Right, so I'm going to mention this only because I almost spit water all over my laptop when I heard of it, but it doesn't really have any bearing on the rest of the post so feel free to skip to the next paragraph if you wish. Can we just appreciate that the Christian group calling for Good Omens to be removed from the streaming service because it was, you know, not very reverent to their point of view, got the wrong platform? I mean, I find it incredibly unlikely that no one in that group double checked to make sure it was, in fact, Netflix that was producing and streaming this show that is apparently so terrible. I find the lack of competence in that whole deal disturbing. Of course, there likely was someone who saw they got it wrong and fixed it up pretty quickly, but the internet moves incredibly fast these days (I wonder if Crowley has any influence in this particular happenstance? ;) ) and unfortunately human beings are all too willing to rag on each other about small mistakes. The internet just makes it easier for us to do so. And yes, I am fully aware that I just did the same exact thing as the rest of humanity. It is something I have to work on still. Sometimes though, I just need that little bit of absurdity to lighten my day and stresses. Anyway. Onward!
I'm going to preface this post by stating that it has been about a year since I read the book Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett and therefore I don't remember things as well as I might have if the "movie" (yes, I know it's a mini-series but close enough in this case) had been out when I finished reading it. This, coupled with the fact that Neil Gaiman himself wrote (or at least had a great deal of influence in the writing of, though I'm pretty sure the wrote the entirety of) the screenplay, means that I can't really pick out huge, glaring issues. Now, this does not mean that there weren't any big changes from the book to the mini-series, it's just that I didn't notice them. So while this post is supposedly a "Book Vs. Movie" post, it's more going to be a few paragraphs about how awesome the mini-series was and how I think everyone should read the book and watch the mini-series if possible. I do not, however, think you should purchase AmazonPrime simply to watch the mini-series. Surely it will be out at some point on DVD and you can watch it there, or you can potentially get one of those free trials and cancel before you have to pay, or maybe you know someone who has Prime for a completely different reason and you can have them help you access it. The point is, don't spend $110 a year for a single series. But you should still watch it if at all possible. Here's why. Regardless of whether you believe in G-d or not, whether you're a part of an organized religion, or if you believe the stories/prophecies written in the book of Revelation in the Newer Testament of the Christian Bible, there are lessons (I tend to talk about those a lot here on this blog somehow, so I'm going to switch it up and call them themes for the rest of this post) that pretty much everyone could benefit from. If they're willing to listen. Now, these themes I'm going to speak of are the big ones that resonate with me. There's probably a whole lot more in the book/mini-series that other individuals can pick out. As such, communication is key. So if you think I missed something, let me know in the comments. Or if you want to talk about one of the themes I bring up, mention it in the comments. I'm always up for a lively discussion. One: When there are only two sides there's usually a cluster-something-or-other. Yes, there is a specific word you can insert there that makes it sound much shorter and sweeter, but as many of you know, cursing is not something my mother approves of and while I do not mind others cursing in my presence I try and keep my own to a minimum so I don't shock her when I visit. Anyway. There are two big sides in the book/mini-series. Heaven and Hell. And the two main agents of these sides have been left far to long in the world and neither quite agrees with their side anymore. But there are only two. So they have to make a choice even when both choices result in Armageddon which they would rather avoid. Sound familiar? Two choices, especially ones that are supposedly black and white, usually result in not so great things. Spectrums seem to be a better choice overall. Why do you think there's the stereotype about two Jews and three opinions? Because choosing between two things ends up being not much of a choice at all. You tend to choose "the lesser of two evils" because there isn't an actual good answer. Now, that's not saying that there's always a "good" answer, a choice that is "correct." But having more options means that even if all the answers are somewhat "bad/wrong," you can still end up with one that's "better than all the rest and actually somewhat positive" rather than "the best we can do and it still sucks." I'm not going to get into the issue of too many choices here. But I much prefer the Dungeons and Dragons version of possibilities (Lawful Good, Neutral Good, Chaotic Good, Lawful Neutral, Neutral Neutral, Chaotic Neutral, Lawful Evil, Neutral Evil, and Chaotic Evil) better than a cut and dried "you're either with us or against us" motto. More than two options allows for redemption and openness to other people more than "good and evil" does. But that's just my opinion. Two: It's never too late. This is important. Spoiler alert for those who haven't read or watched, but Adam starts Armageddon. It's coming. The four horsemen are here, nuclear war seems inevitable, and both sides are ready to battle. And then it stops. Yes, there's more detail to it than that, but that's the gist of it. They were able to stop it, to avert disaster, to make things, well, maybe not right but at least relatively normal again. All it took was never giving up, a bit of ingenuity, and a solid team. If Adam's friends hadn't been there to help him, and fight for him, things would have ended up differently. So make connections with people and don't give up on the world just because some grown-ups messed it up. That's a reason to fix it, not destroy it. Three (last one for this post, I promise): Stand with your chosen family. Most people have heard the phrase blood is thicker than water. And then some people mention that a less condenced version of the phrase is that blood of the covenant is thicker than water of the womb. And then you start getting into which quote was the original one, and did it originate in this German text in the 1300s or was it this Arabic text in 1400 and so on and so forth. Also, Wikipedia wormholes exist and they are incredibly dangerous. Should we blame (or thank depending on your opinion) Crowley for that too? Anyway. The point of the phrase above could be that your loyalty to your blood family should be stronger than the water in the river of friendship. Or alternatively, that the loyalty you have for your friends of choice, honed through the trials of blood, should be stronger than the water in the womb you share with your family. My perspective: get rid of the concept of blood and water. They confuse things. In many cases, yes, I believe that family is very important and protecting your family is important too. But, not everyone has a family like mine. And even in mine, I can see where in some cases it was better for someone to choose people outside of the "blood" to give loyalty to. A person shouldn't be forced to choose one side simply because they share biological material. So my thought is that while there are people we are biologically related to who might be considered our family, family is also a choice of the individual. I consider my closest biological relatives to be my family, and I consider many of the further out biological relatives to be my family too, along with their spouses and children and in-laws. But there are also friends, non-biologically related to me friends, who I consider part of my family. Friends who I have as much loyalty to as I do to my biologically related family. Friends like Crowley and Aziraphale. Friends like Adam, Pepper, Wensleydale and Brian. Chosen family. Family they stood with regardless of what they were up against. And yes, you could bring up the fact that Pepper and Wensleydale and Brian and Dog were going to "abandon" Adam, but that's another discussion that would make this post even longer than it already is, so I'm going to leap over that rabbit hole and continue on. You can choose who you consider family, and you stand by those chosen ones. This does not mean that you can't hold them accountable to their actions. But it does mean you stand with them even as they face consequences. Stand by them, and you might just help us all avoid Armageddon. So that was a super long post, and it could have been way longer. But I'll stop here. If you have thoughts, additions, corrections, etc., just post them in the comments. Like I said, I'm always up for a good discussion. Happy Reading!
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AuthorThe author is a librarian who reads "too much" (is there such a thing?) and talks just as much. As an aspiring author she gets bogged down by grammar rules when she just wants to forget them to make a sentence flow, but never seems to be able to. She appreciates thoughtful comments and constructive criticism, but internet trolls beware, she's read enough fantasy novels to know how to defeat the monsters. Archives
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