Was Jesus from Gallifrey?

[beagle]

Here.

[pieces o nine]

That article made me smile, beagle.

One of our assignments in homiletics was to re-imagine a work of popular fiction in just this way. I suspect mining popular culture -- especially competitive popular culture -- has been an effective tool for both the forward-looking cleric and the closet heretic for as long as there has been institutionalized religion. In that vein, deeply insular and conservative texts wax catastrophic on the danger of being led astray or watering down the purity of the Message by aligning it to the popular culture of a given place or time.

I also smiled at the conspicuous-by-absence DW elements in the article. Elements which have contributed to its popularity for decades, with which bright and challenging students presented with the Exegesis of Dr. Who  might test unprepared Christian clerics.
1. The Doctor has a ... preference ... for nubile, female 'companions'.
2. He values science over religion and consistently debunks superstitions or claims of supernatural ability. Although his abilities seem godlike and salvific to primitive cultures, he started out in the Luciferian mode: rebelling against an established order because he refused to submit to its authority. He's *never* repented of that rebellion.
3. The Doctor initially viewed the Earth as a curiosity and was subsequently condemned to it in punishment for his rebellion and ongoing disobedience, also in the Luciferian model. He's developed quite an affection for it since, but certainly does not view it as singular or foremost in creation, and when stressed readily expresses contempt for humanity.
4. The Doctor risks life and limb for many species or worlds, striving to balance their best interests. Even in stark dichotomies of good and evil, he seeks solutions which benefit all parties. He despises artillery weapons and 'the military mind' but is quite capable of causing death -- including mass death -- and sometimes quite casually, when it suits him. He is also burdened with the guilt of two simultaneous genocides [annihilating 'good' and 'evil' alike] the fallout of which continually crops up to complicate his plans.

On the other hand, he does follow some messianic conventions:
1. Companions are not very carefully screened and are expected to immediately drop all earthly ties and responsibilities until it suits him to discard or replace them. (Somewhat softened in revival series.)
2. Companions are expected to go along with unarticulated plans and bizarre expeditions, on faith and loyalty. They are constantly subjected to 'tests' beyond their training and preparation, and have been rebuked for questioning or objecting throughout the series.
3. He keeps waffling on being an anonymous face in the crowd and being treated with the deference his knowledge and abilities are due.
4. His interventions are touching and life-altering for a select few, who seldom possess any special merit. At the same time he turns a blind eye and deaf ear to countless others in the same circumstance, unless bullied or cajoled into it by a favored companion.

That's my immediate reaction; I could cough up a proper dissertation given more time and incentive. Meanwhile, not everyone is asking, "WHO's your saviour?" I've read a few articles decrying everything beagle's link offers. 


Related Comic 1
Related Comic 2

[Swatopluk]

The idea to use popular literature/entertainment/etc. on the pulpit is not actually new
The bestseller The Ship of Fools was used for that purpose for example (e.g. by this guy)

But I am a wee bit suspicious about things like that. Smells of misappropriation.
Ever watched Privilege?

[beagle]

I think Pieces has a very insightful list of attributes there, Especially the Lucifer-like revolt against Gallifreyan authority, and the capriciousness of for whom and when he intervenes to change history.

I've always thought of it as the definitive humanist (including alienist - wrong word but don't know the right one) program. However I reckon the vicars have a point, and that there are a lot of shared values.

As you imply Swato, does feel like a fairly desperate attempt to attract the young by hitching a lift on something else's popularity, reminiscent of "Jesus was a hippy" attempts.  Perhaps he was a hippy Time Lord. Probably Tom Baker to the Old Testament William Hartnell.

Haven't seen Privilege but sounds interesting.

[Swatopluk]

Difficult to get*. Possibly the most insightful of Watkin's movies but hampered a bit by uneven performances, too low a budget for the really critical scene** and a bit slow.

*I only got the chance when there was a Watkins retrospective at the cinema.
**to successfully imitate Leni Riefenstahl in Triumph of the Will on a shoestring budget in pre-CGI days would ask too much of the best director. But he nonetheless handles it well enough.

[pieces o nine]

Take, eat, these are my jelly babies...

[beagle]

"'One day, I shall come back..."

[Griffin NoName]

I found Po9's piece more interesting than the Telegraph's (with all due respect to Beagle naturally).

I just watched the first hour of The Fellowship of The Ring this afternoon and was pondering on how dull and repetitive the same old thematics of forces of good and evil themes have become.

[beagle]

You've been listening to Saruman. 

Why not write a thesis called "Beyond Good and Evil". 

[Griffin NoName]

Indeed, it was shortly after Saruman shot Gandalf into the sky that I went to sleep, having managed (just) to stay attentive until Strider turned up.

"Beyond Good and Evil" would be interesting.* However, I can give the shortened version, having just watched the first half of FLOOD on ITV3. There is only survival of the fittest. When they evacuated London as it was submerged the schools were cleared out first, the hospitals second, with the chronically sick being left behind, and care homes were so low down the list they never got a look in.

* Unfortunately the number of prospective theses on my list is expanding exponentially.

[beagle]

Was there someone who said "I told you so", and someone with severe family problems to solve as the waters rose? And someone saying "This is a on a scale we never envisaged"? And a nun with a guitar?

Disaster movie bingo, a game for the whole family.

[Griffin NoName]

All of those.

You missed the divorced couple who resolved their differences.

The family that was re-united in Londond despite one of them being marooned in Wick.

Also, the fact that in these movies, there is only 1 person who can save the day. In this one there were three but they were all related.

I wonder if thes movies are propoganda against the social phenomena of people feeling responsibility for their jobs such that they believe they are irreplacable.

On the whole though it was a good film for exposing COBRA.

[anthrobabe]

get me Joe Patroni!

IMHO-- Joe Patroni could kick MacGyvers butt with his cigar lit and one hand tied behind his back.

[Swatopluk]

What about the guy who wants to cause or at least profit from the catastrophe (insurance fraud with live bomb etc.)

[Griffin NoName]

That part was filled by the US government. (see plotline if interested).