"Never trust a man who likes Ayn Rand" is the best dating advice before "Never trust a man who identifies with Rick Sanchez/BoJack Horseman/The Joker." the biggest and reddest of flags all.
BoJack is a bit unfair; if you take out the substance abuse and narcissism, he's otherwise written to be very relatable for people who have come in and out of depression. Edit: Oh god I forgot about Penny
@@calebkisby4069 See, I feel like generally good advice is to, like... Avoid people with substance abuse problems and narcissistic qualities. Especially when you're looking for a partner. There's a reason BoJack's relationships never worked out. I can relate to a lot of BoJack's feelings towards himself, but I'm not going to openly compare myself to him as if it's a good thing lol. And yeah... Penny. Oof. Although Sarah Lynn's death IMO was the nail in the coffin for me.
@@calebkisby4069I'm a woman who identified as Bojack and let me assure you, it about ruined my life. I had to stop watching that show because it fucked with me so bad
"if I can forgive you, then anyone can" seems kind of twofold even, because not only is Leeza telling Joe Collie she forgives him, she's ASKING HIM TO FORGIVE HIMSELF.
I personally interpreted Reilly's death a bit differently. The vision he saw was just as he described before: a dream. A dream where the woman who was plaguing him with guilt had finally forgiven him because in reality, Reilly had finally forgiven himself. In a way, he sent himself to heaven because he was finally at peace with himself.
i agree i thought rileys death was him finally forgiving himself and it was a dream the same way erin saw her version of death when she died. almost like the show respecting every individuals beliefs and interpretation of death and afterlife and even god because of the way the show allowed sheriff hassan to express his own faith both in contrast to bev and paul but also complimenting that both religious do believe in a god
@@alexandravalerious3274 yeah, that's one of the many subtle things that make this show great. Every character died in ways that were consistent with their own beliefs. Since Reiley was a former Christian, it makes sense that his death dream is a bit Christian-like. But to say he literally went to heaven, it really undermines him as an atheist character, even though the show was being respectful about his beliefs (or non-belief) up until that point. It'd be like saying Sheriff Hassan also went to the Christian Heaven, which sounds absurd and kinda disrespectful.
Agreed. At no point does this series presuppose that the Christian God, or any god actually exists. The only thing we have evidence of within the text is that an entity that we recognize as a vampire exists. Whether or not Christian God is real in this setting is up to the beliefs (or lack thereof) of the person watching.
@@notmyname213 yeah in the world of the show i got the feeling that whether or not god/a god exists doesnt matter so much as what the people do with that belief contrasting erin's faith with bev's and u have lisa of course who chooses forgiveness and loses the ability to walk because she does the right thing in helping end the vampire threat
I pretty much came to the same conclusion. That the lady he killed came to collect him because he was truly repentant and upon his confession on that boat was given absolution, before that horrific snap back to reality
one of my favourite lines in midnight mass is when riley's dad finds his wife and talks about how he thought that he wouldn't be able to help himself eating others but turns out he can stop himself and his wife asks if he's hungry, to which he replies that he's starving. i think it's just a really great moment of "it's wrong to eat people" vs "god has asked me to eat people" and the person in the middle who doesnt understand any of it. I'm writing this at midnight so my words might be all jumbled and i might not be getting this point across properly also i havent finished the video but just wanted to share this smol thought
The bit about Nietzsche's philosophy being co-oped by Nazis makes me so sad because in life Nietzsche vehemently opposed literally everything the Nazis would eventually support and it was only through his sister who was a die hard Nazi who purposefully appropriated his life's work after his death that Nazis have become associated with his philosophy
Another thing Biz got wrong about Nietzsche: he didn't write during the Age of Enlightenment. He wasn't even alive during the Age of Enlightenment - that took place during the 18th century, and officially ended in 1815.
Nietzsche would just call the Nazis a bunch of weaklings who needed to construct some racial equivalent to his ubermensch concept because they are stuck in the exact stage of human development he wanted to escape.
