Uses and abuses of mythology
I’ve been thinking and talking recently with ploratrix about the use (and misuse) of mythology in geek culture and popular media, so I thought I’d post something about it and ask for feedback from the community.
Here’s a little background (and an example of what I consider mythology done very wrong). I was watching episode 19 of Season 5 of the TV series Supernatural, a show we used to follow for about 3 seasons, before it all went to hell (literally and figuratively). We’d heard bad things about this particular episode, so we thought we’d check it out, and here’s how it went (SPOILERS):
Sam and Dean show up at a hotel while trying to stave off the Apocalypse and being chased by Lucifer, who’s back on Earth. There, they find the hotel’s staff consists of a bunch of cannibal gods, including Kali, Ganesh, Mercury, Zao Shen, Baron Samedi, Odin, and Baldur, who want to use them as bargaining chips to stop the Apocalypse. In short, whacky hijinks ensue and Lucifer shows up and kills all of the gods effortlessly - except for Kali, whom the two brothers rescue while Lucifer’s being distracted by Gabriel (whom he kills, but with significantly more effort than the other gods).
Let me hit on some of the salient features here:
1 - Kali, Ganesh, Mercury, Zao Shen, Baron Samedi, Odin, and Baldur are cannibals.
2 - Lucifer kills them all, without breaking a sweat, since he’s far more powerful and they’re apparently obsolete.
3 - Kali-this Kali-is rescued by two, very mortal, white dudes
4 - Kali, Ganesh, Mercury, Zao Shen, Baron Samedi, Odin, and Baldur are cannibals.(SPOILERS end here)
Now I’m used to the fact that “Supernatural” has all sorts of serious issues, which is why I don’t watch it any more. And obviously they’re drawing primarily on a narrow idea of the Judaeo-Christian mythos. But even taking that into account, this was just so bad!
From what I’ve seen of this community, I probably don’t have to spell out why I have issues with the above treatment, so I’ll just get to what I was thinking about afterward. I’m Indian (and an atheist, in the interests of full disclosure), but I’m not offended with the horrible treatment of Kali and Ganesha, though I think anyone who is has complete right to be. But, as someone who started reading mythology (starting with the kiddie versions of the Mahabharata and Ramayana) when I was four and has been heavily interested in it (world myth, not just Indian) ever since, I’m disappointed to have such piss-poor use of it. One of the really cool things about myth, for me, is the way it resonates with people (which is why, even though I’m an atheist, I find much of the Judaeo-Christian mythos utterly beautiful) and the myriad fascinating ways in which it makes sense of the human condition. And from a creative standpoint, mythology is a hugely rich corpus of material that one can draw upon and never run out. So, for me, the primary feeling I get when someone treats mythology in as ham-handed and cavalier (not to mention deeply unintelligent and ethnocentric) a way as “Supernatural” did here is just disappointment.
Geek culture and popular media does often do horrible things with mythology, but there are decent treatments of it as well. Xena: Warrior Princess actually did some interesting treatments of mythology (often tongue-in-cheek, of course), including non-Greek/Roman myth. The Planescape setting in Dungeons and Dragons allowed characters to interact with various pantheons and mythic materials without placing them in any kind of hierarchical position. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman have both done some sophisticated work with mythology. Comics (like the following cycle, where Wonder Woman fights the Titans with the help of Rama and the Hindu pantheon, and which I personally find quite amusing) have sometimes drawn on the subject in interesting ways, and though I generally don’t buy them I’m looking forward to Grant Morrison’s upcoming project 18 Days, which provides a reworking of the Mahabharata in incredibly gorgeous art, going by the previews here and here. And I could go on and on.
In short, I love it when mythology is used in interesting and creative ways and am disappointed when people abuse or utilize it stupidly. What are some of your best examples for mythology used right? Or wrongly, for that matter?
Here’s a little background (and an example of what I consider mythology done very wrong). I was watching episode 19 of Season 5 of the TV series Supernatural, a show we used to follow for about 3 seasons, before it all went to hell (literally and figuratively). We’d heard bad things about this particular episode, so we thought we’d check it out, and here’s how it went (SPOILERS):
Sam and Dean show up at a hotel while trying to stave off the Apocalypse and being chased by Lucifer, who’s back on Earth. There, they find the hotel’s staff consists of a bunch of cannibal gods, including Kali, Ganesh, Mercury, Zao Shen, Baron Samedi, Odin, and Baldur, who want to use them as bargaining chips to stop the Apocalypse. In short, whacky hijinks ensue and Lucifer shows up and kills all of the gods effortlessly - except for Kali, whom the two brothers rescue while Lucifer’s being distracted by Gabriel (whom he kills, but with significantly more effort than the other gods).
Let me hit on some of the salient features here:
1 - Kali, Ganesh, Mercury, Zao Shen, Baron Samedi, Odin, and Baldur are cannibals.
2 - Lucifer kills them all, without breaking a sweat, since he’s far more powerful and they’re apparently obsolete.
3 - Kali-this Kali-is rescued by two, very mortal, white dudes
4 - Kali, Ganesh, Mercury, Zao Shen, Baron Samedi, Odin, and Baldur are cannibals.(SPOILERS end here)
Now I’m used to the fact that “Supernatural” has all sorts of serious issues, which is why I don’t watch it any more. And obviously they’re drawing primarily on a narrow idea of the Judaeo-Christian mythos. But even taking that into account, this was just so bad!
From what I’ve seen of this community, I probably don’t have to spell out why I have issues with the above treatment, so I’ll just get to what I was thinking about afterward. I’m Indian (and an atheist, in the interests of full disclosure), but I’m not offended with the horrible treatment of Kali and Ganesha, though I think anyone who is has complete right to be. But, as someone who started reading mythology (starting with the kiddie versions of the Mahabharata and Ramayana) when I was four and has been heavily interested in it (world myth, not just Indian) ever since, I’m disappointed to have such piss-poor use of it. One of the really cool things about myth, for me, is the way it resonates with people (which is why, even though I’m an atheist, I find much of the Judaeo-Christian mythos utterly beautiful) and the myriad fascinating ways in which it makes sense of the human condition. And from a creative standpoint, mythology is a hugely rich corpus of material that one can draw upon and never run out. So, for me, the primary feeling I get when someone treats mythology in as ham-handed and cavalier (not to mention deeply unintelligent and ethnocentric) a way as “Supernatural” did here is just disappointment.
Geek culture and popular media does often do horrible things with mythology, but there are decent treatments of it as well. Xena: Warrior Princess actually did some interesting treatments of mythology (often tongue-in-cheek, of course), including non-Greek/Roman myth. The Planescape setting in Dungeons and Dragons allowed characters to interact with various pantheons and mythic materials without placing them in any kind of hierarchical position. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman have both done some sophisticated work with mythology. Comics (like the following cycle, where Wonder Woman fights the Titans with the help of Rama and the Hindu pantheon, and which I personally find quite amusing) have sometimes drawn on the subject in interesting ways, and though I generally don’t buy them I’m looking forward to Grant Morrison’s upcoming project 18 Days, which provides a reworking of the Mahabharata in incredibly gorgeous art, going by the previews here and here. And I could go on and on.
In short, I love it when mythology is used in interesting and creative ways and am disappointed when people abuse or utilize it stupidly. What are some of your best examples for mythology used right? Or wrongly, for that matter?