God in supernatural good vs evil stories: rubbish

[T & P]

This is not a discussion on the feasibility of the existence of deities IRL, but the role of God in fictional books and films/ TV involving good vs evil supernatural tales.

Has the omnipotent one in the sky ever bothered to intervene, even when life, not to mention the eternal soul of an innocent was a stake, or even the fate of the world? One thing is to peddle the line about allowing humans to exercise freewill and all of that and let them rot in hell if they misbehave, but when innocent young girls are possessed through no fault of their own and horribly tormented, or when the only thing struggling to stop Satan’s legions breaking out of Hell and bringing about the Apocalypse to Earth is a little teenage girl from California armed with pointy sticks, at which point does he think ‘I’m all powerful and infallible, perhaps I should lend a hand here’?

Any films in which God gets his finger out and ensures there’s an even playing field between plucky humans and evil entities, or actually steps in to kick demons’ arses back to Hell? At very best he might send a lone angel to help along if he’s feeling particularly charitable.

 

[Pickman's model]

It's all part of his ineffable plan

 

[Orang Utan]

Yes, it’s a common trope in any kind of dramatic narrative

Deus ex machina - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Orang Utan]

The Hudsucker Proxy is the first example I can think of

 

[Orang Utan]

Life Of Brian too (though not ultimately)

 

[Orang Utan]

The Odyssey has loads, in fact too many to be plausible

 

[two sheds]

He turned me into a newt

 

[Epona]

I read that as "God in Supermarket good vs evil stories" and nodded sagely while thinking "we've all been there"

 

[Pickman's model]

The Odyssey has loads, in fact too many to be plausible

God not gods

And the Greek underworld not really the same as hell, is it

 

[Orang Utan]

God not gods

And the Greek underworld not really the same as hell, is it

So? Have some imagination. God/Gods whatever

 

[T & P]

A very significant proportion of all horror films I have seen involving demonic possession involved not only the victim being innocent/ not a wrongdoer, but them losing their lives or even their souls The success rates of priests is mixed at best, and holy water and Bible verses are as potent a weapon as they ever get. Seems a bang out of order for the almighty to allow that to happen.

 

[DotCommunist]

Bruce Almighty.

 

[mx wcfc]

Whilst I'm generally a Nick Cave fan, his lyric "I don't believe in an interventionist god, but I know, baby, that you do" has to be the all time crappest lyric by any otherwise respectable songwriter.

WTF happened to "Big Jesus Soulmate Trash Can"?

 

[T & P]

Bruce Almighty.

Nah, god simply teaches a lesson to a bloke who expresses mild criticism of the ways of life. No third parties in mortal danger.

FWIW I’ve just thought of one: Dogma. God appears at the 11th hour and prevents the fallen angels from entering the church and unmaking existence. But even here one could argue God was saving her own arse as well so self serving.

 

[mx wcfc]

Dogma.

Really must rewatch that. thanks for the reminder.

 

[Orang Utan]

Time Bandits (though not necessarily in a good way)

 

[two sheds]

Old Testament Murder Count: God Vs. Satan

Let’s face it: the Old Testament God was a deity who really needed to rip the amphetamine drip out of his celestial arm. Although the New Testament gave us a kinder, gentler God with a bellyful of butterflies who only wants humanity to surround him in one big group hug, the Old Testament God...

www.wired.com

BUT

Did God Kill More People Than Satan?

Hey Andy, in the Bible, Satan nearly never committed any murder. Does that make him better than God, since God at least killed 2 million people? Wow, that’s an interesting question. Well, fir…

defendingthelord.com

"Hey ... wow"

 

[DotCommunist]

Nah, god simply teaches a lesson to a bloke who expresses mild criticism of the ways of life. No third parties in mortal danger.

FWIW I’ve just thought of one: Dogma. God appears at the 11th hour and prevents the fallen angels from entering the church and unmaking existence. But even here one could argue God was saving her own arse as well so self serving.

The blessed golf club was also gods aid. If the xtian view is this: 'in general god will work through humans on earth, with some nudging. We and the realm of earth are fallen and the devil is free to tempt and push the boundaries until the rapture and the end of days.' that will feed into the fiction

e2a End of Days is an underrated film. So is The Prophecy. Neither of those fit your criteria for god actually helping out though

 

[krtek a houby]

Star Trek V. Kirk meets God.

 

[Humberto]

I imagine God more bald with bloodshot eyes.

 

[stdP]

I liked the way heaven was portrayed in A Matter of Life and Death, more of a celestial accountants than any take on good vs. evil. The god of it would have been a poor-man's David Brentalike with a "You don't have to be mad to work here..." sign in his office.

In terms of him actually doing something, in Super god zaps the brain of a man with borderline mental health problems who becomes a vigilante who clubs queue-jumpers with a spanner as a result. This is all Mysterious Ways so that his ex-girlfriend will become a counsellor or something. It seems as maddeningly petty as most serious religious parables.

 

[Pickman's model]

So? Have some imagination. God/Gods whatever

My imagination fine but you're ignoring the question actually posed

 

[Artaxerxes]

This is not a discussion on the feasibility of the existence of deities IRL, but the role of God in fictional books and films/ TV involving good vs evil supernatural tales.

Has the omnipotent one in the sky ever bothered to intervene, even when life, not to mention the eternal soul of an innocent was a stake, or even the fate of the world? One thing is to peddle the line about allowing humans to exercise freewill and all of that and let them rot in hell if they misbehave, but when innocent young girls are possessed through no fault of their own and horribly tormented, or when the only thing struggling to stop Satan’s legions breaking out of Hell and bringing about the Apocalypse to Earth is a little teenage girl from California armed with pointy sticks, at which point does he think ‘I’m all powerful and infallible, perhaps I should lend a hand here’?

Any films in which God gets his finger out and ensures there’s an even playing field between plucky humans and evil entities, or actually steps in to kick demons’ arses back to Hell? At very best he might send a lone angel to help along if he’s feeling particularly charitable.

The Stand ends when the finger of God pokes a nuclear weapon.

 

[Orang Utan]

My imagination fine but you're ignoring the question actually posed

Not really.

 

[MickiQ]

The problem with God in fiction is that he's so powerful he's kind of like Superman+, As soon as he starts taking a direct hand in events, all obstacles are easily surmounted, the protoganists are not in danger and so forth.
These days from a fictional viewpoint hostile aliens are a better bet than demons.

 

[Pickman's model]

Good omens

Loads of angels in that

 

[AverageJoe]

Gods just turned up in the Netflix/Amazon series "Lucifer".

Need to wait for the final series to see what happens.

 

[A380]

Piers Anthony’s Incarnations of immortality series has a lot including a whole book each on God and the Devil. Mind you I haven’t read them for 30 odd years but I remember them being quite good.

 

[T & P]

Gods just turned up in the Netflix/Amazon series "Lucifer".

Need to wait for the final series to see what happens.

If memory serves, even God's wife thought he was a wrong'un in Lucifer, so I'm not holding my breath...

 

[hitmouse]

I suppose Preacher is one of the classic explorations of this (I'd also say it's one of the only cases of an adaptation being better than the source material, fwiw.) But yeah, it is interesting that a lot of vampire stories kind of use a Christian framework if they have crosses being effective against vampires, but never really explore what that means, so for instance you had crosses working in Buffy alongside there being Jewish/pagan characters.
Anyway, obligatory Seinfeld clip: