If the angels in the Bible are really bloodthirsty monsters crouching in darkness, and the miracles come as a gift from Satan, how do we reconstruct the nature of faith? Director Michael Flanagan challenged the dialectical relationship between man and faith with Midnight Mass.
Midnight Mass takes the audience to croquette island, an isolated and crippled town that once flourished with abundant fishing resources but could not cope with the problems of emigration and aging population, and eventually only a hundred residents remained. Croctor Island is like a place abandoned by God, step by step towards inevitable decay.
To make matters worse, the pollution incident of the oil company in the town a few years ago has greatly reduced the catch of local residents and made life difficult. The center of gravity of the town revolves around St. Patrick's Church. Nevertheless, the power of faith was weakening, and small churches often accommodated disgruntled believers.
So in the dialectical relationship between man and faith, can faith really save believers?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > God will save the world from suffering? </h1>
Here, the first question that the show asks the audience is: Can devout faith in God really save believers from suffering?
The male protagonist, Riley, returns to the town shortly after his release from prison, and he accompanies his parents to worship, but his heart is full of doubts about his faith. He couldn't forget that on the day of his drunk driving accident, God took away the victimized girl whose face was covered with broken glass. A strong sense of guilt makes it difficult for them to let go of their mistakes.
Riley pointedly pointed out that truly good people are not treated well by God, just as in that car accident, God's punishment was not given to Riley, but to the innocent passerby.
In the arrangement of the Riley's room scene, the theme of "crime and punishment" explored in the album is also metaphorical.
On the wall of his room is a poster for the 1995 movie The Line of Fire. The Line of Fire Investigation Order explores the seven deadly sins of Catholic doctrine, echoing Riley's own sinner status.
In addition, in addition to questioning the nature of faith, after "people" join the system, they also extend deeper social problems. In particular, the greed of human nature coupled with the escort in the name of faith will always exploit the honest and good believers of the lower classes.
After the oil pollution incident, the oil company offered a settlement payment, and ms. Beaver, a devout believer in the town, advocated that everyone accept the reconciliation and advocated that part of this "gift of God" should be given to the church. In fact, however, these settlements simply do not address the economic losses caused by environmental pollution.
Money donated to the church went unknowingly into Ms. Beaver's pockets, eventually becoming a gorgeous center of resident activity. In those sparsely populated towns, the churches in the towns were always unexpectedly magnificent, in stark contrast to the poor lives of the inhabitants. Believers desire to communicate with God, but the beneficiaries in this are the church.
In the play, the image of the church is like the Lady Beaver who advocates public donation, seemingly enthusiastic and kind, but in fact vicious enough to poison other people's pet dogs.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="27" > the miracle is coming</h1>
Shortly after Riley questioned his faith, miracles large and small began to appear in the town:
Half-dead girls are able to get up from their wheelchairs, old women who are bedridden are getting better, the elderly's bodies are healthy, myopic people's eyesight is restored... As if to verify the Bible slogan posted outside the church:
"The LORD is my light and my salvation."
All these miracles originated from the old bishop's "pilgrimage to the Holy Land", who found an "angel" living in the darkness in a mysterious cave. After attacking the old bishop, the "angel" fed him the blood that flowed from his wrist. Here, the bishop contrasted this scene with what he said: "This is the blood of my covenant, which is shed for many and forgiven of sins." The old bishop's sins were as if he had been forgiven by God, and he awoke from death and returned to earth, returning to the town under the pseudonym Father Paul.
Ironically, in the third episode of this miracle, it is also called "Proverbs". "Proverbs" also refers to "wisdom", the old bishop dedicated his life to the church, but at the time of death, mistakenly regarded the vampire monster in the cave as an angel and brought it back to the island. The old bishop, alias Father Paul, is also a metaphor for the "Apostle Paul" who is preaching the gospel.
But in contrast to the apostle Paul, he spread the deadly vampire virus.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="32" > "God wouldn't do that</h1>."
On this small island with the church as the center of the town, Muslim sheriffs are excluded because they do not go to church to worship.
In this conservative and closed town, the sheriff and his son are out of place because of their faith. As miracles spread around the town, the sheriff firmly said to his son, "God wouldn't do that." Miracles do not come to a particular person, but cause another part of the person to suffer.
The gap between the sheriff and the townspeople is not only about the difference in beliefs, but also about the prejudice of the townspeople about race.
Before the sheriff moved to the island, he had big ambitions to protect the country. But even as he rose faster and higher, he was ultimately not trusted by the police. More specifically, he was not trusted by his own country. After being betrayed by the state, he came to this peaceful island and tried to stay away from the deceit of the city. Until the events of the town, the sheriff was afraid to go to the church to investigate because he was wary of his racial identity.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="36" > crazy beliefs and populism</h1>
When the townspeople heard about the miracles that had taken place in the church, they regained their faith and participated more actively in church assemblies.
The first thing that changed was the fanaticism of faith, and after abandoning modern medicine, they began to believe that God could solve all the pain. The clergy, on the other hand, have raised their identity, believing that their identity is higher than that of the world. Therefore, even if the priest hurts others for his own selfishness, he still has no guilt and regards it as God's will.
The crowd was immersed in this intoxicating, losing their ability to judge. When the priest invited the faithful to drink the deadly poison, most did not hesitate to drink it all. The scene resembles a replica of the 1978 Jonestown incident, in which, after a mass suicide, believers are convinced that God will resurrect his people. In fact, it was the trigger for the town's greatest tragedy.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="38" > conclusion</h1>
"Midnight Mass" was directed by Michael Flanagan, who specializes in horror narratives, and before filming the show, it became a global hit with Ghost Invasion. Flanagan is good at laying out the background of the story and leads the audience step by step into the mysterious and eerie atmosphere of horror.
It is also worth mentioning that in Michael Flanagan's other work, "Silent Forest Killing Machine", the heroine is a writer, and the novel she wrote is called "Midnight Mass". The director planted easter eggs in the details of the album, echoing each of his creations.
In this work, Michael Flanagan projects questions about doctrine and the entire belief system, saying:
"If this is a parable, then the angel in the story does not represent a symbol of vampire or terror, but it represents corruption in any belief system, it represents fundamentalism and fanaticism."
At the end of the story, the angel as a vampire drags his broken wings to escape, but the audience will never know whether it will eventually burn out in the hot sun, or hide in some dark corner, waiting for the opportunity. Just like the fanaticism of faith in today's society, it is like an angel in that corner, which will eventually crawl out of the cave and hallucinate the hearts of the people.