Viral Video

McKinney pastor lights up internet with Whataburger biscuit video

The honey butter chicken biscuit is everything.

Photo courtesy of Whataburger

A pastor and comedian from McKinney has become today's internet star thanks to a video he posted extolling the joys of the honey butter chicken biscuit sold at Whataburger.

On February 16, Pastor Fred Thomas, aka "The Pastor Fred," posted a video he recorded in the front seat of his car that shows him singing passionately about the breakfast item. Called "Something About This Biscuit," it sounds more like a gospel song and is well on its way to notching 5 million views (4,903,647 as of 10:22 am).

The video begins with a screeching organ, and Thomas singing, "You know breakfast is the most important meal of the day." He also shares his advice on how to order.

"Every time I get this biscuit, I get a little extra honey butter so it won't be dry, it won't be dry," he sings. "Whataburger, I don't think the honey biscuit should just be breakfast, you should sell sell all day."

The Whataburger item consists of a fried chicken strip on a buttermilk biscuit topped with honey butter sauce. It has been sufficiently popular that it spawned a knock-off from Wendy's.

Thomas, who identifies himself as the pastor at the Laugh Out Loud Church, says he's reeling from the reaction.

"I made the video in my driveway on the morning of the 16th, and a few days later we're at 4.9 million views on Facebook," he says. He says there are a couple factors accounting for its success that have less to do with the item itself and more to do with the delivery.

"People like to eat," he says. "And then, 'honey butter chicken and a biscuit,' that all sounds good when you think about it. But I also think people like the sound. I'm a gospel guy, I'm a preacher. Whether people are believers or not, I think they love the sound of the song. I think people are just as intrigued by sound of gospel as they are biscuit. There's a spiritual connection."

In addition to his evangelical work, Thomas is also a Christian comedian. "I travel across the country performing at churches and conventions telling my little funny stories," he says.

And this isn't his first video. "I've done a few things that went viral, including a gospel song about BlueBell ice cream that got some national notoriety. But I've never had anything take off like this."

But "Something About This Biscuit" comes from the heart. "Oh I love that biscuit, it's a part of my daily regimen," he says.

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Movie Review

Daniel Craig searches for elusive new bond in audacious film Queer

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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