Southeastern University cancels class to pray and worship Jesus, “smart glasses” with AI take creepiness to a new level, and what parents should know about the new Wuthering Heights movie. But first:
Slang of the Week – lowkenuinely
lowkenuinely: a combination of the words “low-key” and “genuinely,” used to suggest sincerity but also nonchalance. (Ex: “I lowkenuinely would rather go to a bingo night than an actual party.”)
And now for our three conversations..
1. Another Outpouring
What it is: A group of students at Southeastern University (SEU) have been praying, worshipping, and confessing together non-stop since last week in what is being called an “outpouring.”
What it’s like: We asked Ethan Kennedy, a senior at SEU who’s involved in their worship and creative teams, what it’s like being there. The first thing he said? “Because of social media and everything, in my generation, there’s a big push for ‘Jesus as a friend’—there’s a loss of reverence. But with this worship, there’s a reverence for the Lord. They’re confessing sins.” The outpouring began when author and Bible teacher Jennie Allen invited the students to spend time publicly confessing to one another, and this built into an extended time of prayer, worship, and confession. We asked Kennedy how he would respond to a skeptic, and his answer was simple: “I get it; I’m the first to be skeptical, but you need to be in the room. Seeing people get healed with your eyes…”
Continue the conversation: What do you think of confession as a spiritual practice?
2. Somebody’s Watching Me
What it is: New “smart glasses” by Ray-Ban and Oakley come with Meta-powered AI—and the ability to discreetly film others.
Why it’s freaky: In Matthew 12:36, Jesus promised that on judgment day everyone would have to give an account for “every empty word they have spoken.” Now, with the rise of wearable technology, some feel this judgment is already upon us. Although by default a light appears on the glasses to signal recording, for $60 that can be disabled. As a result, many women and service workers are discovering videos of themselves online, after having what they thought was a normal conversation. Some describe feeling a new fear of surveillance. Teachers too (paywall) are reporting an even greater reluctance among students to respond in class, in case their response seems foolish and gets posted online. Although recording others in public is technically legal, that doesn’t mean it’s going to help society flourish.
Continue the conversation: How does the possibility of being covertly filmed make you feel?
3. Wuthering Blight
What it is: The new film adaptation of the 1847 novel Wuthering Heights adds sexual content and modern pop music to Emily Brontë’s story of obsessive love, betrayal, and revenge on the English moors.
What parents should understand: Every decade or so, culture can’t resist revisiting Heathcliff and Catherine and calling their relationship “epic.” The sweeping hills, reimagined costumes, and a jarring soundtrack featuring Charli xcx give it fresh appeal for a younger generation. But what looks romantic on screen is actually deeply toxic. Heathcliff and Catherine’s connection is intense, emotional, overwhelming, and ultimately destructive. That combination is especially compelling for a generation drawn to romantasy, tragic soulmates, and stories that blur the line between love and obsession. The film also includes explicit sexual content and BDSM themes. Relationships romanticize manipulation and stalking, and parents should approach it as mature, provocative content—not the love story they remember from English class.
Let’s translate this one further…
The movie trailer was undeniably stunning. The black veil… Margot Robbie as Catherine, against the English landscape… The red latex dress… I wanted to see it.
I usually avoid reviews so I can walk into a film with no preconceptions. Sometimes I even try to take my kids to opening nights so we can talk before social media forms our opinions for us. But early screening TikTok reviews began leaking in, describing the film as filled with graphic sexual content, and I felt that familiar frustration rising.
I called my college-aged daughter. Had she seen it? Not yet. She and her friends were planning to. In my head, alarms were going off, but instead of inserting my opinion, I asked what appealed to her. Her answers mirrored my own: The aesthetic. The romance. The drama. We gushed over the same images.
And that’s when it hit me. What draws us to romance stories is something good: Beauty. Longing. The ache of being known and chosen. Culture understands that ache and packages it beautifully through mise-en-scène—through cinematography, fashion, music, atmosphere. But increasingly, our culture insists that love must be explicit to be compelling, that intensity must be graphic to feel real.
Our teens are not wrong for being drawn to emotional intensity. Those desires are deeply human. The deeper question is what these stories are teaching them about love.
Maybe the conversation is not simply whether to see the movie. Maybe it is about helping our kids separate longing from exploitation and beauty from distortion. Scripture does not diminish desire. It dignifies it. From the beginning, we are told that a man and woman become “one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). But that kind of union was never designed for an audience. It was meant to be covenantal.
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:
- Do you think love is something that you find, or that you build?
- Do these stories make love more about feelings or commitment?
- What makes love stories feel compelling to you?
Parenting together,
Irene Tucker and the Axis Team
In Other News…
- Sony Animation Studios (the team behind Into the Spider-Verse and KPop Demon Hunters) has a new animated film called GOAT, starring Stranger Things’ Caleb McLaughlin and NBA star Stephen Curry.
- A new video game in the “Roguelite” genre called Mewgenics had an incredibly successful release last week, but parents should know the game features a lot of questionable—even sacreligious—content.
- A new TikTok account called @DanySlicer started with two short videos of a man whose face is obscured in shadow. Inexplicably, both videos got millions of views, and many started referring to this completely silent character as the “internet’s new villain.”
- Netflix is diving into mixed martial arts, kicking off with a fight between two pioneering and sometimes controversial fighters, Gina Carano and Ronda Rousey.
- This month on our podcast we explored romantasy and the question many parents are asking: Why are teens and adults so drawn to fantasy and romance novels? Check it out here, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
PS: In April, we’re focusing on influencers: both the impact of social media personalities and the incredible influence that parents have on the next generation. To submit a question about parental influence and influencers more broadly, send an email to ask@axis.org!