I'm sure others have already said this better, but as someone who enjoys holding every TLT character up against the Christ Figure template to look at where things line up and where they don't –
Jesus is meant to have put an end to death, conquered it, brought us all into eternal life.
If ATN goes where I suspect it will go, Gideon and Harrow have been set up to reinstate the natural cycle of death, and put an end to The Resurrection.
Just think it's an interesting (possible) inversion of the Christ figure role for these two!
New episode on "Les Mis" is out--just in time for Bastille Day!
In honor of American and French Independence Day, Jackie, Amelia, and new guest Emily Raine discuss the lasting relevance of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, its various adaptations, and its themes of national identity, moral crisis, and sacrificial love.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, YouTube, or other podcast platform of your choice!
I just watched episode 25 of Trigun 98. Seeing Vash dragged through the desert behind a truck by more shitty villagers made me viscerally realize he’s not just a Christ figure but a Christ figure x60,000,000,000. That’s a passion scene.
And now I understand the narrative logic of making everyone on Gunsmoke a dick (every fight is like the passion, with Vash despised and rejected by the people he’s trying to save).
And Wolfwood is kind of Judas. And the Meryl and Millie are kind of apostles. Oh, and I guess Rem is the Virgin Mary. Vash leaves to his fate and fight with Knives carrying Wolfwood’s heavy, heavy cross. Is Knives Lucifer?
I’d love to hear any other religious references or theories people have noticed in the series.
I’m still pretty curious what religious practices look like on Gunsmoke, assuming the churches we’ve seen are similar Christian churches on our planet. If Wolfwood is a priest, what do his practices really look like? I also wonder if there are different religions or even different Christian denominations.
I loved TriStamp’s use of the Eye of Michael as a (false idol) religion worshipping Knives. I haven’t read TriMax yet, but I’m really excited for eldritch horror biblically accurate angel Vash.
Billy Is A Christ Figure, a.k.a. He Will Die And RISE AGAIN
This isn’t a radical statement. Literature and film teem with “Christ figures” who symbolically (or literally) die and rise again. Billy is just one of the Duffers’ additions to a long, venerated tradition.
Let’s dive in, shall we?
>>Billy’s story lines up with the Christ figure concept.
I really like how Christopher Lansdown explains it:
Christ figures in literature are - when done well - characters who relate to the rest of the story as Christ related to the world. [Salient features include...]
1. Saves the world from the effects of the misuse of free will.
2. Has a dual-nature where one of these natures is what allows #1.
3. Bridges the gap, in his person, between the two natures.
4. Sacrifices himself willingly for the sake of the world.
5. In sacrificing himself, takes the problems of the world into him and conquers them, thus saving the world from them.
6. Comes back from the sacrifice because of his other nature.
Billy’s storyline hits several of these notes already. First, he saves the world by sacrificing himself willingly. Second, he’s presented as having two natures: his corrupted monster-self (the bully in S2; the puppet of the Mind Flayer in S3) vs. his innocent child-self. (You could describe him as being human and divine too. I’ll get to that in another post.)
When he stands up to the Mind Flayer at Starcourt, he begins the process of integrating his two natures. That’s why he looks so childlike here: his innocent child-self is coming out for the first time in years.
All that’s left is for him to “come back from his sacrifice.”
>>The Duffers infuse Billy with Christ symbolism.
The most obvious example, imo, is the special necklace they gave him. The genius @aeon-of-neon figured out that his necklace is a Lady of the Pillar medallion - i.e., a depiction of Mother Mary with baby Jesus.
On its own, the necklace tells an incredible story. It suggests Billy is symbolically the Christ child, and at some point his mother - symbolically the Virgin Mary - had the medallion blessed to protect her son. (I think we all recognize Neil wouldn’t give a shit about protecting Billy.)
The show reinforces that reading in subtle yet mind-blowing ways. In his last shot in S2, Billy is pictured in front of a Christmas tree. This associates him with the meaning of Christmas, which is the birth of a child who will save the world.
In the sauna in S3, Billy passes in front of a poster for the Hawkins Fourth of July parade. A lot of people have latched onto the “American” symbolism here (as they should - I’ll address that in another post). I’ve even seen people talk about the stars on the poster giving him a crown of thorns or saintly halo. But I haven’t seen anyone mention that the poster gives him a crown of stars like Mary, Queen of Heaven.
"A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads." (Revelation 12:1-3)
Combined with the necklace, this small detail suggests his mother, aka the Virgin Mary, is watching over him as he battles the Mind Flayer, aka the Dragon.
Now look at this screenshot again--
See how prominent his necklace is in the frame? That’s not an accident. The Duffers had to direct and light this shot just right to achieve the desired effect. If you look closely, Dacre is standing in an awkward, unnatural position. I can practically hear the Duffers saying, “Shoulders forward, Dacre... a little more... now tuck in your abdomen and push your chest out... that’s it!” All while they’re trying to avoid getting too much light on the necklace. It needs to be well-lit but not washed out.
All that work was for a good cause. The shot suggests Billy’s mother is with him in his moment of sacrifice. He’s just reclaimed her memory, and now he’s honoring it as he lays down his life for the world.
Yeah, it hurts :)))) but there’s more to cover...
...such as Billy’s crucifixion poses.
The crucifixion pose is common enough in film that it gets its own entry on TVTropes. The first sentence of the entry? “It’s very common for a character who just performed a Heroic Sacrifice to be lying with their arms outstretched like the crucified Jesus.”
We see that with Billy multiple times.
In the sauna, El lifts Billy in the air right before she deals the “death blow.” He hangs there for a moment, arms outstretched. My inner Christian teenager thinks of John 3:14-15: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man [Jesus] be lifted up [on the cross], so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
To really drive the point home, the Duffers put Billy in the crucifixion pose AGAIN, at the moment of his actual death, while he shouts at the Devil. (The Mind Flayer is symbolically the Devil/Satan. Stick a pin in that, we’ll come back to it at another time.)
The Mind Flayer then kills Billy by impaling him (Christ being impaled by the spear, anyone?), and Billy falls to the ground, arms outstretched yet again.
Guess who else dies sacrificially... and gets Christ symbolism at his moment of death?
It’s less obvious with Hopper; he isn’t shown with his arms outstretched. Instead, the Duffers give the crucifixion pose to Joyce right before she deals the “death blow.” She is in the pose on Hopper’s behalf.
Take a screenshot at the right instant, and the beams of electricity shooting out of the “key” machine even form a cross behind her.
(This scratches the surface of another subject: the STRONG PARALLELS between Hopper and Billy. Stick a pin in that, too... *sigh*)
Well, guess what. We already know Hopper’s coming back. David Harbour even compared his return to the resurrection of Gandalf, the Christ figure of the Lord of the Rings:
"Gandalf the Grey who fights the Balrog and then becomes Gandalf the White. It’s the idea of the resurrection of the character. And mythologically, Hopper, in a sense, had to change. I mean, you couldn’t go on the way he was going on. He has to resurrect in some way. So it was a great opportunity to do that. So we’ll see a very different guy going forwards. The same guy but in a different vein.”
"[He] had to change... [he] couldn’t go on the way he was going on...” Doesn’t that describe Billy exactly?
»»————- ✼ ————-««
Ugh, there’s a lot here, guys. I haven’t even touched on all of Billy’s Christ symbolism yet. I’ll have to save the rest for another time.
Until then, I’ll leave you with this very interesting song from Billy’s official Spotify playlist...
Muthafucka I’m back
From the dead
I’m about
To raise hell
Out of my coma
I’m ready to show ya
That season of my life is done...
»»————- ✼ ————-««
P.S., all of this explains why Dacre proposed the idea that Billy’s mom was literally a virgin. It’s batshit crazy and makes NO sense... unless he and the Duffers were discussing Christ imagery for Billy.
»»————- ✼ ————-««
The “Billy Is Alive” Meta Series
For updates, follow the hashtag #billy is alive meta
So i was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of any meta on the following: Castiel: Son of God Dean: Son of Man Sam: Messiah Because they clearly all have had a considerable amount of christ references, but I was hoping for some discussion of the subtle differences? Thanks lovelies!
