MovieChat Forums > Wire in the Blood (2002) Discussion > This series sure is cynical about religi...

This series sure is cynical about religion.

posted 14 years ago by Screen-7
29 replies | jump to latest

"Wire in the Blood" sure makes religion seem creepy and dangerous.

I'm a religious person and am well-aware that lots of evil is done in the name of religion -- so I don't resent TV shows portraying those stories.

However, "Wire in the Blood" doesn't counterbalance it with good religious characters.

The only exception I can remember is that the Hermione Norris character insinuates she is Catholic in season two (I think) -- it's like a five second scene but better than nothing I suppose. .

Other than that -- religion is creepy creepy creepy.

(I haven't watched the whole series, so maybe it gets better in season three.)

Anyone else notice this?

[–] puirt-a-beul 13 years ago

However, "Wire in the Blood" doesn't counterbalance it with good religious characters.

It has no obligation to.

I'm not being anti-religion, I just don't think you can take it personally or single out this one aspect of Wire in the Blood's bleakness. The show is ceaselessly dark about most human behaviour and beliefs, not just religion.

I honestly don't think it's trying to say religion as such is "creepy and dangerous", nor all believers, but that what some people do with it certainly is. And I think you'd have to agree that's true to life.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 13 years ago

In my experience religion is rubbish. In most democratic countries there are hundreds, maybe thousands of different sects, cults, branches of churches, mosques and temples. All of them say they are the true path and all the other ones are devil--filled or worse. With so many they can't all be true. Religion is devisive. Forget it and read a good comic book or detective novel. Or you could play folf or climb a rock. U don't need religion to tell which way the wind blows.

Let it be unsaid: insignificance is the locus of true increpation.

[–] multiplepov-1 12 years ago

This series sure is cynical about religion.

The priest in "Synchronicity" is a nice guy. A small portion of the serial killers in this show are religious loons. A large portion of the serial killers are likely anti-religious. So what's there to whine about? Does the OP expect all the "good" people to be believers and all the "bad" people to be avowed atheists?

This is one of the extremely few shows I can think of with an atheist hero. There are a lot more with an overtly religious hero.

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"I've always resisted the notion that knowledge ruined paradise." Prof. Xavier

[–] dogstar-12 12 years ago

Yes, that priest was a decent sort. I liked his line about "no salesmen at your door."

Plus, Fielding's son is shown to be religious himself, in the same episode as the doomsday cult. That episode was probably making a point - some religious people are decent and some are manipulative psychos who use religion for their own means. What did Tony say about that cult leader - "He should never have been given a bible?" Kind of hard to argue with that.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] unruhe-3 12 years ago

All of them say they are the true path and all the other ones are devil--filled or worse. With so many they can't all be true.

Bollocks. Not all religions are exclusive; many accommodate beliefs of other traditions. One need only look at the evolution of Buddhism to see that. Even Christianity, which as a credal religion is inescapably exclusive, incorporated elements of earlier belief systems into its own formative theology (Judaism, Roman Mithraism, etc); Patristic Christian theology is thoroughly Platonic and Neoplatonic.

[–] fanaticita 12 years ago

Religion = chosing faith
Science = facts and a lot of theories.

"Just the facts, ma'am." I go for that!

[–] chuggliams 10 years ago

Late to the party here but they're showing repeats of this on ITV3 at the moment (I'm watching the 1st part of the excellent 'Mermaids Singing' as I write this).
I've watched every episode at one point or another and I've never really considered it to have a particularly strong opinion about religion, either for or against.
As it's about serial killers in general, I suppose that there would be a few 'religious nutters' involved, mainly because they tend to xcuse to absolve themselves of responsibility

[–] Sidewindr 7 years ago

Bollocks. Not all religions are exclusive; many accommodate beliefs of other traditions. One need only look at the evolution of Buddhism to see that.

Don't go lumping us Buddhists in with religions .. Buddhism is NOT a religion....

[–] 7 years ago

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[–] dvickers 7 years ago

But all religion is creepy and dangerous. What else but religion could get away with threatening children that unless they believe a certain thing they will burn in hell for all eternity. What they call religion I call child abuse!

[–] Sidewindr 7 years ago

I would change that slightly .. All ORGANISED religions are creepy, dangerous and bad. Their core teachings are good but it is the organisation around the religion that is the root of the evil.

[–] dvickers 7 years ago

Organised or not, adults believing in fairy stories that they then pass on to their children is slowing the development of the human race. The core teaching is always make the rest of the world think as you think using whatever means available to you.

[–] McQualude (4231) 4 years ago

I grew up in a very religious environment, church 3-4x/week, prayer meetings, revivals, random things are sinful; and what I learned is that people who become very religious are repressing a lot of guilt and many are creeps. Christianity lets them "off the hook" because all they have to do is ask Jesus for forgiveness and it goes away. If Christianity taught that you had to make amends to those you've wronged, including confessing to crimes, it wouldn't be a popular religion. It's no accident that pedophiles are drawn to the priesthood. I have never seen anything positive come from religion, not one thing.

[–] [deleted] 2 years ago

never heard of this series

[–] HellFire (49) 2 days ago

Religion should always be made fun of. It's nonsense.