Born and raised in a Catholic household, and I giggled pretty hard at "Content Warning: This video contains discussions of Catholicism" i've just never seen that in a content warning before 😂
I felt like Midnight Mass got way too wordy in some of the monologues but I love the idea of religious people seeing the benefits of something like vampirism to be a blessing from God. Becoming superhuman through the lens if religion very well could be considered a miracle, especially when you can feed on someone and bring them back from the dead. Nevermind the fact that you can't go out in the sun and you have to drink blood, those are just "tests" of your worthiness. It's a really unique way to explain why someone would want to become a vampire. Edit: Also thank you for pronouncing Ivan with the right syllable stressed.
Watching Midnight Mass has gotta be the most religious and/or connected to god I’ve felt in years. Which is kinda ironic, but I just really related to Riley as a character and seeing this analysis and having it all laid out is just so interesting! It makes me want to rewatch the show even though I literally finished it Last Night.
I'm 40 minutes in (after having watched the Snapewives video) and I have to say, I have always loved philosophy/religious studies/anthropology but went another route when deciding what to study at university. Your approach of applying these concepts and analysis to popular media is fascinating and so so interesting. This made me want to revisit all the authors and thinkers that high-school made me like, but also label as "old dudes that are interesting but maybe not that relevant anymore". Looking forward to finishing the video and to your future work!
I'm done - and yeah nothing to add apart from thank you. So much space and opportunity for further reflection and research that I'm so looking forward to lose myself in over the next few weeks until another fixation comes around :)
this taught me more than an entire semester in a religious philosophy class did edit: i just got to the part where you talk about abraham's bible story and i always thought the same thing and i grew up very catholic...oh my god you just blew my mind i was always so frustrated cause i didn't get why we were supposed to think this was a beautiful story cause to me it was just horrifying
I can only imagine what it was like trying to pull all this together. You covered so many complicated and nuanced concepts in a way that was intelligent and genuinely human. It was brilliant and I was riveted
I just wanna say, I admire Mike Flanagan so much. The easter eggs of constantly using similar or the same actors in his projects, his personal touch in directing and his story telling is always top notch. Just absolutely amazing.
I'm only just starting the video but I was raised by Baptists and it blows my fucking mind hearing someone having a religious upbringing and not being intimately familiar revelations early enough to be permanently scarred. I knew that shit before the loaves and fishes
as a recovering catholic Midnight Mass was such a cathartic and yet traumatic view. I loved it. it dug out stuff I had kept buried for 20 years. 1000/10 would recommend.
This won't be the most informed version out there (I''m running off a week's study during undergrad on the binding of Isaac) but I think there's some interesting layers to the story of Abraham and Isaac in some earlier versions: Firstly, there's an interesting context in that people sacrificing their children to God wasn't that uncommon in the period (normally after a disaster). 4 Maccabbes discusses a woman who ended up sacrificing seven of her sons in this way and some versions even extend 4 Maccabbes 14 to include a passage where she sends one of her surviving children to criticise Abraham for his pride (verse 26 according to my notes, though all versions I can find with a google search cut 4Maccabbes at 14:20 which suggests these verses are like the ones in Daniel where he fights a dragon with rice cakes [i.e. cut out for being weird]). So Abraham's command to kill Isaac isn't unusual for God in the old Testament. The weirdest part is that He's asking Abraham seemingly before the disaster. The second one though is the kicker. There's debate in early versions about whether the ram Abraham sacrifices was sent by God (the angel appearing only in later translations). Some scholars have suggested that the story is actually Abraham going up the mountain and then trying to fool God into thinking he's killed his son, because he legitimately can't go through with it. This reading is weird and I don't remember enough to put it fully in context, but I like to think that it speaks to a God who's relationship with Abraham would let a failed test slide. Anyway, I'm sure there's more that could be said on Abraham and Isaac, but those are the two facts I remember. I'm really enjoying these videos! Not much in the media criticism field puts my BA in Philosophy and Theology to use.
Any idea if there's historical support for the descriptions of other groups engaging in human sacrifice (particularly of your own children)? It seems like something I've mostly heard about as an accusation about a neighboring group of people to other them (or indigenous groups).
