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Next Up for Superheroes: Religion?

Photo by RedZero44 on DeviantArt
Outside the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con

South Asia’s Madras Courier offered a novel op-ed this January from multi-hyphenate Tejaswy Nandury, which argues that the next evolution of comic book superheroes is into religion.

This thought may seem absurd to short term thinkers. If you, like me, are a long term strategist, you will instantly grasp this notion. Marvel already has the mythology, and the mass following, required to scale it up as a global religious operation. It just needs to add some necessary elements to give the MCU a religious gravitas.

Nandury seems to be thinking of the global and multicultural reach of Marvel Entertainment’s films, but he does acknowledge that the leap from page to screen was already the first step in this trajectory. More specifically, he feels that this “source material” that prizes science and liberal philosophy, not to mention capitalism, in its main ethos. This “scientific religion” can base its home and rituals in San Diego’s Comic-Con International, “just as Christmas evolved out of a pagan Roman festival.”

As quirky as Nandury’s idea might be, the only part of it that is actually erroneous is his thinking on its soteriology: Marvel’s comics and films already has a mess of options concerning “salvation” (some of which were explored in this episode of the Vox Populorum podcast, incidentally). However outlandish Nandury’s proposal might be, it’s only this element of it that would need of revision, serious or otherwise.

cultural

More Than You Ever Wanted to Know on Black Panther and Religion

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Black Panther rules the box office worldwide and is a cultural phenomenon. As such, it’s being viewed from every possible angle and through every available lens. And, to paraphrase Ian Malcolm, the thinkpiecers were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.

So, without comment, here is a short sampling of the various ways Black Panther, with its roots in comics, is being applied to the subject of religion, of religious intolerance, censorship, and interfaith relations. Your mileage may vary.

We’ve loosely grouped them below as “Black Panther and…”

…Religion in General

What The Movie ‘Black Panther’ Teaches Us About Religion

‘Where Is Your God Now?’ 3 Religious Objects of Worship in ‘Black Panther’

http://dailycaller.com/2018/02/23/black-panther-is-a-quasi-religious-atonement-for-white-guilt/

…Judaism

Black Panther Is a Jewish Creation

Why ‘Black Panther’ might also be a milestone in black-Jewish relations

http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/256186/black-panther-is-a-great-zionist-movie

The Defeat of Killmonger in ‘Black Panther’ Holds Lessons for Israel

…Spirituality

Black Panther’s Spirituality Pulls from Reality

Spiritual Reflections on the Black Panther Movie

https://aleteia.org/2018/02/17/is-the-hero-in-black-panther-secretly-spiritual/

African cosmologies: spiritual reflections on the ‘Black Panther’ movie

…Hinduism

http://www.freepressjournal.in/entertainment/black-panther-cbfc-muted-hanuman-reference-due-to-not-hurt-any-kind-of-religious-sentiments/1225555

CBFC Offended by ‘Hanuman’ in Black Panther Is Divine Stupidity

http://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-in-india/black-panther-fans-in-india-angry-over-beeping-out-hanuman-reference-twitter-reactions-5073987/

…Islam

Is the Black Panther Islamophobic?

Is Black Panther Islamophobic?

Is Black Panther Islamophobic? A Somali Canadian Perspective

Black Panther Shows Muslims Too Can Escape Tokenism

Black Panther Makes A Nod To The Boko Haram Kidnapping in Nigeria

…Christianity

What “Black Panther” Means for Christians

Four Lessons the Church Can Learns from Black Panther

Clergy’s View on Black Panther

http://www.jesusdaily.com/inspire/black-panther-movie-review-christian-perspective/

‘Black Panther’ and the Longing for Home

At Home in Wakanda

Do it For the Diaspora?: The Moral Question Behind Black Panther

https://crtvchurch.com/why-christians-need-to-see-marvels-black-panther/

https://aleteia.org/2018/02/23/black-panther-star-boldly-proclaims-i-fell-in-love-with-jesus/

Christian actress Sope Aluko says ‘Black Panther’ set felt ‘almost like church’

In several of these cases, the charge could be levied that groups ostensibly unrelated to Black Panther are ‘making it all about them,’ but, in others, there are some legitimate linkages to be made. It says something, though, when so many religious communities want to comment on or be reflected by a cinema blockbuster — almost as if it means more than superhero popcorn entertainment…

controversy, cultural, raowantstoknow

Batman for only Judeo-Christians, implies politician

Rep. Louie Gohmert

In July of 2012, the Huffington Post reported that Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX) responded to the Aurora movie theater shootings by stating that “the shootings […] were a result of ‘ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs.'” These comments from The Heritage Foundation’s “Istook Live!” radio show have some ugly implications to them: not only do Batman movies attract primarily Judeo-Christian audiences (hmm, ok…) but that the victims of the shooting were paying the price for attacks on specifically this theology. Link this to the relatively Orientalist nature of the first and third films’ villains (i.e. Ra’s al Ghul), and there’s a growing strain (see previous “By Rao!” posts) of either Islamophobic or non-ecumenical taint artificially attaching itself to Batman’s mythos.

Rao wants to know: Is Batman becoming associated with a particular faith?

controversy, cultural

Whose God Is Thor?

Image from IDLE HANDS, Thor's HammerIn the wake of Thor‘s #1 opening weekend, Comics Alliance is reporting that another group is unhappy of its godly portrayals. Whereas the Council of Conservative Citizens previously railed against the casting of Idris Elba, a black man in the role of a Nordic god, (mentioned in a previous entry), this objection is a tad more level-headed. Namely, some modern-day Neopagan practitioners are rumbling over the depiction of their deities in the film.

A follower of Ásatrú (or Germanic Neopaganism, as it is also known), writer Eric Scott of religious discourse magazine Killing the Buddha made the sincere and deeply personal observation whilst inspecting Thor merchandise in a Walmart.

I held that foam hammer in my hand for a long time, which I’m sure only confirmed my weirdness to the nightgaunts of the third shift. With my other hand, I rubbed the Mjolnir necklace I have worn every day since my initiation into my family’s coven. I did not know what to think of it.

The truth is, I looked at the toys in my hands and I saw the result of millions of dollars of development and thousands of hours of manpower, put into something bearing the name of a god, my god, and it had nothing to do with me.

Scott suggests that his fellow practitioners were “too few to matter” to the corporations using this material for their merchandise. Pagan Blogger for Patheos.com Star Foster feels quite the opposite: that Thor will bring attention to active Pagans in a positive manner.

The issue here is not just appropriating a mislabeled “dead religion,” but also how these deities function for real-life worshipers versus storytellers. A sideline discussion over at City-Data.com offers the thought that the word “gods” is misused in various narratives, comic books in particular. Are Thor and his fellow Asgardians distinctly gods in the movie, or are they some other classification? Would calling them, say, onses show a greater sensitivity by storytellers or would it divorce them even more harshly from real-world practitioners?