mostly about atheist TV writers and their fondness for Christian imagery

[selenak]

Taking a break from writing angst-ridden entries over at theatrical_muse, which is rapidly consuming my life, I find yet another article on Gibson's "Passion of Christ" in the papers. You know, I have the very dark suspicion that the whole "antisemitism or no antisemitism?" question was a very cunning plot to get more than a year of free publicity, because frankly, do you really think a biblical movie with several hours of Aramaic and Latin would have made for a cash cow otherwise? If it hadn't been AN EVENT (TM)?

I haven't seen it and am unsure whether or not to go. deborah_judge's posts on the matter weren't exactly encouraging. Incidentally, remember when everyone got spammed with unwanted advertisment for this film? Well, I didn't get any spam, but londo_mollari did. Which gave me some strange images of Londo watching a movie on the last 24 hours of Christ and immediately concluding that G'Kar had managed to sell his life story to some human director, who promptly changed it for the human market.

Okay, seriously now - it's fascinating how often shows produced and written by self-proclaimed atheists like Joss Whedon and JMS return again and again to Christian imagery and theological issues. And not, thankfully, in an cliched "enlightened hero vs evil priest (tm)" kind of way. In the Jossverse, you have "the blood of the lamb and all that" (Giles, in Restless, about Buffy, which reminds me of a great exchange with rozk on the possible use of Narnian themes, and hence Christian ones, for season 5 - Buffy as Aslan, Ben as Edmund and Glory as Jadis, if I recall correctly). You've got impossible, divine births (Darla and Angel even get their very own King Herod in the form of Holtz). You have Mal who prays and talks of angels in the opening scenes of Serenity, the Firefly pilot, and never forgives God afterwards, and you've got Book, the Shephard whom bimo recently analysed so intriguingly.

Over at Babylon 5, the imagery and metaphors are played through again and again as well. Sinclair being tortured in the flashbacks to the Earth/Minbari war in season 1 is just the earliest example - he's hanging from a cross, if you look at it, and of course that is when, as we will find out, the Minbari discover he is their Messiah. Then you've got Draal, who sacrifices himself to the machine (again with outstretched arms, and note the other two possible candidates here, both chosen for their capability of self-sacrifice - Sinclair and Londo) . Moving on with the seasons, G'Kar gets the Christ symbolism in increasing doses, most pointedly during the opening six episodes of season 4, down to the thirty lashes, the cross-bearing and fall on the way. But G'Kar ultimately rejects the role of human (err, Narn) sacrifice and messiah - he's the prophet instead, the voice that must be heard. (By whom? Come on.) Sheridan gets his part of the symbolism with his death and resurrection (causing Garibaldi's catty remark regarding him not being the Pope, and since he refers to the later as "she", we're casually told that by the 23rd century, the Catholic Church has reformed into ordaining female priests and being led by one; gotta love JMS).

But the character who ends up volunteering for hanging on a cross for the people for 15plus years - you might describe it as facing and surrendering to his greatest fear, knowing it will destroy him - is none other than the tragic antihero of the show, Londo Mollari. hobsonphile has pointed out that Londo starts out dressed in purple, then gets dressed in black to indicate his increasing inner darkness, and ends up in sacrificial white. Whenever I watch The Fall of Centauri Prime, which I still can't manage without sobbing, I am reminded of Passing through Gethsemane, a season 3 standalone episode, in which the main guest character, memorably played by Brad Dourif, murderer and saint at the same time, starts out wandering whether he would have had the strength to do what Jesus did in Gethsemane, i.e. wait for his torture and death to come instead of fleeing, and ends up knowing that yes, he has.

It's a powerful narrative pattern, which is probably why you find it in so many media incarnations.

Comments

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

That was a lovely post. -- I remember someone religious on Usenet at the time complimenting JMS on his respectful use of religious themes, which was rarer in television then, and commenting on how funny it was an atheist had managed to show characters with faith who weren't stupid or nuts -- and Joe replied, "Only Nixon could go to China." (Of course as a die-hard Campbellian I'd point out most Christian imagery goes way back to paganism, too -- there's a reason it resonates so.) "Passing through Gethsemane" is one of my favorite episodes of any show, ever. I miss that show.

moi

[ide-cyan.livejournal.com]

and Joe replied, "Only Nixon could go to China."

Pierre Elliott Trudeau...

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Oh, I read my Joseph Campbell, too.*g*

Passing Through Gethsemane rocked, especially with the final twist, where a lesser show might have ended with Sheridan's preceeding little speech.

[thesecondevil]

In relation to Buffy you also have Xander as Carpenter and saving the world through love (Season 6 finale) which parallels Jesus as Carpenter and dying to save humanity because of his love for them. I admit it's a fairly shallow comparison but my first thought upon season 6 finishing was Xander = Jesus.

very nice post

[illmantrim.livejournal.com]

The parallells are certainly there in fiction and when done well they shine . It is nice sometimes and tragic others, and in some cases both! The trilogy written by Peter David about Londos long dark time is an excellent one and shows the sacrifice moment by moment sometimes

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

Campbell rules. And we know JMS read his Campbell, right?