11:52 If you actually read Nietzsche, it is a HUGE leap. Übermensch refers to people who think for themselves and redefine the culture of the future instead of reproducing that of the past. The nazis merely liked the sound of “Übermensch” and coopted it to signify ideals that Nietzsche had no part in formulating. The two to blame for giving the nazis their ideas were Bismark and Helena Blavatsky, who respectively put the “nationalist” and “ethno” in the nationalist ethnostate the nazis envisioned. Also, he was not senile in WWII, he didn’t live to see WWI.
holy shit this is one of the most well-researched essays I've ever seen, in any platform. The understanding of Christianity is so well treated, especially when on the Internet religion is treated as so black and white. Everything you connected with nitzcheche and dostoyesvky, even bringing the ridiculousness of the GND franchise makes for a so much deeper reading of Midnight Mass. "In 'The Bothers Karamazov' the belief in God brings nothing but questions; in 'God's Not Dead' it gives us answers; and in 'Midnight Mass' it gives us justification." Beautiful thesis statement for an amazing essay
This randomly came on with autoplay from a horror movie review guide. Had never heard of this channel. Instantly in love. I have a new pretend digital best friend.
Learning the plot of Midnight Mass solely through this video was a trip. It was a good trip and one where I got a lot more out of it with all the references you were able to provide than if I watched it directly, but it was also a trip with moments where, after an hour about an AA meeting involving a discussion of theology, I thought the horror mentioned in the genre was a psychological horror, and then suddenly a vampire leapt across the screen and ate someone.
I hate to say that RU-vid has been feeding your videos to me on my fyp for the last week or so and at first I resisted clicking… I’m glad I finally did because these are incredible!! I cannot believe you haven’t blown up yet.
Fantastic. Thank you for all the hard work! Midnight Mass was pretty revelatory for me personally so this invitation back into it's world did good for my soul.
Great Video! And thanks for the out of nowhere starkid reference, that broke me for a sec xD Also same with the Isaak story, also always had your reading, didn't even know the other one existed (but I was raised catholic, so maybe they were more pro the fearing god side)
I am a practicing catholic (forgive me) and this essay is just incredible. the level of research you've done is really amazing, kind of inspiring, and rarely have I seen anyone discuss this kind of topic with this level of depth, nuance, and sincerity. (also, for the record, I really can't stand God's Not Dead, and I loved Midnight Mass)
One fun thing I learned in researching Abrahamic religion (for a writing project) was that *on top* of Jesus showing up in both the NT and the Quran; the angel Gabriel is not only used to tell various women they are about to conceive miraculously (Mary and Salome, who happens to be Mary's cousin... very soap opera of the NT... anyway), Gabriel also is the angel who hangs out (off and on) in a cave over 13+ years with Muhammad as he's writing out the Quran. So yeah, there's a lot of fun overlap between characters that get utilized differently. PS. I'm an hour into this video and it's awesome.
Hey great analysis, as a muslim i just want to correct your statement about the Prophet pbuh, he received revelation for 10 plus years but not at the cave, he was illiterate and he would recite the Qur’an as it was coming down (it was a whole thing) it was complied shortly after his death but by then everyone knew it like the back of their hand and the science of it ( we have found the oldest Qur’an and it matches the ones present) Gabriel came to the prophet pbuh at the cave but they would hang out while he was in medinah and other stages in life, not just the cave!
Rocketed up near the top of my list of RU-vid essayists in like three videos. Well written, well performed, well researched, well structured, funny without being cringe. And this is probably the only video about GND I've ever seen that isn't a takedown of the films themselves (even though I personally think they deserve it) but engages with them on their terms and explains why their religious philosophy is flawed. As an atheist myself, the depth of conversation about believers and their relationships with God are so fascinating and carefully explained without being too dumbed-down to be conceptually revelatory to someone who's had those sorts of debates and conversations before. Long comment, but just wanted to say, big fan of this video and your work in general, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with in the future.
i've watched this multiple times by now but its sort of been on in the background so i never saw the hijab part and oh my god like that is so bad like its not even on right she's not even respecting any other laws of modesty. good lord
I love everything about this. Between God's Not Dead and Snapewives I'm apparently just here for 3 hour long video essays that take stuff people cringe at for content seriously from a theological/religious studies perspective. Excited to see the rest of your work and hope to see more (without burnout, ideally).
