From cross to cape: superheroes are the gods of our time
Batman, Gandalf and Luke Skywalker. At first glance, characters from the world of comics, movies and games seem rather flat. But researchers at the theological faculty expose deeper layers in the popular stories in which ancient themes are brought back to life.
Although secularization has continued for decades, alternative forms of religious experience are popping up more often in popular culture. Viewers and players, mostly raised non-religiously, become familiar and perhaps also fascinated by religiously-inspired films and games.
Religious themes such as redemption and a search for the origin and the fight against ‘evil’ are of all times and all cultures. At the mini-symposium From Saints to Superheroes, theologians Frank Bosman and his Irish colleague Paul Clogher from the University of Waterford take visitors to the world behind the cardboard stories. But ‘not to win souls,’ Bosman adds with a wink.
References
The researchers point out that modern films and games are full of references to stories that people have been telling each other for centuries. Clogher takes a closer look at the Batman series by director Christopher Nolan as an example. In 2008’s The Dark Knight, Batman Christian Bale takes on The Joker in the person of Heath Ledger.
At first glance, the heroes and villains seem to be rather nonchalant with their supernatural powers in their battles. But if you look closer, you will see how the modern characters are inspired by ancient stories from the Bible and classical mythologies. Batman’s fight against ‘evil’ touches on a universal theme that resonates in many myths and sagas from all over the world.
Meta stories
Somewhat more subtle are the references, according to Clogher, to the role that Jesus played in the New Testament. In the film, Batman takes the blame on a corrupt officer, with which he hopes to prevent the moral decay of the city of Gotham. This aspect is, of course, a powerful reference to Jesus taking upon himself the sins of the world.
And what about Frodo and Gandalf? The Lord of the Rings trilogy is full of references to Biblical stories. For example, the hobbits in The Fellowship of the Ring are hunted by repulsive black knights who look very much like the Biblical horsemen of the apocalypse. Here, too, Christian meta-narratives become intimately intertwined with narratives in popular culture.
Games
Many computer games also feature religiously tinted elements. For example, Bosman analyzed the game Assassin’s Creed Rogue, in which the player can take on the role of the main character Shay Cormac, who relives the historic earthquake and destruction of Lisbon in 1755.
If God is so good, the survivors wonder desperately, why does he allow this disaster to happen? This question about the nature of God runs like a thread through church history and resonates in a modern version in the adventures of a computer game.
A new realm of gods?
One thing stands out about the new realm of the gods. The superheroes of American comic book culture can measure their supernatural powers against the gods and demigods of the ancient Greeks and the Norse sagas. In doing so, the comics and films create a new pantheon of modern demigods.
Christianity and Islam replaced the old gods with one almighty God as creator of heaven and earth. Has polytheism returned to popular culture? ‘You could say that,’ says Clogher, ‘but you could also compare it with, for example, the Hindu religion, where the gods are different manifestations of one primal force, or like the saints in the Catholic tradition are subordinate to the one God.’
Identification
It is not surprising that elements of Biblical stories and, for example, the Nordic sagas and classical Greek mythology resonate in popular culture, the researchers think. The stories are old, but still ‘work’, according to Clogher, because viewers and actors can identify with recognizable situations and with the dreams and fears, doubts and hopes of their flesh-and-blood heroes.
Advertentie.
