I've been enjoying Boom Studios' Unthinkable mini-series, written and created by Mark Sable. With its finger on the pulse of our post-9/11 preoccupation with terrorism as entertainment (coming soon on Fox, 24 Season Eight), the book seems ready-made to be optioned by Hollywood. Yet with its real-world setting and distance from superheroes and their mythology, it didn't seem to be a likely candidate to receive commentary on this blog.But the subject of terror unavoidably brings about the topic of religion, and this is the direction Sable takes us in Unthinkable #3. Set mostly in Israel, the issue explores what an end-of-world terror scenario looks like within the context of the Arab-Jew conflict. However, as ripe as that may be for discussion, it's actually an unrelated panel that sent me rushing to my keyboard eager to nitpick.
As an American intelligence officer interrogates the main characters about the implementation of terrorist plots they may have designed, Sable subjects each to their own ironic form of torture. The lawyer finds his civil rights violated via waterboarding, the computer geek receives electric shock from an XBox 360 power supply, and so on. The character above is the series representative for evangelical Christianity, a Tim LaHaye analogue who predicts the end times in his Left Behind-type novel series. His torture? Having to watch a soldier carelessly tear apart a copy of the Bible.
Based on the fact that the series' featured evangelical is cast as an annoying hypocrite, I assume that Mark Sable isn't acquainted with Christianity as his personal ideology. And in accordance with this, his choice of "torture" for the token Bible-thumper misses the mark. Likely informed by the news stories of Qur'an desecration at Guantanamo Bay, Sable fails to grasp the differences between Christianity and Islam.Whereas Muslims venerate original language copies of their foundational text, Protestant Christians hold no such sentiments toward any material object. They worship God "in the Spirit," independently from their physical surroundings. Though the truths revealed in scripture are indeed sacred, the pages they are printed on are fundamentally no more to be honored than any other part of creation. Granted, you probably won't find a Christian treating his own Bible in this manner, but witnessing a stranger doing so is unlikely to elicit the melodramatic response seen in this comic.
This is not to deny that Sable conducted his fair share of research on religious matters in writing this issue. That much is apparent from the way he Brian K. Vaughans us by explaining the affinity many evangelicals have for Zionist goals and how it all relates to Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Bible-ripping incident is really a throw-away moment in Unthinkable's grand scheme, but the unreality of it all took me out of the story long enough to make a negative impact on the reading experience.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteI don't normally respond to reviews or blog posts about my work but for a variety of reasons - not least among them that this piece was well written - I thought I'd make an exception.
You are right that I am not a Christian, and probably not as familiar with the tenets of Christianity as someone writing about such things should be. If you can recommend some good, introductory books on the matter, I'd actually appreciate it.
I was raised in the Jewish tradition, where the written word is venerated. So much so that damaged Torahs are actually buried like a human being.
I could argue that many Christians would find the act of a Muslim (it's an Egyptian soldier) desecrating a bible upsetting, even if not as upset as the melodrama of the above panel would suggest.
Or that it was a bit of dramatic license, and that the intent was not to be accurate, but rather to provoke my largely Judeo-Christian audience into the accounts of descrating the Qur'an on its head.
But as someone who prides myself on my research and attention to detail, I'd remiss if I didn't apologize for getting that wrong. Moreover, the last thing I want to do is take a reader out of the story.
(By the way, I love that Brian K. Vaughan has now become a verb. Until I produce something nearly as good as he has I can only take it as a compliment).
However, while I acknowledge my ignorance, I do have a bone or two to depict.
I did't intend for The Prophet as the "series representative for evangelical Christianity". And it certainly wasn't my intent to portray him as an "annoying hypocrite". He's is one of the few openly religious characters in the book, and he and the other characters share banter (much of which is at his expense). I can tell you that his (SPOILERS for those that haven't read the rest of this issue) death was hard to write and that Julian was devastated when he learned that I was killing his favorite character to draw.
However, I think thatultimately he dies a hero's death without compromising his beliefs. I think he's as well-intentioned, flawed and misguided as the rest of the cast - who ultimately turn out to be wrong about him. The fact that he died before Ripley could apologize for accusing him of being behind the attacks is something that affects Ripley profoundly for the remainder of the series.
It's of course your perogative to find the character annoying until the bitter end, but I would not want you and your readers to think I was using him as a way of ridiculing evangelical Christianity.
My only other issue would be calling what's going on in the Middle East an "Arab-Jew" conflict. Arab is an ethnicity while Judaism is a relgion.
That's me nitpicking, however. I'm very glad you are enjoying the series so far, thank you for pointing out my error and hope I don't take you out of the story again.
Mark Sable
Mr. Sable,
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to write such a thoughtful response to my blog post.
I hope at no point did I come across as harshly critical of Unthinkable as a whole. I am a Christian and a comics reader, one of many who I've met in my life. I don't consider this to be a strictly "Christian" blog, but it's only natural that my beliefs inform my reactions to what I read. Often this means I'm simply enjoying the metaphysical underpinnings of the superhero genre. Other times, this leads me to comment on the portrayal of Christianity in comics--for better or for worse.
I'll stick to my initial feelings about the Bible-ripping scene. However, I'm willing to reevaluate my impressions of The Prophet given what you said about your intentions for him. I called him "annoying" because he seemed to be regularly trying Ripley's patience in the book. He came across as a "hypocrite" due to his proclivity to stick his foot in his mouth, namely with the genetic engineering line in issue 2.
But I also may have let the portrayal of evangelicals in other comics, films, and TV shows affect my reading of your story. While Christianity holds a major influence over many aspects of our culture, it is no secret that the religious are frequently a go-to punching bag in popular entertainment. It's unfair to you as a writer, though, for me to not let Unthinkable stand on its own merits. My apologies if I did this.
As I wrote on the blog, I am truly enjoying this series. I look forward to reading the final two issues and finding out who is really behind these blasted terrorist attacks.
Best wishes,
Chris Kiser