Created a new playlist called "life changing" for this video essay. Thank you so much for making this. I was raised very much a "God's Not Dead" type of Christian and have been battling my own feelings that blind faith without independent moral thought is not enough, and what to do about that. I feel your analysis of Riley has helped me get one step further toward an answer. Will be checking out the brothers karamozov. Thank you!
Just a wee add-on to the Isaac story, it being about Faith with a capital f is a very christian interpretation. In quite a few rabbinic analyses Abraham failed a test, he was expected to argue with G-d and refuse to do it, something that is not unprecedented. In being willing to do it in the first place Abraham failed and never spoke to G-d again. And that idea of rejecting the divine proof for your own values can be seen with Riley too.
This is definitely a video that I will watch time and time again. Completely obsessed with how you explained everything and found so many different sources for your points! I love seeing people being as obsessed with dissecting midnight mass as I am lol just incredible, I might have to binge watch your entire channel now😂
I haven't gotten there yet, but I noticed a section ahead is titled, "what do you want, Paul?" and if I don't get a starkid clip when I arrive there, I'm gonna riot. Edit: I have literally never been more satisfied in my entire life
My mom is very religious (Christian) and I’m pagan and we watched this show together and we both connected to it (albeit in different ways) and were able to have agreeable philosophical conversations about it and the themes presented. It’s definitely a very universal show.
i love when i finish a video essay and I feel like i've genuinely learned something. this was the most riveting thing I've seen on youtube in a long time
this is my fifth time watching this. i’m so obsessed with this and i love how you explain things. thank you so much for this 3 hour masterpiece. i appreciate this video’s existence so much
okay back for better more literate comment but biz this is all i ever want in my video essays. you are hillarious (the way i died when "he is just a priest standing in front of an alcoholic, asking him to love him" hit), your editing is impeccable. your voice is so lovely to listen to. but mainly you understand the source matherial so well and the philosophical, sociological and theological dept of these videos is insane. you just made me want to rewatch midnight mass again
The story of Abraham and Issac is about obedience, but it is meant to correct the existing understanding of obedience in the culture at the time. People took obedience too far and were sacrificing their children, and the story of Abraham and Isaac is an answer to that culture. It says obedience is important, but a good ruler will not command something like that.
Beating my fists on the table in anger rn, I was looking through the description and pinned and everything for the song that plays over the credits and of course it's video exclusive 😭 but really it's extremely good and has me all fucked up
@@upinurbiz I would be thrilled! It's the first of your music I have listened to but I didn't get very far into the credits before I started looking for where to find it, the best music makes me kinda wanna lay down in a bush and scream and it definitely hits that mark ❣️
I started watching midnight mass but I had to stop after the most awful gruesome horrific dog death scene in the history of cinema. I eventually went back and just watched the last episode because I was curious how it ended, and I'm glad that I did. Still haven't gotten over that poor doggie's death though...it was genuinely traumatizing
The dog and cat stuff was a bit unnecessary. They could have showed a bit less and had the same effect without traumatizing people. Great show though!!!
this video essay was already top tier but the binding of isaac section had me going hog-fucking-wild. i feel the exact same way about this story and only now did i hear the interpretation that the moral of the story _wasn't_ that god rewarded absolute faith. and _i_ got confirmed. and yet the juiciest part remains the untold three-day journey down. how do you live with the knowledge that your father was willing to kill you full-stop. binding of isaac drives me crazy.
Mike told me to come watch so here I am!!! Amazing video!! I was raised as a Jehovah's witness and any media that involves religion is always either really horrifying or really fascinating to me.
As someone who was raised catholic, in a very religious family (brother is getting a PhD in theology) and tried for years to be a Good Catholic, thank you for this video 🤣 I accidentally minored in theology, and this video had all the nitty gritty heavy thinking I loved about catholicism, with all the nuanced perspective the church lacked (which ultimately drove me away). I connected with midnight mass in ways I can't articulate entirely. I pitched the show to my devout mom as "it treats all different forms of belief with respect and nuance," because I didn't know how to put into words what I loved so much about it and thought even believers would love. You put that into words. Congrats on the Flanagan shoutout!
