Something that gets me about Midnight Mass is about John Pruitt’s relationship with religion and himself. Now I’m not going to suggest that he isn’t religious, he absolutely is, but it’s so interesting how, in my opinion, he’s not as devout as he tries to present himself as.
His confession to Mildred that he would have stepped down if she had asked him, how he doesn’t perceive his brief relationship with Mildred as a sin, and that his daughter is not a sin is so interesting. It circles back to him not feeling guilt for killing Joe (which i can analyze because he seemed like he was in shock and basically shut down until Bev came in) how he claims that he was spared of it, how he tried to justify it, and yet he isn’t in denial that most would consider what John did to be a sin, and he knows that, but he states that no, they are not a sin, and its so interesting seeing how… human he is.
Obviously we saw how much he cared for others, but he was first and foremost a priest, helping others and granting them ‘miracles’ but all his walls come down when Mildred was with him, and we already knew he was flawed, but learning the subconscious reason (because I do believe he brought the Angel because he wanted to help others, but it all comes back to the subconscious, in my opinion) why he brought it is… devastating.
He has a fear of death, but, now you may feel free to disagree with me but this is how i interpreted it, it’s not much to do with himself, but with others. Now I do think he is scared of dying, but with how he described himself in episode 3, how Paul Hill talked about John Pruitt seemed so distant, and how it wasnt until the end that he began using first person rather than third person. It’s interesting how his identity is because he does think highly of himself, but also thinks somewhat negatively. He sometimes comes off as superior, and yet his sense of identity is… fractured, and it makes sense, he was deaged, so he lies, lies about his identity, about who he is, and in episode 6 he confesses that he is John Pruitt, but I don’t think its until Mildred is with him that it fully hits him, and that’s when he realizes his subconscious reason on why he did what he did.
His fear of death drives him as well. He doesn’t want Mildred or Sarah to die, and it’s devastating because of what he did results in Sarah dying before him and Mildred dying alongside him. It then reveals that they are so important to him, he lets the church burn, he removes the collar, and he asks Mildred for forgiveness. I don’t interpret it as him losing faith, but him symbolically letting go and being with Mildred.
Just… having John, a character who is a priest, openly admit that he would have left being a priest for Mildred does something to me. If you disagree then please let me know what you disagree with! My interpretation of his character may differ from others, and if I got anything wrong do let me know!
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