(c) 2012 by Tom King
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| Probably not the well-crafted plot lines that attract women to this show. |
A woman I know is hooked on a TV show called “Supernatural”. She's always telling me about episodes she's seen and how “funny” the show is............sometimes.” I stumbled on an episode the other day that caught my attention. It took place in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, a town the show portrays as a backward hick sort of town, dominated by a family of prominent racists, one of whom was so mean he began running over uppity black people in his monster truck. Finally one black guy defended himself and killed the evil racist guy. Some black people and a brave white person (I can only assume he was a Democrats) helped roll the evil racist and his truck into a swamp. Years later the truck comes back and starts killing black guys again along with white people who treat black people decently. The first black guy is killed while his radio is playing news about Republican cutbacks on social programs. The truck is so imbued with this evil spirit they have to not only dredge up and burn the racist killer guy's bones, they also have to burn the truck too – that's how ingrained that racism is in Cape Girardeau apparently. It gets into your redneck pickups and possesses them too.
Anybody want to guess what national radio talk show host comes from a prominent and influential family in Cape Girardeau, Missouri? Anybody?
That's right, Rush Limbaugh. Were they trying to make a comment? Oh, you betcha. I figured I'd check it out, just to keep track of what kind of crap these tricky liberals were trying to pull.
But that's not what I came to talk about. I should never have lingered over that show for a minute. It gave me nightmares that kept me rolling and tossing all night. I did a little further examination of the show which my friend reassured me was “just fun”.
The premise of the show is that these two cute brothers are “hunters”, chosen by God or at least bullied into it by one of the factions in the ongoing war in heaven. They go around knocking off bad demons and stuff. The angels are apparently involved in some sort of gritty guerrilla war. \One faction is lead by Michael the archangel and the other by Lucifer, another powerful angel. The angels are all world-weary cynical dudes who are duking it out over control. Michael's guys are considered “real tools” by Lucifer's guys. Apparently, in order to fight their war they have to take over people's bodies. Michael's people have to find someone to be a willing vessel and give up their own identity and will. Lucifer's not-so-much. Either way it's pretty horrific. They're always making deals, trading hell time for favors, that sort of thing.
Anyway, Lucifer, of course, claims he's misunderstood and that his rebellion is in everybody's best interest. Gabriel shounds like Rodney King. He raises a bunch of hell, then when he gets caught, he whines that he "...just wants everyone to stop fighting and get along." God, meanwhile, evidently stopped really caring about the whole thing long ago and left the siblings to fight among themselves. Demons are everywhere and the redneckish brothers go around hunting them with a “special” Colt pistol that kills demons (and the people whose bodies they've borrowed).
Watching this thing is like sitting in on Satan's board meetings. I felt like I needed a shower afterward and I've had nightmares every time I've even glanced at this mess. I don't know who wrote this, but whoever did, must have opened a direct line to the anti-Christ to get his material. (It's also interesting that one key character in the so-called Christian “mythos” is conspicuously absent – probably somewhere having a nap after all that crucifixion stuff).
My nightmares have reminded me of the ones I had when I was 12. A misguided pastor told a group of Juniors (a more literalist group you will not find anywhere) that if you didn't remember to confess all your sins and you died with even one unconfessed sin to your credit, you were headed for hell). At least that's what this 12 year-old got out of it. I kept dreaming that I had left something out and Jesus was coming and I was going to be left behind. It put me off becoming a Christian for years. I figured if God was like that, I was doomed anyway and wanted nothing to do with Him.
My nightmares over “Supernatural” were similar. I kept trying to figure out what spells, incantations, bullets or immolation techniques I had to use to get rid of the demons or vampires or whatever was menacing the town and I never could figure it out and kept having to start over and there was always something wrong and I could never tell who was a demon and who was a good guy and nobody was really a good guy anyway, they all just have theological differences of opinion.
So here I sit at my desk. It's 5 AM, I can't sleep and I'm trying to work out what's screwing with my head. I NEVER have nightmares.
I sat down to write this blog entry and remembered Mrs. Davis' little song. She was right. We need be more careful about the kind of crap we watch on TV, listen to on the radio and read. I heard my nephew repeating the lyrics of a popular song the other day. The words were horrific. If you ever said something like that to another person just outright, they'd be perfectly justified in slapping your mouth! But because it was set to music, that makes it okay?
If you look carefully at today pop culture, music, movies and television, you can see a pervasive and evil message being sold to the human race. It's not being forced down our throats. We're taking it in little sips with a lot of sweetener.
You know, if you take it in small doses, you can eventually work up to the point where you can sip arsenic from a shot glass without dying, at least not right away.
Be careful little ears what you hear.....
I'm just saying.
Tom
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