I had never seen midnight mass and then I watched the first 20 mins of this, stopped, watched the entire show, came back, watched the rest of your amazing 3 hour analysis, and after all of that work (which is admittedly nothing compared to the effort you put into this), after all of that you have the audacity to not even so much as mention the mystical experience and the ontological pantheism of Erin at the end. You totally left out how she implied universal salvation, how she implied all are already one with god, etc. That absolutely has profound implications for the narrative!! Thank you so much for a great video essay but I’m so mad!! Lol. Good job though.
Was a hardcore Catholic until about 25 (including residential bible school and travelling ministry). I loved Midnight Mass with all my everything. While I often see portrayals of more general Christianity in media, this series interfaces so perfectly with Catholicism (theologically, ritualistically, culturally…). Very cool to see!
damn great video talking about the absolute powerhouse of storytelling that is midnight mass. the only thing i think i would quibble able is that we have no way to know if riley is getting heaven or simply his dream to end all dreams because the film making is so good that it's kind of ambiguous. the whole show is ambiguous about what is real what is not and the powers of belief. i can see how you got your read of it being heaven, but i think it's actually stronger as an unknown, especially when you get the juxtaposition of riley burning to death and turning to ash. (dust to dust and all that)
This has become one of my comfort videos! I love the feeling of hanging out and listening to a philosophy lecture and film analysis. You are what I hope I sound like when I talk about movies
As much as I appreciate the read of Abraham & Isaac as "god wouldn't make you kill your child", it only works if you decide to ignore the entire Book of Job which is the sort of classic, God-fearing, reward through trial of faith story. Excellent video. Loved every moment of it.
I am enjoying this analysis! A couple notes from a Jewish perspective- I think this is due to you briefly describing the Bible from a Christian perspective, but please be careful about implying that Jesus was killed or his death was brought about by Jews- we have literally been killed because of this idea for hundreds of years, it can be very dangerous. Also, you called Islam “the other Abrahamic religion” and I’d just like to point out that there are other Abrahamic religions besides just Judaism Christianity and Islam like Samaritanism and Druzism. Not, of course, that you have to be well versed in all of them, but they do exist! As a complete aside I think it’s super funny that one character (Riley I think) said he studied Talmud as part of his research after which he concluded there was no god- Talmud is so not that text it’s basically case law for all the things religious Jews are obligated to do- I doubt anyone is convinced of God by reading exactly how to keep kosher lol
Hi! I'm danish. The main-church here is evangelist (technically), but we're in general pretty loose and relaxed about it (as we are with most things). My mother was a religion-study teacher, and she has always had so much fun when it was time to teach her classes bout christianity in the US, because to us danes, that fundametalist (I don't know if I'm using the right word here, sorry x3) mentality of the "them against us" americans generally seem to have when it comes to things like religion or politics, is kind of hilarious. I have watched a few american christian movies and I always end up bursting out laughing (I'm christian btw) because I can't help but think "Do american christians really like this, or do they find it just as hilarious as I do?". Midnight Mass seems awesome. I like it when there's room to discuss different view points about religion, wether you're spiritual, very relgigious or an atheist, not to try and reform or mold someone else's mind, but simply to broaden each others horizon and maybe you'll get out learning something of each other or about each other, who knows? I think it's healthy. Awesome video btw. :3
Christianity is neat to study. I really like it in an academic sense, the history pipeline of Canaanite polytheism --> Israelite henotheism --> Zoroastrianism influencing the Israelites so hard they morphed into monotheistic Judaism and popped out most of the OT texts --> Christianity, Mandaeism, Islam etc. is a fascinating one! But I was also raised Catholic (school, latino family), lutheran (ELCA church on sundays), Evangelical (extended relatives we visited in the summer), with a little sprinkle of Assemblies of God Pentacostal (8-9th youth group with friends) -- I have a huge family. I see allllllllllllllllllllllll the baggage big JC's religion gives you, from multiple perspectives, which is very sad for him cuz that wasn't really his intention at all. But it's hard not to be an agnostic at best after all that.