I loved the conclusion of that show -- where Sheridan's words get pushed right back at him and he just feels that rush of emotion, and you're left with "Forgiveness is a hard thing." So damn true.

I miss that show.

moi

[cavendish.livejournal.com]

Hi there!

My favorite filming of the modern Testament, Passolini's Vangelo secondo Matteo, Il (1964).. aka Gospel According to St. Matthew, The (1966) (USA) has been made by a self proclaimed atheist.

Maybe this shows their struggle with believe ...

Anyhow, since I like Passolini's film, I doubt very much that I will like / will want to see the new one ...

F.

Vivat Pasolini!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

A case can also be made for Scorsese's The Last Temptation, which being based on Nikos K's novel has a double source to satisfy, as it were.

Re: very nice post

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I do like David's trilogy, though not without reservations. All the Centauri characters - Londo, Vir, Timov, even Mariel - are truly well-described and shine, but G'Kar remains oddly colourless, which he really shouldn't, and Delenn, Sheridan and Garibaldi seem to be escaped from a sit-com. Hence my preference for the Psi Corps trilogy, as far as the novels are concerned. (It has the advantage of rendering all its main characters, no matter whether canon or OC, fully rounded, and really fleshes out the entire telepath background.)

However, again, as far as Londo and Vir are concerned, who are after all the most important characters of the Centauri trilogy, David is terrific!

[wychwood]

Great analysis. JMS' examination of religious themes is a tremendously sensitive one, it's true; and my Dominican nun friend says that the Dominicans in "Passing Through Gethsemane" are spot on, as well.

But I think, from what I've seen and heard, that JMS isn't really what most people think of as an atheist; at least, he's not a strict materialist. I seem to recall him saying that the ideas of the universe as somehow sentient in particular do reflect his own beliefs.

On the other hand, I could be completely wrong.

Re: very nice post

[illmantrim.livejournal.com]

chuckles i agree with you-- David tends to do that in all his novels-- he wrote for st:tng and the same things happenned-- he focussed so much onthe main characters that everyone else seemed kinda washed out

Passion of Christ

[bimo.livejournal.com]

You know, I have the very dark suspicion that the whole "antisemitism or no antisemitism?" question was a very cunning plot to get more than a year of free publicity, because frankly, do you really think a biblical movie with several hours of Aramaic and Latin would have made for a cash cow otherwise? If it hadn't been AN EVENT (TM)?

To quote the wise words of Fr. Doktor from my favourite German posting board:

"Was den Gibson Film betrifft, der größte Hohn an der Sache ist die Negativpropaganda.
Ich bin mir fast sicher, hätte keiner dieses Machwerk im Besonderen erwähnt, dann hätte es bis auf ein paar christlich Bewegte und Blutsüchtige keine Sau interessiert und der Film wäre dem seligen Vergessen anheimgefallen.

Jetzt fühlt sich nahezu jede Institution des öffentlichen Lebens berufen ein Statement zum Film abzugeben. [...]

Wie wär´s, wenn die Leute einfach gar nicht erst in den Film reingingen und Mel Gibson nicht noch reicher machten?"


And while I personally couldn't care less about the movie itself, I find the discrepancies between Passion's reception in the US and the reception in Germany rather interesing, since they provide an excellent example of cultural differences at work.

[eye-of-a-cat.livejournal.com]

Passing Through Gethsemane is my favourite stand-alone B5 episode. It's a very effective reminder that the show can be incredibly powerful even outside the main story arc.

I agree with you that this kind of imagery makes for a powerful narrative pattern. I think what really stands out about the way it's used in B5 (and Buffy and Angel as far as I've seen, although I missed the last few seasons of both) is that it's not just thrown in for superficial effect. In a lesser show, the importance of, say, threes and the number three to the Minbari would still come across as Christian imagery, but that would be all it was - 'Hey look, they like threes, it's symbolic! Aren't we clever?' In B5, it ties into the way the Minbari live and think, and the whole way their society is constructed. It's an even more powerful image for that, because it means something in the context of the show itself.

I probably haven't made the point the way I wanted to, but I should stop now before I go off into a rambling monologue about idiotic movie critics and why someone like Tolkien can use Christian themes and ideas without writing an allegory for Christianity, and why The Matrix is not deeply meaningful, and... yeah, I'll stop.

(I friended you, by the way. Hope you don't mind!)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

(I don't mind at all - on the contrary, I feel flattered.)

Yes, I love the way symbols have actually relevance in B5, and the various belief systems contribute to form several of our characters, in a way which isn't interchangable. Dr. Franklin has firm beliefs just as the Minbari do, but you couldn't switch those without changing the characters. Etc.

(Same, btw, with the politics. I can't think of another genre show where the politics are so absolutely crucial to the personal storylines.)