Warning, what follows is an atheist rant. If you take issue with this, feel free to leave. You have been forewarned. Also, spoiler alert (for the TV show 'Zero Hour').
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So, ABC has this great new show called 'Zero Hour'. I just got finished watching the premiere episode and it is rather intriguing and I plan on continuing to watch it. The basic premise is thus: After a short intro involving Nazis, a woman gets kidnapped. Her husband, naturally worried for her, goes on a hunt to find the man who took her, and in the process is now wrapped up in a major conspiracy. Great, fine, makes for some very interesting TV. It is well produced and shot and the story is catching. ...but there is more.
(Note, I'm not going to break down the whole episode, just hit some highlights.)
Hank Galliston ('Revenge of the Nerds' and 'ER' alum Anthony Edwards) and his wife, Laila, live in NYC. Laila repairs and sells old time pieces. Hank runs a magazine called "Modern Skeptic" with his two copy editors (not sure on that, maybe reporters? Wikipedia says copy editors in the episode one synopsis), Arron and Rachel. I mention this because the title of the magazine (and a later conversation between Hank and Arron & Rachel) seems to suggest Hank is possibly an atheist, or at the very least a skeptic and agnostic. Hank and Laila are out shopping and after Hank leaves, Laila finds an interesting clock. Later, Laila is kidnapped from her shop. Hank, at home and worried after the kidnapper calls him, finds the clock (that Laila must have dropped off at home and forgot to take with her to the shop?) and examines it for clues. There he finds a diamond with a map and some writing on it, so takes it to his priest friend. Here we learn (very little) about the Rosicrucians, a secret society in the Catholic Church.
Now, I knew pretty much from the beginning of the series/episode that it was going to be steeped in all kinds of Christian mysticism. The opening takes place in a church, after all. And I don't really have a problem with this, as pretty much EVERY SHOW is written by and/or for Christians and its mysticism is rampant in everything ever. Unless a show is overly-preachy, I don't give a fuck anymore. That aside, I groaned the first time I saw the name of the magazine Hank produced because I could see the inevitable result.
So, after a bit, Hank, Rachel, and Arron are sitting in a car having a discussion where Rachel flat out says to Hank he needs to have belief (and while they were talking about believing his wife was still ok, we all know what the subtext really was). And that is when it all clicked for me. So here is my atheist rant.
I am tired of shows that take this mysticism and make it the absolute focus of the show. 'Supernatural', a show I absolutely love still, comes to mind. And this show, 'Zero Hour', is going to piss me off. I can already see it. They have set it up so...almost bluntly, but not really...that it hurts just to think about it. Hank, publisher of "Modern Skeptic" and possible non-believer, is getting drawn into a Catholic/biblical apocalypse conspiracy and will, ultimately, become a believer in the Christian god (and maybe his agent, as the end of the episode foreshadows), and, with his new-found faith, save all of humanity in the name of the divine. Or some bullshit like that.
So, here we have an intrigue-laden mystery a la 'The Da Vinci Code' in a one-hour TV format that is actually a decent show...and it will be all about the triumph of religion and their keeping the world safe, etc. etc. But what really irks me is the fact they are taking this alleged skeptic and turning him into a lightning rod for revelation.
Now why does this bug me? Well, aside from being bugged in general by religion, what really upsets me is this path they have set Hank on. The converting of the skeptic (even if he isn't a non-believer, we all know skeptic is code word for atheist) is just a not-so-well hidden message about how all people should be one with the church. And it sets a precedent that teaches young people (though, if you are discerning parent, you probably shouldn't let any child younger than 13 or so watch this, as there is violence, etc.) that Christianity is right and the non-believer should be brought back into the fold.
Anything more left to say would just be reiteration of those points presented above, so I will close with...really? Do we have to keep seeing this on our TVs? Do we have to keep being showed and told all about this religious shit? I guess so, but I would hope it changes some before my head explodes.
~~As Always An Atheist, Samm