I watched midnight mass in one night and when i finished a person with changed convictions in the overwhelming power of belief I opened the curtains to watch the sun rise and if that wasn't appropriate, nothing is
just found my new favorite channel, watched this vid 2 times cause i loved it that much, incredibly well done. I was in a church youth group in my middle school years where everything was about the book of revelations and how the world currently has every box checked of events that must happen before the tribulation meaning it could happen at any moment. And I had some extremely existential, fear and dread filled early teen years because of this. ty for this video, analyzing and rationalizing this subject centers my soul so much more. Video essays are chicken soup for the soul
Wait a minute,I NEVER thought of the Abraham story that way either! I cant believe you've made this analysis so comprehensive. I'm not kidding when I say,I bet people fall in love with you at parties.
This was amazing, thank you so much! You nailed so many points that helped me understand just why I find Midnight Mass such a moving and personally meaningful movie. I don't know much about Russian literature but I think I see rabbit holes in my future! I know putting this together exhausted you, but I could have listened to hours and hours more! I laughed, I cried, I found new inspiration and curiosity that will stay with me for a long while. The labor you poured into this is so appreciated.
So you just popped up in my youtube recommendations two days ago and I've already watched this through twice and then midnight mass for the first time in basically one sitting because of this video so thank you?? I think you make really incredible deep dive videos and I'm really looking forward to seeing more from you!
This video got randomly recommended to me and I'm so happy it did! I love seeing RU-vidrs who are so clearly really smart talk about stuff they know a lot about. Having GND and midnight mass in there doesn't hurt either.
1:29:22 I believe that another interpretation of the story is about how this is a test of the guys faith, but the Big Debate is whether or not he passed the test. As far as I’m aware (and take my word as a grain of salt, I wasn’t raised in a religious household) generally Christians believe that he passed the test in always doing what god asked of him no matter what it was, and the more common Jewish interpretation is that he failed because they have more of a thing about questioning god that Christians don’t.
This was absolutely phenomenal. This whole essay was so thoughtful and funny and I was just so captivated by your breakdown of God's Not Dead and Midnight Mass. And what's truly remarkable is that you managed to keep me interested for 3 hour when I haven't seen either work. As I'm writing this comment, I haven't quite finished your video, so I don't know what conclusions you make at the end, but as a new believer in Christianity and having just finished my first read-through of the Bible, I was enthralled by the way you explained the concept of "God is Dead". And I kept thinking, especially when I reached part 10 where you were talking about how the atheist character in Midnight Mass, because of his works, went to heaven while the religious zealot lady literally buried her head in the sand because she couldn't handle not being a martyr... I kept thinking about the passages in James 2:14-26 where the thesis is "Faith without works is dead." I'm very curious to find out if you mention the same passages in the last 30 minutes of your video. :) Either way, this essay has given me so much to think about and I couldn't be happier to have watched it. I find theology and humanity so fascinating and I am glad to see that some people actually put real time and effort into such niche videos.
The year leading up to communion I had a ccd teacher used to spend entire class periods telling us stories about the exorcisms he had witnessed. We were 7. Jokes on him because I love demonic horror to this day. This is amazing. For once the RU-vid algorithm has actually blessed me.
God's Not Dead was actually filmed at my college LSU and the philosophy department was pretty annoyed by it because they said the idea that they'd make someone sign something like that was ridiculous.
I discussed midnight mass with someone and they said the ending was dumb, but I disagreed. I was raised religiously (not as strictly as others) and with my anxiety surrounding the rapture/being told I must not support lgbt+ people, the ending was cathartic to me. The show is a critique and also a love letter to religion. It ends with the different ways people face their consequences and death after the life/faith they lived. I'm not religious anymore, but I believe in those who use faith as a tool to help others, and that more and more people will recognize those who use it to cause harm
I saw the title of this and was intrigues as midnight mass is one of my favourite shows of all time an GND is... not... that. What can I say, after 3h... you definitely pulled this off!! You made some really clear parallels in the way both media make use of religion as a narrative device, despite their obvious differences. Also I learnt a lot about Dostoevsky, lol
