“It's not wildfires. It's not earthquakes. It's not sinkholes.”
Why it's great
Three flat negations in a row clear the table before the real answer lands.
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Informal
Use it yourself
It's not the wifi, it's not the router, it's not the cable.
00:00 / 03:21
00:00 / 03:21
Reading Revelations at Franco's, Explained
This Is the End · 2013
Chapter 11 of 27 · 3'21"
After wildfires, earthquakes, and sinkholes, someone opens the Bible and makes the case that this is the Apocalypse. The proof is that the 'beams of blue light' match the Rapture — and the burning mountain is right outside. The others mostly crack jokes about the Hollywood Hills and freeway routes.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:37–1:09
The Apocalypse Theory, Explained
32s - 1:45–2:11
Turning the Apocalypse Logic Against Him
26s
Reading Revelations at Franco's, explained
What happens
The group debates what is happening outside. Wildfires, earthquakes, and sinkholes get dismissed or joked about, and someone cites the Book of Revelations: the 'gigantic beams of blue light' are the Rapture, and the burning mountain is the Hollywood Hills. The others interrupt with driving-route jokes and call the theory nonsense, until they turn it back on its teller.
What's really going on
The scene is a theology argument played for laughs. One man arrives with the Bible and a case: the blue light is the Rapture, the fire is prophesied, and he only asks to finish — 'just hear me out and you tell me that what I'm describing isn't what's going on right now.' The others won't let him: they bicker about which canyon to take and whether the Hollywood Hills even count as a mountain. Then it turns personal. If only good people were taken, then everyone left — 'Seth, me, Jonah, Craig, and Danny' — is 'a bunch of assholes,' and the comeback is 'So that means you're just as shitty as the rest of us. Doesn't feel too good, does it?' The chapter is about a group that would rather insult each other's character than face what the evidence outside might mean.
Key lines & what they mean
- “It's not wildfires. It's not earthquakes. It's not sinkholes.”
- The setup for the theory: he clears away the ordinary explanations one by one before naming what he thinks is really happening.
- “what you're saying is Seth, me, Jonah, Craig, and Danny are a bunch of assholes.”
- The logic trap: if the disaster took only good people, then everyone still standing is, by definition, not good.
- “So that means you're just as shitty as the rest of us.”
- The comeback that closes the argument: the person making the point is stuck in the same room, so he is no better.
- “Doesn't feel too good, does it?”
- The parting jab: having used his own logic against him, the others twist it into a taunt about how the accusation feels.
Theme
- Faith — A literal reading of the Book of Revelations is offered as the explanation for the disasters, and the group argues over whether it holds.
- Dark humor — The end of the world becomes a debate about freeway routes and whose character is worst, with everyone refusing to take the prophecy seriously.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
Review right after watchingMy level3/8
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Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“what you're saying is Seth, me, Jonah, Craig, and Danny are a bunch of assholes.”
Why it's great
He turns the sermon into a roll call and lands the insult on everyone, including himself.
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Informal
Use it yourself
What you're saying is everyone in our team is lazy.
“So that means you're just as shitty as the rest of us.”
Why it's great
He drags the accuser down to his own level with one just as as comparison.
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Informal
Use it yourself
That means you're just as messy as the rest of us.
“Doesn't feel too good, does it?”
Why it's great
A short tag question corners the other man into admitting the sting.
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Informal
Use it yourself
Not so fun when it happens to you, is it?
Up next · 12the elephant in the roomThe scene: Addressing the Elephant in the RoomTakeaways
What you walk away with- For all we know flags a guess, not a fact
- Hear me out asks for a full hearing
- The rest of us pulls everyone left into one group
- A load of bullshit is crude for total nonsense
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Questions, then the linesWhat is the Apocalypse theory in this scene?
That the disasters are the end of the world foretold in the Book of Revelations: the beams of blue light are the Rapture, and the burning mountain is the Hollywood Hills on fire.
Why does the group make fun of the theory?
They keep getting distracted by trivia — which canyon to drive, whether the Hollywood Hills count as a mountain — and prefer needling each other to taking the prophecy seriously.
What is the argument that turns the theory back on him?
If only good people were taken to heaven, then everyone left behind is bad — so the man making the point is 'just as shitty as the rest of us,' and the room turns it into an insult.
What is the Rapture?
In the theory, it's the moment believers are lifted into heaven — which he matches to the 'gigantic beams of blue light' people saw being sucked into the sky.
Does anyone believe the theory?
Mostly no. One dismisses it as nonsense, another jokes about freeway routes, and Jonah just wants his Bible back — so the room argues about it rather than accepting it.