Awenydd

Yeah, yeah.  It’s just a stupid scifi show, right?  Well, not quite.  I would argue that Battlestar Galactica (BSG) is the deepest and most morally and religiously complex television series on the air today.  And it is on the air today indeed, with season 2 finally picking up again.  I’m dealing here with symbolism rather than show quality, but I’ll just say beforehand that the filming, scripting, acting, and directing are all top notch.  Warning: some spoilers to follow.

The entire series is based on the concept of a small number of survivors of a nuclear attack attempting to find a mythical planet called Earth.  We should first observe that the BSG universe is not intended to be the same one as ours.  Call it a parallel dimension, or whatever.  The point is that (at least at this stage of the series) it doesn’t seem that we are meant to take this as an “origins of life on earth” story.

The survivors of the Cylon holocaust are gathered remnants from 12 planet colonies—tribes of Israel, anyone?  They are searching for a promised land, while being harrassed by an enemy that believes itself to be the instrument of a monotheistic “God” who is punishing the 12 tribes for heresy or idolatry (the colonies are polytheistic).  The nature of the Cylon deity is not clear as yet; it’ll be interesting where they take this.  But the allusion is unmistakable.  God chastises Israel for her idolatry. “Assyria, the rod of my anger . . .”

The 12 colonies are led by two people.  A warrior (Commander Adama) who handles the military branch of the government, and a civilian leader (President Laura Roslin) who acts as the moral compass of the fleet.  Incidentally, she didn’t want the job, but was “chosen” by circumstance.  As the series progresses, it becomes clear that she is a visionary prophet, who was foretold in the scriptures to lead the people to a promised land, but would not survive to see it herself.  She seems to fit the bill, since she is presently dying of terminal breast cancer.  The allusion to Moses of the Exodus is again, unmistakable.

Late in season 1, the fleet finds the planet of Kobol, said to be the planet of “the gods.”  Kobol is a planet with lush foilage, primal beauty, and some old ruins.  It becomes clear that this is where the colonies originally came from.  But they were expelled from the place for some heinous violation.  The prophecies make clear that to return to Kobol means death.  This is a clear allusion to Eden, as the producer even admits in his podcast commentary for the episode.

Throughout the series you have interesting contrasts.  Faith and disbelief, polytheism and monotheism, predestination and free will, etc.

“All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again.”  That’s what the Cylon Leobin tells Kara Thrace (Starbuck), after which he goes on to comment on predestination.  Hmmm . . . strangely familiar.  How about . . . “That which has been is that which will be; that which has been done is that which shall be done; there is nothing new under the sun,” or “That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away”?  Both quotes are from Eccesiastes. 

These are just a few examples of how the themes of the series often echo those of the Bible.  It’s obvious that whatever the background or personal beliefs of the writers of BSG, they do know their Bible.  Better than most people.  I’d say the majority of the fans completely miss the allusions.  But recognition of the allusions is that makes the show interesting.  Miss them, and you miss the depth of the series.  Christian viewers are still wondering how all this will pan out in coming seasons, whether the final result will be honoring to the Bible or will detract from it.  But meanwhile, it’s a rollicking good ride with themes that often make you sit back and think.

(Note: due to some objectionable material, I wouldn’t recommend this show for kids.)

I watched Wizard long ago. Years ago. I never really saw much to it then. Just a fun, rather quaint story about a girl trying to get home. Funny situations, funny characters…sounds so benign, doesn’t it?

Never did I imagine that there was such an agenda behind the story. I’ll be commenting only on the film since I’ve never read the book, and I don’t know to what extent the book carries the same worldview.

I am not going to talk about good witches and bad witches, whether there ought to be wizards in childrens literature, or anything of the like. I don’t care so much about that, so it’s not really an issue. I’m a huge fan of the Harry Potter films, in any case. My primary gripe with Wizard is with the actual representation of the Wizard Himself.

The introduction of the Wizard is not His first appearance as the green disembodied apparition of the Emerald City. It is as Professor Marvel in “our world.” The film uses a sort of typology, which should be familiar to serious students of biblical literature. The characters in Oz are types of the characters in “this world.” the Lion is a type of Zeke, Tin Man is a type of Hickory, Scarecrow is the type of Hunk, and the Witch the type of Miss Gulch. As such, the types in Oz are intended to reveal certain truths about the antitypes in our world.

The one exception is Professor Marvel and the Wizard. They are not intended to reveal truth about each other. Rather, both are types of another antitype. Both Marvel and the Wizard are obviously frauds. Neither are particularly malicious, but they’re phoney all the same. Both promise Dorothy something they cannot deliver. And Dorothy puts her confidence in both.

In Oz, Glinda, the good witch, encourages Dorothy to seek out the Wizard, and the munchkins chorus their approval. And so they’re off to see the Wizard because of the wonderful things He does. Along the way she gathers her friends and points them all in the same direction. Seek the Wizard. He has the power to fix all your problems.

But when they meet the Wizard, he isn’t anything like they expected at all. In fact, it turns out he’s not even a wizard. Instead of solving their problems, he (now as a man) assures them that the solutions they seek, they already have in themselves. He cannot even solve Dorothy’s problem. Her solution is on her very feet.

So. Of what are Professor Marvel and the Wizard types? They are types of God, of course. The Wizard is more obvious, and serves to clarify Marvel’s charlatan role. The Wizard is presented as an all-powerful being in His world who holds all the solutions. He’s wonderful, powerful, does good things for those who seek Him, and inspires the beliefs of the whole world of Oz. Dorothy becomes His evangelist. In the end, he’s nothing but a fake. He has no answers, and even less power.

Am I reading into this? I don’t think so. The thing that really convinced me that the typology was intended is the diploma the Wizard gives to Scarecrow. “Th.D., doctor of Thinkology.”

Huh. For those who don’t know, the designation “Th.D.” is usually used to refer to a doctorate of Theology.

In other words, God is a great big phoney. All smoke and mirrors—no more real or powerful than the Wizard was. So let’s toss theology out the window. Use your head and be rational for a change.

In Talmud, none of the volumes ever have a page 1. This is supposedly to symbolize a sort of humility. It is supposed to teach us that we do not know the beginning, and to claim knowledge of the beginning is pride.

Emeth said she’d hate for my “post #1″ to disappear from my records due to inadvertant deletion, but I briefly considered deleting it on purpose and starting with “post #2″ in that same spirit of humility.

Then I realized that that would be a false humility. After all, we do know the beginning. The Torah, which the Jews claim, tells what that beginning is, and that beginning is reiterated for Christians in the Gospel According to John.

“In the beginning, God…”
“In the beginning was the Word…”

To claim in the face of this revelation that we do not know the beginning—that is pride. And so, I begin with post/page #1, to reflect what is revealed. We do know the beginning, and this blog is my testimony to it.