Gnosticism
has enjoyed a quiet integration into modern popular culture. While
Gnosticism itself may be widely regarded as an esoteric religion, it
has penetrated today’s modern society. Gnosticism is prevalent
throughout every aspect and media of popular culture including
literature, comic books, film, television and music.
Perhaps
one of the most commercially successful novels of the 20th century, Dan Brown’s The
Da Vinci Code, draws
upon Gnostic scriptures, The
Nag Hammadi Library,
and also includes re-interpretations of Gnostic themes. Russian
novelist Vladimir Nabokov may be most well known for Lolita,
however, his work Invitation
to a Beheading is
closely related to Gnosticism. The main character is found guilty of “Gnostic turpitude” and is thought to be better than his
fellow, average countrymen. The entire novel is diary of this man as
he awaits his unknown be-heading date. His personal insights of the
world reflect his gnosis that he is the only real person in the universe, and it is because of
this knowledge that he is to be killed. Anatole France authored a
novel entitled The
Revolt of the Angels,
in which the story of an unhappy guardian angel is weaved with the
doctrine of Yaldabaoth to a satiric effect. Beatnik poet Allen Ginsberg uses several Gnostic
terms such as Elohim, Aeon
and Sophia.
Comics
are also known to display Gnostic themes. The universe that is
detailed in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman
series is very Gnostic in nature. The cosmological
structure
details many Gnostic archetypical figures that control human nature
at various times. Marvel Comics (responsible for such well-known
characters such as Spider Man, Iron Man, the X-Men, the Hulk,
Wolverine, Captain America and many others) depicts a universe in
which its origins are described using Gnostic mythemes. The most
notable of these would be the notion of a subordinate creator of the
universe.
There
are also several films that incorporate Gnostic themes and terms. A
very notable movie that uses lots of Gnostic influences is Vanilla
Sky. In this movie,
one of the main characters is named Sophia. This movie along with
several other Hollywood blockbusters (including The
Matrix, Pleasantville,The Truman Show,Twelve Monkeys,Groundhog Day
and The Island
) compare the Gnostic cosmological myth with the presentation of an
illusory world, one that is created with the intention of restrict
its inhabitants. Ultimately, the key to unraveling this illusion and
perceiving reality without the obstruction of the illusory world is
through a form of self-knowledge
and gnosis. This may also suggest a dualist
world throughout these Gnostic films.
The
television series Doctor
Who ended in a 2005
finale that incorporated many Gnostic themes. The show ended with a
Gnostic allegory that employed such notable Gnostic characters as theDemiurge
and archons.
Another television show that has notable Gnostic tones is an anime
series entitled Full
Metal Alchemist. It
is thought that the Gnostic ideas throughout the show are attributed
to the influence of Gnostic thinking on some real-world Alchemist systems. Popular sci-fi show Stargate
SG1 also heavily
incorporates Gnostic elements into its plot. Gnosticism is even more
prevalent during the ninth season of the show, in which the race of
the Ori is introduced. The Ori are a race of ascended beings that
deceive and oppress humanity for the purpose of deriving energy from
humanity to fuel their own selfish ascension.
Gnosticism
has also managed to permeate music. Tori Amos explores her
influences in her book Piece
by Piece. In the first
two chapters of her book, Tori Amos discusses the fact that she
believes that Mary
Magdalene authored the fourth Gospel of the apostles. Bill Nelson’s
album Close Encounters
in the Garden of Lights is extremely Gnostic in nature, especially considering that the
majority of the thirty eight
songs on the album have Gnostic themed names. The most Gnostic of
these could be: “Female Nebula” (likely a reference to Sophia), “Little Daughters of Light” and “Body of Light” (both of which may refer to Adamas
of Light).
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