s2a
Heretic and part-time (skinny) Santa impersonator
OK. I've now endured three entire episodes of this series on HBO...
..and...?
I'll be perfectly honest here and remain open to prospective illumination, but... In short, I really don't get "it".
For those of you yet to indulge this odd "think piece", in summary the show examines (within one town) what might "happen" to the remaining survivors (aka "leftovers") upon the sudden and still unexplained "departures" of 2% of the entire human race. Really, just *poof*.
Three years hence, NOTHING new serves to explain how, why, or where this 2% just "left". The series serves to examine the after effects of the "leftovers".
Interesting premise, yes?
I kinda thought so too.
I do believe that this premise might serve to cause some renewed introspection amongst those of "faith", or "faith-based beliefs".
WE soon learn that the "departed" were, in fact, no more moral or less so than those that remain. Some that departed were pedophiles,abusers, wealth spendthrifts, or just social misfits. Others may have been stalwarts of the community, or just days old infants. IN essence, no rhyme or reason attendant to any understandings of morality or religious piety. Just...*poof*.
So now the question, initially at least is..why? Why would "good" people and ""bad" people just disappear simultaneously with NO apparent cause or explanation? Hmmm... an interesting premise to ponder.
Soo... we are immediately introduced to a "cult" (for lack of any better term) that wears all white, chooses not to speak aloud (employing sketch pads of spoken words instead), and become incessant chain smokers as if to send the "message" that existence is in fact "meaningless", and that any/all efforts to retain/recall any semblances of family are, um... futile. Essentially, "what's the point"?
If we can just *poof* away w/o explanation, why bother?
I agree that this seems at the introduction to be some atheistic dystopia...an applied evidence that "human life" has no purpose and serves no attainable goals.
But...I confess...I don't get it. After 3 weeks of watching, listening, and all my efforts to "understand/compile" the deeper "message", I just don't get "it".
Cultists are "not" the answer? OK, agreed..., but?
Scientists don't know everything. So...?
"Normal folks" can yet retain their own semblances of sanity... then?
It may very well be that this particular presentation of a somewhat disturbing concept may pose a troublesome series of conflicts amongst "believers" (of any source), but in the end...not really so much for self-avowed atheists.
It's not that we don't care, or would not miss loved ones now "departed" w/o explanation.But I do know that a strange, silent, and pointless "cult" would not be a viable recourse, at all.
So now what?
I dunno, but I give up. Nearly everything that HBO puts forward over these many years seems at least mildly, or even strongly intriguing. I loved "Deadwood" to "Game of Thrones", and many more in between ("Rome" and "Boardwalk Empire", just to name some others). I swear.
Maybe I'm just too much of a heathen to "get it". Oh well, not the first time, but it is here on HBO. I'm not terrified, involved, questioning, or even mildly interested now in what might be...at some point..."revealed". I don't care now, and that is just a shame, I admire the writers, directors, actors, and most all involved with the project. But now, I'm just bored and disinterested. I don't care what happens, nor even why.
*sigh*
..and...?
I'll be perfectly honest here and remain open to prospective illumination, but... In short, I really don't get "it".
For those of you yet to indulge this odd "think piece", in summary the show examines (within one town) what might "happen" to the remaining survivors (aka "leftovers") upon the sudden and still unexplained "departures" of 2% of the entire human race. Really, just *poof*.
Three years hence, NOTHING new serves to explain how, why, or where this 2% just "left". The series serves to examine the after effects of the "leftovers".
Interesting premise, yes?
I kinda thought so too.
I do believe that this premise might serve to cause some renewed introspection amongst those of "faith", or "faith-based beliefs".
WE soon learn that the "departed" were, in fact, no more moral or less so than those that remain. Some that departed were pedophiles,abusers, wealth spendthrifts, or just social misfits. Others may have been stalwarts of the community, or just days old infants. IN essence, no rhyme or reason attendant to any understandings of morality or religious piety. Just...*poof*.
So now the question, initially at least is..why? Why would "good" people and ""bad" people just disappear simultaneously with NO apparent cause or explanation? Hmmm... an interesting premise to ponder.
Soo... we are immediately introduced to a "cult" (for lack of any better term) that wears all white, chooses not to speak aloud (employing sketch pads of spoken words instead), and become incessant chain smokers as if to send the "message" that existence is in fact "meaningless", and that any/all efforts to retain/recall any semblances of family are, um... futile. Essentially, "what's the point"?
If we can just *poof* away w/o explanation, why bother?
I agree that this seems at the introduction to be some atheistic dystopia...an applied evidence that "human life" has no purpose and serves no attainable goals.
But...I confess...I don't get it. After 3 weeks of watching, listening, and all my efforts to "understand/compile" the deeper "message", I just don't get "it".
Cultists are "not" the answer? OK, agreed..., but?
Scientists don't know everything. So...?
"Normal folks" can yet retain their own semblances of sanity... then?
It may very well be that this particular presentation of a somewhat disturbing concept may pose a troublesome series of conflicts amongst "believers" (of any source), but in the end...not really so much for self-avowed atheists.
It's not that we don't care, or would not miss loved ones now "departed" w/o explanation.But I do know that a strange, silent, and pointless "cult" would not be a viable recourse, at all.
So now what?
I dunno, but I give up. Nearly everything that HBO puts forward over these many years seems at least mildly, or even strongly intriguing. I loved "Deadwood" to "Game of Thrones", and many more in between ("Rome" and "Boardwalk Empire", just to name some others). I swear.
Maybe I'm just too much of a heathen to "get it". Oh well, not the first time, but it is here on HBO. I'm not terrified, involved, questioning, or even mildly interested now in what might be...at some point..."revealed". I don't care now, and that is just a shame, I admire the writers, directors, actors, and most all involved with the project. But now, I'm just bored and disinterested. I don't care what happens, nor even why.
*sigh*
