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There is a new emerging genre of prestige tv show that I’d like to attempt to describe. I call it faithpunk. The two exemplar shows are The OA on Netflix and The Leftovers on HBO. Each show gets better with every season. It took me a while to grok them, but I did. Here:
These shows are an attempt to move past the scientific materialism of the 20th century without moving backwards into irrationality and parochial religion. They’re trying to answer the question: what is faith, and why do we act like it’s not an important part of human life?
This is what faith is: the choice of what reality you want to inhabit. It’s the single most powerful human faculty. We exercise our power of faith daily in a billion ways. And the 20th century taught us that actually faith is irrational and silly.
But really that was never it. The problem is that Catholicism and its descendants got a jump start on the meme game a couple thousand years early. They used the same ‘fake news’ strategies we’re seeing today to cement their authority over valid uses of faith.
And casting them down was essential, and I’m glad the church is dying etc. But ‘faith’ was never the problem with the church. Unquestionable authority to dictate the validity of faith was. Because that allows complete control over consensus reality, a sacrifice of human agency.
So what are these shows doing that’s so interesting? They start by somehow transgressing against the laws of science. They say, look: something supernatural or weird is happening. And they provide very little context. And the show is about how people grapple with that.
Some characters retreat to religion. Some succumb to madness. Some end their own lives. Some find ecstasy and meaning beyond anything they ever believed possible. Each forms a personal faith, and we watch those faiths interact.
The OA asks us: what is more real? Something you experience with your senses or something science says is possible? Who do you believe? The ‘crazy’ person that makes you feel alive or the family/friends/society that contemptuously ‘protects’ you from them?
The Leftovers asks: if a small but significant portion of humanity disappeared into thin air, all at once, with no explanation, what would you do? How would it change you? How would it change your reality two years later? Four years? Seven years?
And each show creates a rich, diverse cast of characters representing a number of irreconcilable ideologies, social classes, beliefs and experiences. And these people all have to figure out how to reconcile the impossible with their realities.
Through this we witness so many Deep Truths: We see how the CHOICE of faith can both connect and divide. We see that our emotional response to The Other is something we can’t anticipate. We see the many forms that grief, or love, or fear, or joy can take.
Other media I would tentatively add to this 'faithpunk' genre: Russian Doll on Netflix City in the Middle of the Night, by @charliejane Gnomon by @Harkaway The music of @JanelleMonae Is this coherent? Do y'all understand what I'm trying to express or am I too out there, here?
Faithpunk Canon Update: DEATH STRANDING is a video game by Hideo Kojima that captures the essence of Faithpunk in a profoundly *embodied* way, it's so neat. HBO's Watchmen tv show is a single perfect season of television built around some core Faithpunk themes.
Why "faith-punk" and not some other term? What work is "punk" doing here? "Punk" is the opposite of "Cop" - punk art is art that does not gatekeep. The whole point is that all earnest attempts are valid works. Faithpunk explores faith without priests. The point is no authority.
The Good Place is of course peak Faithpunk! https://t.co/xcE9d8deCd
Lodge 49 is Faithpunk https://t.co/ZUybyqmH76
If you're looking for a new show to watch, may I recommend AMC's Lodge 49? It's weird and wonderful and profound and silly and honestly just surprises and delights me with every new scene. It's about an affable burnout who joins The Order of the Lynx, a local lodge.
The Manifest is not a great show, but it’s compelling popcorn faithpunk. Fair warning it’s designed to appeal to the broadest possible audience. Lots of copaganda. Lots of weird ideology on display conspicuously. There’s a conspiracy board with a card that says “conspiracy?”
Interesting! I was going to disagree at first because WandaVision isn't about faith as a subjective reality -- except it is EXACTLY that, and Wanda's power is that she can turn her reality into everyone's reality. That's a fascinating take on faithpunk! https://t.co/0IOM6OCjJN