azcoppen
Martin Shaw has a gravitas that is mocked by stories this bad.It's hard to know where to begin with the stupidity, but it's mainly related to the editorial "theology", which is laughably ignorant, regardless if you're a religious type, or a hardcore atheistic cynic. At one moment, the series has a very credible edge in the discernment of demonic activity from mental illness (i.e. the place of religious ritual in a modern context), then it's spinning off into Catholic silliness about Mother Theresa and WWF battles between priests and demons. All of it is dressed up in very credible BBC photography and heavy mood music.Essentially, - and 2mins of research indicates this clearly - the Catholic Church has a lot of wordy rituals that have no apparent scriptural basis, and are at best inaccurate, and more likely, absurd/aberrant - that every other denomination considers extremely suspect. The writers, of course, have a field day with it, inflating these One-True-Church -specific theatrical follies into devices that are more similar to witchcraft "spells" than anything eschatological: 5min rituals with Latin-y words, symbols, Virgin Mary and water for "protection", invoking names of "saints", "reverse" exorcisms, demons "sheltering" themselves and/or being "freed" from hell in human flesh, the devil "exorcising" Catholics (wtf). Satan exorcising a priest? Come on, BBC. Even the Bible explains why that is stupid, let alone a logical impossibility.Allegedly the Satanic mission is all about "breaking someone's faith" like a currency or "converting" them to evil (whatever that is meant to mean or look like), etc etc ad nauseam. The writer's cynicism is quite apparent, naturally, by the constant implication that it's priest's video game "belief level" that wins the spiritual martial arts battle of "fighting" the Devil on an equal basis: (i.e. religious faith is a subjective idea, despite the fact your story revolves around presenting absolute evil etc etc). A phone call to someone - anyone - would have steered writers away from the p**spoor idea that a priest's "faith" is like a Ghostbusters laser beam which expels demons.The theology research is just very, very weak, as usual - and sensationalist to a really ridiculous degree. Screenwriters can never, ever seem to simply pick up a book and actually study what it's about - if they did, there's a treasure trove of interesting editorial material to be found. It's not more dramatically interesting to lazily sass up these same implausible tropes, it just makes serious actors and production crew look hopelessly lost to cliché. If you attempt to "broaden" the ideas around exorcism (e.g. "reverse" exorcism) but don't even have a basic understanding of the theology behind it, you're going to come off as dumb no matter how much sepulchral piano you add.Saying all that, though, there is an interesting angle inviting a moral conversation: the demonic characters' impassioned plea that Hell is akin to the Holocaust: there's a lot of meat to that missed opportunity. And as it's Auntie Beeb, it's one of the better-produced of the genre.Do not write a series about anything when you haven't the faintest idea what it's about: irrespective of whether you personally believe in it or not.The only thing dumber than this in the genre is the newer "Constantine" series, which takes religious parody to a new depth of terrible. And if you think the judgment on both of these is harsh, take a quick read through CS Lewis' "Screwtape Letters" or Scott Peck's "People of the Lie" for a more interesting and twisted approach that has a considerably more heightened intellectual spearhead, and actually offers insight into the human condition that is far richer than simple sensationalism. As the immortal line of "The Usual Suspects" goes, the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was the camouflage of transforming himself into a fairytale: far more intriguing and sinister in its cunning than a blatant jihad-with-toys. The power of "The Exorcist" was in the juxtaposition of childhood innocence with absolute, inexplicable evil; the inexplicable nature of it is what makes it so terrifying, as is the "final" nature of Hell itself. The primal fear of "The Omen" arguably came from the sense of powerlessness over evil's plan, and the answer was murder - not prayers to saints and wrestling showdowns. All simple principles that this - and every other - writers' room, completely missed. And there are far more horrifying manifestations of evil in the Catholic Church, like the political corruption and paedophilia.For those wondering, Christian theology on the matter is actually fairly simple: God and the Devil are not even comparable, let alone evil - the Devil is a narcissistic cockroach. Christ explicitly extended his power over evil to his followers, meaning the ass-kicking comes from that command, not objects, a priest's faith, saints, etc etc. God himself does the eviction (apparently somewhat in league with the patient themselves) upon request from one of his own, somewhat similar to pest control. Hell is a final, inescapable quarantine over which one judge has authority, and nothing gets "sent" back/forth from like a Starbucks - the only thing that gets anyone sent there is believing they can save themselves. Quite where the Vatican gets holy water, saints, coins, oil, ropes, Latin prayers and weird incantations from, is anyone's guess, but presumably writing around it makes for good TV. But it doesn't, because it's obviously silly and shallow. And you might enjoy this if you are, although it's presented as a serious BBC drama.If you were looking for a controversial, hard-hitting British piece examining the darker side of spiritual life, ritualistic behavior, psychiatry, and/or historical mystery/relevance of exorcism, you'll be left short-changed. Don't be fooled: this is Harry Potter witches, spells and stakes from a Cosmopolitan reading, Facebook-posting BBC commissioning team, who wanted to make it sound cleverer with a few bible quotes and Shaw's serious voice.
airsnob
I love the previous reviews by Atheists about this show. How they loved it. I loved it too. The script, really got to me at times. In a good way. For instance when the Priest is talking to the rape victim and he asked her is she believes in God, and she tells him that the rapist took that from her. The Priest looks at her and says, " what a loss for god." I'm half way remembering, but there was no instant conversion, but because the acting is so on point, you believe him. I mean, this guy could possibly convert me if he existed! Love love love this show! I love it that they have mean Nuns, and wonderful ones. I love it that they have believers and non believers, and there is no shame or or making them out to be evil because of it. I got a glimpse of something beautiful for a few moments while watching. Very very good show. ! The acting superb, writing amazing. And this show goes there. For adults, not kids.
