounts, math teacher and golf coach Jason Hughes was beloved by his students at North Hall High School in Gainesville, GA. He knew his students were coming to cover his house with toilet paper, and he was looking forward to “catching” them in the act. But the road was slippery, and Hughes fell. The students, in the excitement of the prank, didn’t see Hughes and fatally struck him as they drove away. But they didn’t flee the scene; they stayed and called for help. Hughes couldn’t be saved, but his wife advocated that all charges be dropped against the students—and she prevailed. Her attorney said afterward, “There was no crime here, just a tragic accident.” In a statement, the driver of the truck that struck Hughes said, “I pledge to live out the remainder of my life in a manner that honors the memory of Coach Hughes by exemplifying Christ. He will never be forgotten.” The Hughes family’s radical forgiveness gave these students a gift in the midst of their guilt and grief. It’s a devastating lesson, but one full of grace.
Continue the conversation: What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever heard of a teen your age doing?
3. Heart and Science
What it is: Project Hail Mary, hitting theaters this week and adapted from Andy Weir’s best-selling novel, follows middle school teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), who’s sent on a last-ditch mission to save Earth.
Why it’s hopeful (and hilarious): Movies that are clean, wholesome, and actually feel good to watch with your kids are rare right now. This screenplay somehow balances an intimate friendship between a teacher and a crab-like rock alien with a full-on science class. The perfectly-paced story moves gently between Grace helping scientists on Earth search for a solution to the crisis, and Grace and Rocky (an alien) sharing meaningful, sometimes philosophical conversations, all mixed with a few action-packed sequences. Imagine Interstellar and E.T. combined… then make it really funny. With audiences belly-laughing throughout, it feels almost shocking to find a movie this warm and hopeful in a time when films can feel so cynical, and you can enjoy it right alongside your family (for a closer look at content and age-appropriateness, you can read these reviews of the film’s rating).
Let’s translate this one further…
When the Project Hail Mary book first came out, I’d been reading alongside my kids for years. This one felt like it was made for the particular nerdy ecosystem I shared with my then 16, 12, and 11-year-old sons. Space? Check. Science? Double check. Aliens? Triple check.
What I remember most is the regularity of it, the everyday rituals of sharing a story. We’d carefully circle each other, trying not to spoil anything. “Did you get to… the part… with…?” one of us would ask, trailing off. When the other answered with an excited “Yes!” we would both light up. “Oh my gosh, and then THAT happened…” Those conversations are still some of my most precious memories.
As the years went on, our informal book clubs became fewer and farther between. It really does hurt when they grow up. We still squeeze in a shared read here and there, Mickey 17 with one son last year, Atomic Habits (decidedly off-genre) with another more recently, but the days of all of us with our noses in the same book have mostly passed.
The ache for those feel-good moments as a mother never really goes away. At the same time, I know they are supposed to grow. They stretch, depart, fall in love with other people and other worlds. Some days it feels like my heart is the one that needs a Hail Mary, as they slip through my fingers toward girlfriends, jobs, and college.
Maybe that is part of why Project Hail Mary on screen felt so good. We actually managed a rare syncing of schedules so all of my sons could see it with my husband and I. Even my daughter, watching from another state, aligned her screening with ours. On the drive home, the car was full of excited chatter about favorite scenes and lines, and later, my daughter called to gush about her favorite moments too. It felt like getting a little piece of our old book club days back.
It’s a clever sci-fi story, but more than that, a reminder that I can still share wonder, sacrifice, and unlikely friendship with my kids in new ways. Scripture tells us there is “a time to plant and a time to uproot… a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing” (Ecclesiastes 3). In a season when so much is changing, this little movie night felt like a small, unexpected embrace in the middle of the in-between.
For more context and nuance, check out our Roundtable podcast on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts. In the meantime, here are three questions to help you continue the conversation with your teens:
- If you were given a free ticket to go to space, would you say yes?
- If you were in space with one other person (or alien), what would you want them to be like?
- Which do you think matters more in a friendship: “Showing up” or “saying the right thing”?
Parenting together,
Irene Tucker and the Axis Team
In Other News…
- The Oscars happened. Ryan Coogler was the second Black screenwriter to win Best Original Screenplay. Plus, for the seventh time in the history of the award show, there was a tie.
- youraislopbores.me is a new website where users can role-play as AI, with users playing the human or AI role. People are posting screenshots of the humorous human responses and bonding over their shared dislike for AI slop.
- It’s time to make your brackets, because March Madness is here! The annual college basketball tournaments will be dominating TV screens until the national championship game in early April.
- NVIDIA announced a new feature that uses AI to make games look “better.” Backlash ensued, with some users calling it a “slop” AI filter for games.
- “Noah Kahan: Out of Body,” a documentary following the singer-songwriter’s mental health journey on tour, will be out in April.
PS: Know someone who could use our conversation starters with their teens? Share the CT with a friend!