Alexis Schneider explains that when religion is in the wrong hands many horrible things can happen.
Midnight Mass is a television series that you can only watch on Netflix. It is a religious show where the religion is Catholicism. This show takes place on Crockett Island which is a very isolated place with only 127 people living on it. Religion is a very big thing on this island that brings people together and celebrates love and joy through God. A new priest shows up, Father Paul. Once Father Paul shows up and starts up in the church a lot of weird unexplainable things start to happen. Soon these weird unexplainable things turn into bad omens that fill the town. You start to question Father Paul’s ways, because there is a hidden agenda. This hidden agenda manipulates the people who inhabit this town through horror, immortality, and the longing for forgiveness. This show always keeps on making viewers want to watch more, and question what will happen next. An example of this is when Father Paul is able to heal Leeza from her paralysis and she is able to walk and not use her wheelchair anymore. This specific scene keeps viewers wondering how this could be possible, and will long for more episodes. This specific scene also has a very hidden agenda, while it is a happy and relieving moment, it has an even darker meaning. In many more scenes and episodes you finally start to understand why when religion is in the wrong hands many horrible things can happen.
As I have stated before, religion is a huge part of this show, and for the individuals who live on this island. These individuals are close knit through religion by going to church and attending mass. Most scenes in “Midnight Mass” always have something to do with religion or being at church, for example attending many church services. The following reviews are based solely on religion and the effects it had in “Midnight Mass”. An area of my research explored the show’s use of religion. Baldwin (2021) and Fear (2021) are two reviewers of Midnight Mass, and they both discussed the views of religion in the show. Both reviewers had mostly positive things to say about this show. Baldwin (2021) said,”the power here lies in the profound human struggles faced by the faithful and the doubting Thomases in Father Paul's flock.” After examining the quote, what is meant is that many individuals who live on “Crockett Island” struggle in their religion. This means questioning and doubting their own faith. Fear (2021) believes that Flanagan made the show the way that it is only to move you deep inside of yourself. He tries to connect the audience to the characters of the show, to help them understand religion and faith, and how sometimes it may go wrong and you want to question and doubt your faith. These reviews are important because both discussed the views of religion in Midnight Mass, and why it is such a strong and important theme.
Another huge theme in this show is horror, hence why there is a harsh reality of religion when it is in the wrong hands. Father Paul manipulated the individuals who lived on this island for his own hidden agenda. An example of this is when all of the individuals drink out of the chalice thinking it was wine, but it actually was angel’s blood. The individuals who drank the disguised wine had very bad things coming to them at the end of the show. Another area of my research explored both religion and horror, and the relationship that both of the themes have, and how they work together. Both Seale (2021) and Fienberg (2021) reviewed Midnight Mass as a religious horror show, which means both themes of religion and horror tie into each other. From Seale’s review I gathered that Mass is a huge part of the island, individuals deal with trying to get their sins forgiven. Many of the individuals who live on the island deal with guilt, loss, or addiction, and many more. Flanagan makes the show scary and sublime, but also makes it personal. Fienberg (2021) believes that there is a lot about doubting and questioning faith, and looking for forgiveness from past sins and mistakes. Fienberg talks about finding your faith and going with it, but the priest’s ways present danger. Soon danger and chaos fill the town due to the bad omens from the priest. These reviews are very important because they take a step up from religion, and also include the theme of horror, and show how these themes work together.
Some things that are not talked about as much are the themes of forgiveness and immortality. Sometimes you go to church to go to church, some may go to be closer to God, but some may go in search of forgiveness for sins they have committed, and they just want to purge their sins and find forgiveness from God. Immortality is huge and only comes at the end of the show. Father Paul’s hidden agenda of the angel’s blood disguised as wine, caused many individuals to become immortal cannibal like vampire killers, who only end up dying at the end trying to cheat God. An area of the research I have gathered from Midnight Mass has religion and forgiveness tied into each other. When following a religion, sometimes you seek forgiveness due to past mistakes and sins. Goodkind (2021) and Cobb (2021) have both reviewed Midnight Mass as a religious show with an underlying theme of forgiveness. Goodkind writes,”the central focus appears to revolve around guilt and grief and how those themes tie into the struggle of religious faith.” This shows that there are the people who live on this isolated island who are guilty of their past sins/mistakes and are looking for forgiveness through religious faith. Cobb says,” The series questions the repercussions of faith, the tolls of love, and the selfish uses of God by man with a solemnity that rarely lends to religion.” This quote shows the many different aspects of the message Flanagan was using to go along with the theme of religious horror, and how you might seek forgiveness from God after repercussions of faith. These reviews are important because they are about the theme of religion, but the underlying theme of forgiveness intertwines to religion. My final area of research from Midnight Mass has to do with religion and immortality. It was very hard to find scholarly articles and reviews on immortality in Midnight Mass, because it is not a common theme, but it has a deep/strong connection and meaning that ties into the other themes of this show. There is an angel of death who comes in during the season finale of Midnight Mass, whose job is to feed on individuals who were deemed not fit to be immortal. The following review from Tallerico (2021) is a negative review, but talks about the underlying theme of immortality. It is said that Flanagan is using the darker side of religious scriptures like resurrection and drinking blood. The following scholarly article from Mooney (2021) is a summarization of the season finale. The individuals were tricked into drinking angel blood which would then turn them into vampires, thus showing the underlying theme of immortality. While Erin Greene is sacrificing herself to the angel she cuts up the angel's wings so it could not fly anywhere else, or even hide anywhere else due to all of the buildings that were burnt down. When the sun started to rise all of the vampires started to burn and perish. Immortality is such an amazing theme with a deep meaning that ties into religion so well. The individuals who became immortal went behind God’s back, therefore they sinned, which caused them to perish. Those individuals were wrong in their faith and religion. This review and scholarly source are important because they tied together religion and the underlying theme of immortality which was not a common theme, but a very important one.
A piece of complicated evidence would be the theme of guilt & addiction which is a theme of the show, but I did not use this theme. A specific scene is about Riley Flynn who has an alcohol addiction which causes him to kill a young girl while he is drunk driving. He has enormous amounts of guilt from this and it replays in his head every night. While this could be a great theme to use, I do not believe it is the strongest theme to work with. There is not a lot of evidence, sources, and scholarly articles to back it up. The themes I have chosen to work with are more prominent throughout the show and have loads of evidence to support.
This show always keeps on making viewers want to watch more, and question what will happen next. This show has a very hidden agenda hence why religion can be so harsh and manipulative if it is in the wrong hands. Through many scenes, scholarly articles, themes, the research I have compiled have proved my point through the themes of religion, horror, forgiveness, and immortality on why religion can have a hidden dark agenda and can manipulate people into things they could never expect.
Alexis Schneider lives in South Jersey, and is a sophomore studying expansive media and entertainment at Bloomfield College.
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