DISCLAIMER: THIS PAGE IS NOT AN ADVOCATION OF CHRISTIANITY/IT'S TEACHINGS

This is a shrine dedicated to the 2019 film Yes, God, Yes, directed by Karen Maine, and starring Natalia Dyer. As well as a love letter to late 90s/early 2000s christian website design.

I had first seen this movie the beginning of this year (2026) after falling back in to my long time obsession with Natalia Dyer, and it has been occupying my mind ever since. Set in 2001, it follows the story of a teenage Catholic school girl grappling with her sexuality and religion in the new internet landscape.

My personal experience with religion
While I personally did not attend a Catholic high school, nor did i attend my public high school in the early 2000s, I felt seen by this movie in a way that few other films have. I myself grew up Catholic in the northeast, and a majority of the kids in my school that were Christian, were specifically Catholic as well. While my parents weren't overly religious, I ended up going to CCD (bible school) from 1st grade to 8th grade alongside a lot of my peers in school, and was decently involved in the church during, and even after that time as well. I did not seriously believe in Jesus or God during any of that time, but I liked the sense of community, and the purpose that volunteering gave me. Also the eperience of walking through the school and church after hours lol.

Even though I necessarily did not believe in Catholic teachings, the shame and guilt that is associated with the culture did rub off on me. Especially being undiagnosed with OCD at the time, and coming to terms that I was a lesbian in addition to that made it all the more difficult. So ultimately, I don't identify as a Catholic or a Christian, but I guess in a way I would consider myself "culturally catholic". I have many qualms with religion, specifically Christianity as an institution, and I personally can't find coexistance between many of my beliefs/identity with Christianity.

Blah Blah Blah religious trauma and all that. I wanted to talk about one of the main draws of this movie for me personally, which is the early 2000s midwest America setting. There is just something so comforting in a way seeing people navigate high school during this time. The only way I can possibly begin to explain/justify it I guess would be that I had always wished this was what my own high school experience was like. while obviously I am aware that this period was not a perfect time, I had built up a lot of my preconceptions of high school and teenage life to media from the 2000s (specifically the late 2000s) and I had idolized my older cousins who were going to highschool in this more analog age. By the time I got to high school, I felt like all the charm and excitement I had for it immediately wore off. Social media was more vital to the average American teen than ever, and I felt like I could never catch up because it just felt inauthentic to me. Anyways, I was emotionally and socially stunted, and then COVID happened in my sophomore year so it all just sucked so bad lmfao.

So yeah, even before seeing this movie I had daydreamed of being able to do my teenage years all over again during a more idealized, or at least simpler, time.