So I'm reading a science article and I see this ad next to it for a miniseries called Revelations due to air on NBC mid April. Well, as I happen to be a student of apocalyptic themes in mainstream society, I thought I'd check it out. It will air a little late to be of use to my thesis, but it might come in handy for the presentation in May. It stars Bill Pullman as a physicist who joins forces with a nun to see if they can stop the end of the world. No pressure. The ads actually don't look too terrible. If you could cope with The Stand, you could probably sit through this. By all the accounts from people that saw special screenings, it stays pretty close to Revelation's text. I actually don't have a problem with this, as the book was desgned after Greco-Roman drama and was always intended to be played out rather than read.

What's scary is how entrenched in the collective consciousness of Americans apocalytic topics are. I suppose you have half of us in an religious fervor over Bush's messiahism and the other half of us pretty convinced he's the Antichrist. I'm myself am pretty convinced that Republican party membership comes complete with a "mark of the beast" stamp that allows full previlages such as buying and selling in the market place and a health care plan where you get to choose your own doctor. Democrats will be relegated to second class citizen status, but given the option to join if they can pass a simple 40 page test and fill out the correct documents in triplicate. They should then start praying they aren't accidentally wiped out of the file database when the outdated server hiccups. The rest of us Greens, Libertarians, Socialists, Reforms, Independants, will immediate be relocated to "freedom" camps, after, of course, all of our property is confiscated taken for safe keeping.

What I found totally hilarious was the IMDb's comment board for Revelations. You had one guy there stating that the movie was good, stayed close to scripture, but TOTALLY screwed it up when they suggested that Bill Pullman's daughter (who's killed early on) may be in PURGATORY! And then there's a rant on how there's no bible reference to Purgatory, so obviously the producers dropped the ball on that one. What ensues is a fight over whether or not you can find a reference to Purgatory in the bible. A fight that no one can win because the book that contains the reference is not in Protestant bibles. You can find the reference in Macabees, which was cut from the King James version, along with four other apocraphal texts during the Protestant Reformation. Then there was the True Bible vs. Your Bible argument. It never occured to the guy that there is a Catholic nun in the movie (you know, the one helping the physicist - this makes me laugh for some reason) - perhaps they tossed in a little Catholicism? Maybe?

Ah well, even for movies like Miss Congeniality 2 the people on those boards aren't entirely sane.

Well, I've got a week to get my thesis done. It's crunch time. I've got till next Wednesday off work, here's hoping I can burn the midnight oil, get the damn thing done and reclaim my life. There's a Faculty/Lost fic out there waiting to be written with my name on it.

From: [identity profile] thebratqueen.livejournal.com


When the End Times come I definitely want Bill Pullman working to save us.

Good luck with the thesis!

From: [identity profile] catscradle.livejournal.com


Well he was so good dealing with the aliens in ID4, just THINK how hard he can whoop ass against the Antichrist!

And thanks! :)

From: [identity profile] wiebke.livejournal.com


Well, you probably know as well as I do that many Christians aren't even aware that the Protestant Reformation happened and think that "Christianity" is all there is, without any other sects, let alone major ones. My friend Caleb has been approached by evangelicals on the train or gotten into discussions and he'll say "No thanks, I'm Catholic," they are totally uncomprending and think he's saying he's from the land of Catholica or maybe he's Jewish or something. I'm sure they don't realize all the different versions of the Bible!

From: [identity profile] catscradle.livejournal.com


You're very right. I've actually just finished part of my thesis where I discuss the isolationist environment of fundamentalism. But they have a very well defined definition of US and OTHER and OTHERS are to be avoided at all cost. You get someone growing up in that environment and they end up frightened, hostile or an a mission to convert the big bad OTHER without ever trying to find out what OTHER is all about. But then you look at US foriegn policy and how it reinforces that belief. Iraqis are OTHERS and then need to be like US!

From: [identity profile] gimme-that.livejournal.com


Yep, the fundie Muggles sure do like their apocalypses...can you even pluralise apocalypse?

is my inner Buffy showing? :-)

From: [identity profile] elegant-requiem.livejournal.com


*Smiles* I am most well, thank you. May I enquire as to your own weel-being? May I also extend an invitation for you to visit my LJ? My home is always open to amiable visitors.
.

Profile

catscradle

Most Popular Tags

Powered by Dreamwidth Studios

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags