The fact that it's called PureFlix and not CruciFlix is a big missed opportunity

Despite having vampires in it, Midnight Mass is extremely easy to suspend my disbelief. Because having grown up Catholic, it is SO BELIEVABLE that a congregation would encounter a vampire (which is an ostensibly evil entity) and truly believe it's an angel.

its weird that Midnight Mass has more respect for Religion as a concept while criticizing it than gods not dead does in its whole trilogy

"Never trust a man who likes Ayn Rand" is the best dating advice before "Never trust a man who identifies with Rick Sanchez/BoJack Horseman/The Joker." the biggest and reddest of flags all.

This feels like a college lecture meets older sister car discussion. I love it.

"michael flanagan is nailing catholicism to the cross to see if it will rise again" that was SUCH a good line, i loved this video!

Love the idea of a philosophy teacher that doesn't want to have debates. Meanwhile, my favorite philosophy professor asked us if hotdogs were sandwiches or not and just walked away to let us argue that one for an hour.

Left behind quite literally traumatized me as a young Christian girl with undiagnosed anxiety and ADHD. Instead of normal object permanence, I was convinced I would never see my family again whenever the house got too quiet because the Lord had deemed me unworthy. It fucked me up for weeks

Thank you for this, I'm obviously biased but I have to say I found it absolutely fascinating.

I personally interpreted Reilly's death a bit differently. The vision he saw was just as he described before: a dream. A dream where the woman who was plaguing him with guilt had finally forgiven him because in reality, Reilly had finally forgiven himself. In a way, he sent himself to heaven because he was finally at peace with himself.

As a Muslim the representation of the sherif is still one of my fav Muslim reps in western media especially with him getting the room to debunk stuff in that classroom (Ohhh Also the story of Abraham and his son is different in the Quran)

Midnight Mass was so so cathartic and healing for me as an atheist who was raised lutheran. Especially compared to GND that I fully bought into as a young one lol

My very Catholic mom LOVED Midnight Mass, I think she could tell it was made by someone who grew up Catholic and has complicated feelings about it(to put it lightly).

"if I can forgive you, then anyone can" seems kind of twofold even, because not only is Leeza telling Joe Collie she forgives him, she's ASKING HIM TO FORGIVE HIMSELF.

I found this because Mr Flanagan himself shared the link on Tumblr. I saw the runtime and was like oh I'll just watch it in chunks. Nah I sat through the whole thing in one go. Completely riveted. Good stuff 😊👍

The bit about Nietzsche's philosophy being co-oped by Nazis makes me so sad because in life Nietzsche vehemently opposed literally everything the Nazis would eventually support and it was only through his sister who was a die hard Nazi who purposefully appropriated his life's work after his death that Nazis have become associated with his philosophy

regarding the abraham and isaac story: your original read of it (that it’s about abraham being willing to kill his son for God and being rewarded for it) is shared by many people who like this story and you’re absolutely right that it’s horrifying. i learned a couple of years ago that there’s people that are taught of it specifically in condemnation of abraham, though, as it is pointed out that after this God never speaks to him directly ever again, so the story is taught as a failed test by abraham and not as something he was rewarded for.

I feel like a whole essay is needed on how traditional Catholic Patriarchy created so many Bev keane’s. She probably had Biblical knowledge on par with any Seminar graduate, studied theology in three languages, cleaned up bathrooms, grocery shopped and cooked for the Priest, organized charity things, invested all her time, all her sacrifices (celibacy/poverty/no hobbies/no friends cause she’s vile) and … No recognition. No promotions. No respect. No position of authority…. all because she’s not a man According to Riley’s mom, she’s always been awful…. but that sacrifice and contribution and Still no official recognition had to be just …gallons of dangerously aged psychic gasoline. Flanagan s writing never explicitly discusses that in obvious ways, but her motivations and behavior spell it out anyway.

one of my favourite lines in midnight mass is when riley's dad finds his wife and talks about how he thought that he wouldn't be able to help himself eating others but turns out he can stop himself and his wife asks if he's hungry, to which he replies that he's starving. i think it's just a really great moment of "it's wrong to eat people" vs "god has asked me to eat people" and the person in the middle who doesnt understand any of it. I'm writing this at midnight so my words might be all jumbled and i might not be getting this point across properly also i havent finished the video but just wanted to share this smol thought

"The our father is the Party in the USA of Catholic prayer" had me almost doing a spit-take.

"Just a priest standing in front of an alcoholic, asking him to become a vampire" fucking KILLED me LMAO

I've seen a lot of breakdowns of Midnight Mass but none of them ever looked at it from the viewpoint of "there's a bug flying around", and came to the conclusion that "we're just gonna be friends with it", which is why this is the best one

I felt like Midnight Mass got way too wordy in some of the monologues but I love the idea of religious people seeing the benefits of something like vampirism to be a blessing from God. Becoming superhuman through the lens if religion very well could be considered a miracle, especially when you can feed on someone and bring them back from the dead. Nevermind the fact that you can't go out in the sun and you have to drink blood, those are just "tests" of your worthiness. It's a really unique way to explain why someone would want to become a vampire. Edit: Also thank you for pronouncing Ivan with the right syllable stressed.

I am a preacher at a church in Southern America. Good Lord. I cannot believe how good this video is. I cried while watching it, and now that it is over I am going to immediately start it over and watch the whole thing again to soak it all in. The level of understanding of Christianity you’ve shown here, as well as all of the literature references were extremely impressive. I just started reading Crime and Punishment and I know what the next book I will read is going to be. I’m just so impressed. You understand it better than a lot of people in my church, and I am so glad I got to watch this. Thank you for putting this much work into this, thank you for posting it to the internet. Amazing video. Hope you are doing well.

Holy shit that “What do you want Paul?” Clip came out of nowhere and killed me

Born and raised in a Catholic household, and I giggled pretty hard at "Content Warning: This video contains discussions of Catholicism" i've just never seen that in a content warning before 😂

every time i hear westerners talk about christianity it always feels so surreal, yall are way stricter and serious-er than any church i've ever been a part of in the philippines. like the communion thing, philippine mass is pretty chill and every part is technically optional (tho grandma might give you the stink eye), and i haven't taken communion since i think 5 years now solely because our local church is a huge minor basilica and i do not want to have to queue all the way to the front and then walk back to my seat. same with the whatsitcalled, confirmation? (not sure of the english term) the only 'requirement' i've ever encountered for it is "you gotta let the teachers know you're christian and will be joining so you don't get accidentally left behind and miss it (like a field trip)".

I saw the first gods not dead in theaters with my youth group and afterwards I brought up that it didn’t really see non believers as people, only monstrous obstacles. Everyone else just sort of shrugged then moved on with other discussion, now I’m a deadling

Your take on Riley's death was a bit different from mine. I kind of saw him seeing the woman he killed forgiving him as exactly the kind of death he predicted he might have: That was his final dream to end all dreams.

The idea of "unsaved" people existing as prizes to evangelicals is a really sharp point!

Watching the GND movies from the perspective of a dark comedy makes them infinitely more entertaining.

Michael Flannagan is one of my favs creators. Bly manor broke my heart, hill house was inspiring, midnight mass was… amazing good lord. The visuals ❤

love the creation and use of the term deadling

This video convinced me to watch midnight mass lol. but goddamn, the level of dedication and research put into this is *immaculate*

i wasnt raised religious at all, so i couldnt really relate to midnight mass, of course that doesnt mean i didnt enjoy it, hell its one of my favorite shows BECAUSE the concept is so alien to me. but the best thing was watching it with my catholic stepmom. shes very chill about religion, doesnt try to convert anyone or make them abide by the dogma, she doesnt follow much of it anyways. her perspective really helped me see the nuances that i couldnt really understabd on my own. we talked about our feelings about religion and the church, its hypocrisies and all, bonded over hating bev and crying over how beautiful rahul kohli is. really expanded my view of catholicism.

First of all, thank you for talking about Midnight Mass because I watched it a year ago and it was A THING. I grew up Baptist not Catholic but my Mom was raised Catholic so that flavor definitely seeped into my life and Bev is very universal in all types of Christian communities. Second, as someone raised by ppl with seminary degrees, I LOVE the thoroughness of thought and philosophy you are serving here, this essay is amazing and I'm so happy YT rec'd it. Can't wait to see what you do next.

the chair creaking in agreement throughout the entire video is what's single handedly keeping me alive during my 5:00 AM no sleep binge.

Hi, decided to comment as a 17 year old girl rewatching this for the second time to fully grasp everything you point out in this video. I’m from Slovenia and I was raised in a village with population of 100-200 people and going to church (we’re catholics) since I was born. I was literally an altar-girl for almost 10 years. After I finished confirmation I sort of moved to the capital city of Slovenia to pursue my education, completely stopped going to church (first visit since then was literally a month ago when I went to midnight mass for christmas). I became an atheist and the first one to quote Marx with “religion is the opium for the masses” hahah. Can’t really say I have religious trauma, but I definitely had some bad experiences, especially with the people you would describe as “devout christians”. Lately I have been watching a lot of videos like this one, making me question my decisions and opinions about religion, but basically I just wanted to say that I can only aspire to one day reach this form of intellectualism and extraspection that you get to in this video. I just want to say THANK YOU and if you ever have the time to make a sequel I would love to hear your takes on the series Lucifer, because I think they make an interesting interpretation of how religious figures would act and behave in the “real world” in these times and how mortals react to it. I certainly have some disagreements about some interpretations made in the series based on the knowledge I gained raised in the catholic church. Have a great day and thanks again!

Mike Flanagan sent me here. I'm listening to this in bed to wind down instead of a Cillian Murphy book narration. Subscribed.

Watching Midnight Mass has gotta be the most religious and/or connected to god I’ve felt in years. Which is kinda ironic, but I just really related to Riley as a character and seeing this analysis and having it all laid out is just so interesting! It makes me want to rewatch the show even though I literally finished it Last Night.

I'm 40 minutes in (after having watched the Snapewives video) and I have to say, I have always loved philosophy/religious studies/anthropology but went another route when deciding what to study at university. Your approach of applying these concepts and analysis to popular media is fascinating and so so interesting. This made me want to revisit all the authors and thinkers that high-school made me like, but also label as "old dudes that are interesting but maybe not that relevant anymore". Looking forward to finishing the video and to your future work!

After watching the first 30 minutes of this video, I was so intrigued by Midnight Mass that I went and watched the whole 7 hours of it. And I loved it. The way it was shot, acted, the writing, everything was so perfect. I loved the way they frequently kept the 'focal point' of scenes to the sides of the frame, encouraging you to look at everything in the shot, the positions of the camera, the way they use your instincts in that one shot in episode 2, the way the reverend played his part...it was so nice to watch a show so clearly crafted with so much love and attention to detail. Thank you so much for introducing me to this series. I probably would never have watched it otherwise. On the flip side, it sparked a whole religious debate with my mum, who is a Jesus person, where I am not. Which was kind of frustrating, but I was the one to bring it up, so I guess that's on me, lol.

this taught me more than an entire semester in a religious philosophy class did edit: i just got to the part where you talk about abraham's bible story and i always thought the same thing and i grew up very catholic...oh my god you just blew my mind i was always so frustrated cause i didn't get why we were supposed to think this was a beautiful story cause to me it was just horrifying

Loved this so much! Gotta say though, this opened my eyes to something I was not at all aware of. I was raised Mormon (though I ended up leaving the church) and your original interpretation of the Abraham and Isaac story IS what I was taught. By my bishop, by my teachers, by my community, by the children's and teenage media I was fed, and even by the Prophet and Apostles, I was taught the interpretation that God will ask us hard things and it was purely a story of obedience in the face of a monstrous command. I was taught that the ram WAS the reward for his obedience along with the implication that God likely would have killed Isaac anyway if Abraham hadn't obeyed, as it was through him that the promise his offspring would multiply to fill the earth would be fulfilled. It's such a surreal experience to have this new perspective on the story, especially since I haven't been a theist for years and that story had fully fallen back to unconscious memory.

Thank you for this thoughtful analysis. As someone who has struggled to reconcile faith for many years, Midnight Mass remains a pinnacle of me understanding my religious trauma and how to move forward. Thank you for articulating so many thoughts and feelings I've had over the years. Great video!

whenever i'm stoned i gravitate toward your channel and find myself binge-watching all of your videos lol. they're incredible. i wish i could write essays even a tiny bit as good as yours, i'm studying writing and literature, i should be good at essays, but they always turn out badly for me. i can write poetry and stories but essays elude me. i just want my goddamn degree so i can get a job i might not hate ;-; i'm so tired.

I'm only just starting the video but I was raised by Baptists and it blows my fucking mind hearing someone having a religious upbringing and not being intimately familiar revelations early enough to be permanently scarred. I knew that shit before the loaves and fishes

I'm here because Mike Flanagan himself recced and posted this video to his Tumblr!

im literally BEGGING YOU to release the ending song on spotify or KZfaq or LITERALLY ANYWHERE I LOVE IT

This is the best video essay I've seen in years. It's thoughtful, well written, well told and has so many good questions

This randomly came on with autoplay from a horror movie review guide. Had never heard of this channel. Instantly in love. I have a new pretend digital best friend.

As someone who still identifies as Catholic I adore Midnight Mass and I loved this break down, it's such an important critical analysis

The shame I feel at having seen God's Not Dead in theatres when I was a kid....I remember doing the thing at the end, and texting " God's not dead" top everyone in my phone at the time. Pure cringe. I hate the movie now. The cases of "Christan persecution" listed at the end of the film.... they were just mad that college counselors can't refuse services to gay students who pay tuition like everyone else.

I can only imagine what it was like trying to pull all this together. You covered so many complicated and nuanced concepts in a way that was intelligent and genuinely human. It was brilliant and I was riveted

I feel like the plot of Midnight mass in some ways is like a slightly exaggerated mirror to how I experienced losing my faith. I was raised Catholic, went to church every Sunday attended Catholic school. But I’m also Canadian and as part of our Social Studies curriculum we learn about the historic tragedy that was the Catholic run residential schools. These schools weee used by the church and the state to mandate Indigenous assimilation into the predominantly English and French Catholic culture. Hundreds of children died at the hands of abusive priests and Nuns. And the few others who survived are dealing with trauma so bad it’s affected them for generations. It took me five years to unpack my feelings around God and cognitive dissonance. And another five to untangle myself from the church and its community. If God is real, then he has created genocide, if not by commandment then by inaction. And if God is perfect then he cannot exist. For folks with the means and desire to help out Canadian First Nation, Inuit, and Métis groups, here an article of relevant charities: circleacts.org/best-indigenous-people-charities-nonprofits/ It may also be of interest to seek out the stories regarding residential school victims from their own communities to understand the issue in more depth, as it’s not my story to tell.

as a recovering catholic Midnight Mass was such a cathartic and yet traumatic view. I loved it. it dug out stuff I had kept buried for 20 years. 1000/10 would recommend.

When I first watched MM I was wretched for about two weeks, prone to crying jags, totally raw. It was just exactly what I needed, a wonderful dose of suffering and religious trauma. But after I stopped crying, screaming and throwing up, I remember thinking to myself that all my favorite KZfaqrs were atheist or Jewish, or just generally not super familiar with Christianity or it's associated literature, so I was unlikely to get a good analysis from anyone I already knew of and that I would have to keep my eye out for a KZfaqr who could unpack it as the story deserves. Thank you so much for this ❤ I'm a wreck all over again ❤

ex-muslim, still living in a muslim household in a completely muslim country. i doubt i will ever truly be able to escape the clutches of this ideology into which i was born, but midnight mass gave me such a profound catharsis as i watched it, i felt like i was freed from something.

I mean this in the best way possible, this was a gorgeous sermon. It reminded me of what I loved about Christianity, the meant to be unconditional love of neighbors and bottomless redemption and forgiveness. There is and will always be beauty in those ideals, but they are achievable outside of the Christian bounds.

You mentioned Muslim input, so I’m hoping you allow links: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ecB2n6mcrLmwfaM.html I have really enjoyed seeing detailed breakdowns of this amazing show. I’m really surprised your video didn’t show up during one of my many searches!

It's very interesting to me that you equate the catholic ethos with "spiritual capitalism". I actually feel that the catholic ethos is closer to something like feudalism (there's absolutely the guilt thing, but also, "just be content with your lot in life, PEASANT"), and protestantism (and especially American evangelism) is pure capitalism to me (besides the historial links between capitalism and protestantism, the whole sickly sweet toxic positivity and "let's pretend that anyone can make it if they work hard/believe enough" thing). One is more primitive and grim and directly limiting, the other more modern and fakely happy and pretends to be "freeing" and to have social/spiritual mobility. I've never felt the capitalist thing in European catholicism, more like the "you have to stay in your place and like it" kind of thing. I'll admit, despite not believing nor practicing either, the honest brutality of catholicism in nearer to my heart than the capitalist realism nightmare of protestantism. Don't want to offend anyone, just my own gut feelings. (Source : me, an ex-catholic from Europe).

THE OUR FATHER IS THE PARTY IN THE USA I CHOKED

This won't be the most informed version out there (I''m running off a week's study during undergrad on the binding of Isaac) but I think there's some interesting layers to the story of Abraham and Isaac in some earlier versions: Firstly, there's an interesting context in that people sacrificing their children to God wasn't that uncommon in the period (normally after a disaster). 4 Maccabbes discusses a woman who ended up sacrificing seven of her sons in this way and some versions even extend 4 Maccabbes 14 to include a passage where she sends one of her surviving children to criticise Abraham for his pride (verse 26 according to my notes, though all versions I can find with a google search cut 4Maccabbes at 14:20 which suggests these verses are like the ones in Daniel where he fights a dragon with rice cakes [i.e. cut out for being weird]). So Abraham's command to kill Isaac isn't unusual for God in the old Testament. The weirdest part is that He's asking Abraham seemingly before the disaster. The second one though is the kicker. There's debate in early versions about whether the ram Abraham sacrifices was sent by God (the angel appearing only in later translations). Some scholars have suggested that the story is actually Abraham going up the mountain and then trying to fool God into thinking he's killed his son, because he legitimately can't go through with it. This reading is weird and I don't remember enough to put it fully in context, but I like to think that it speaks to a God who's relationship with Abraham would let a failed test slide. Anyway, I'm sure there's more that could be said on Abraham and Isaac, but those are the two facts I remember. I'm really enjoying these videos! Not much in the media criticism field puts my BA in Philosophy and Theology to use.

I'm here because Mike Flanagan himself just recommended your video essay on twitter.

I just wanna say, I admire Mike Flanagan so much. The easter eggs of constantly using similar or the same actors in his projects, his personal touch in directing and his story telling is always top notch. Just absolutely amazing.

as someone raised baptist i never heard about solomon being left in hell and building a church there! what in the world?? i feel like i've missed out on so much lore! lol

midnight mass changed my life (grew up with a lot of religious trauma)

Oh my god how have I never been suggested this video before! As someone who was raised southern Baptist (all the guilt of Catholicism but none of the style) I was extremely bitter towards Christianity for a while since it basically traumatized me. But recently I’ve been extremely interested in the philosophy and the stories of Christianity as a separate entity from “The Church” and it’s been such a healing experience. I absolutely LOVED midnight mass and this video is so ridiculously interesting I’ve loved every second. You have a new sub! Thank you for your perspective and thoughts :)

“By the time Father Paul is just a priest…standing in front of an alcoholic…asking him to become a vampire -“ That’s not my biggest takeaway from this, but it’s a funny one :’)

i don't have a thoughtful comment to add at this point but i just want to say this was incredible. your writing, the way you uniquely string concepts together, your presence on screen, the narrative, the humour, its just chefs kiss. looking forward to seeing more!

11:46 - ironically, Nietzche was highly opposed to anti-Semitism. Some of his work regarding justice and envy unfortunately played into some anti-Semitic tropes, but he was still highly against antisemitism himself. His SISTER though.... big time Nazi. She reorganized some of his works in a way that made it appear to support Nazism and it's practices. I personally think Nietzche didn't support eugenics either. Partly because he himself probably would've been targeted. He was fairly blind, and disabled ppl do not benefit from eugenics. Like the Ubermensch wasn't supposed to be a physically super man. He just played into the idea of one metaphorically... but the idea was that the uber mensch makes his own rules. The definition of Ubermensch on Google gives you "the ideal superior man of the future who could rise above conventional Christian morality to create and impose his own values, originally described by Nietzsche in Thus Spake Zarathustra". Because a big part of his philosophy was that ideas of good and evil.... we made all that up. Which means we can remake it, and change it. It's part of why his work is so influential on modern political theory. The idea that we made everything up.... it's a big part of a lot of modern political thought. In fact, ACTUAL Superman plays into this-and he was made by two Jewish men. He followed his own values of truth and justice. Of honesty and compassion. And he didn't see himself as super because of it. Which is what made him a true ubermensch. An ubermensch doesn't think of himself as an ubermensch. But again, his sister republished his works, and seems to have left that part out.

This was so incredibly well researched and so in depth that it’s rocketed up to be one of my favorite video essays I’ve ever watched. You’ve even convinced me to read Dostoevsky which is a feat 😂

This is going in my "rewatch endlessly" rotation immediately

Wow. Just this incredible, hilarious, thoughtful, creative commentary which is going to go make Midnight Mass again. Came here because Flanagan referenced it. But, holy moly, I was raised Catholic, in Puerto Rico, which is well, extra Catholic, which is why Midnight Mass was so moving, and special to me. But this makes me see it anew.

GORGEOUS VIDEO! I wasn’t raised Christian but I now identify as Christian, partly thanks to how Midnight Mass reframed the whole institution for me. I’m also going to study theology at university next year; this video is full of what I love in respectful debates - intersectionality!

I've watched this video so many times all my KZfaq ads are Christian conversion ads.

Girl, these videos are great! Imma need more!

This video is incredible. You made the very academic parts so easy to understand! Motivating me to actually work on my uni essays. Also your song burn down is beautiful please put it somewhere else too !!!

This channel is deeply and drastically under appreciated. I can’t even describe how much of a changer you’re going to be. Holy shit.

Fantastic essay. You got me extremely interested in two bit of media I haven't seen and Christian/catholic dogma. Sweet.

midnight mass is one of my all time favorite shows. SO powerful and the characters feel real and human. loved your video! youre entertaining and have good taste hehe

This is the video that started me down my path of deconstruction ( of my faith ) and I just wanted to come back and say thank you.

As an ex-Catholic and private school kid who loved Midnight Mass, I honestly cackled, paused, and subscribed when you said you got kicked out of CCD.

Learning the plot of Midnight Mass solely through this video was a trip. It was a good trip and one where I got a lot more out of it with all the references you were able to provide than if I watched it directly, but it was also a trip with moments where, after an hour about an AA meeting involving a discussion of theology, I thought the horror mentioned in the genre was a psychological horror, and then suddenly a vampire leapt across the screen and ate someone.

i cant believe this has less than 200 likes this is incredible. im so bad at commenting on videos but i really feel like you haven't gotten enough recognition for the effort put in here. this was so easy to watch and listen to and so insightful and thoughtful. I can't wait to see more videos from you and go back and watch the others!!!

Watched up until the morality of eating people and then went to watch Midnight Mass. I loved it, and probably wouldn’t have seen it if not for you. Came back and watched the rest of your vid of course. Thank you.

i think i've watched this 3 hour video essay around 4 times now. biz, i think you own my life. i've recommended this to so many mf people and i come back to it religiously (ha). you make quite literally incredible content

I hate to say that KZfaq has been feeding your videos to me on my fyp for the last week or so and at first I resisted clicking… I’m glad I finally did because these are incredible!! I cannot believe you haven’t blown up yet.

Ever since I watched Midnight Mass back at the end of 2021 I have wanted a video like this, someone thoughtfully deep-diving into this show that had such interesting and poignant things to say about faith and organized religion. Turns out you made the video I have longed for MONTHS ago!! The GND parallels were just icing on the cake, haha. THANK YOU for all your hard work; it really shines through.

I fucking love Midnight Mass, It is one of the very VERY rare cases of a movie or show portraying Christians as well as ashiest both very well written, and respectful of the believes held by the characters. It's really funny and ultimately VERY SAD the way Hollywood seems to always pick a side, Like had midnight mass been made by someone less capable and letting the studio guide them it would have been like every other movie where you can tell the movie was leaning really hard into the Christian bad and stupid and wrong which is what Hollywood usually does with such a subject. But when I heard that midnight mass was being made by the same dude that made oculus I was Pleasantly surprised. Than upon watching MM I was floored, and instantly made everyone I know who likes thoughtful or horror stuff. The talk between The devout Woman and the atheist was so good and you do not get a feel for the film makers Views as he treats both perspectives as valid and correct. I personally am not a Christian or religious but I was raised a preachers kid and going to church twice a week most of my life. I am grateful for all the values they taught me, and it hurts me when I see how they are treated most of the time. Like if you don't believe the same as they do that is perfectly ok, doesn't mean that they are stupid or any less of a person than the rest of us. I guess what I'm saying is Midnight Mass is amazing, and everyone please just treat everyone else like they are fellow people. Even if we all hold completely contrasting and different believes. Lets just Love one another for fuck sake. :)

I am so glad I watched this whole thing because your mind-break level of angst at the Isaac story at like one-hour-thirty? That's EXACTLY how I feel about the Job story. It's just TEXTBOOK abusive relationship experience, right there! G-d agrees to ruin the life of a super-cool dude who LOVED HIM and did everything RIGHT, all because his best buddy S-tan said, "If you destroyed his life for no reason, this guy would hate you." To which G-d said, "Bet." (makes angry hand-pointing gestures at Job 1:1-12) And yeah, maybe The Faithful can have a reading where it's a LOVE STORY, where it's INSPIRING that Job BELIEVES that G-d is doing this "for his own good" or like, "He doesn't really mean it." Or worse, "I must have done something to deserve it." CUZ LIKE, this is the year two-thousand-and-somethin?? We CARE about toxic relationship behavior now??? And this AWFUL??? (granted, that was the old testament god, and there's a robust argument to be made that it's literally A DIFFERENT GOD between OT and NT. But still. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth, dude.)

oh the english major-ness of that reference list. Chef's kiss

One fun thing I learned in researching Abrahamic religion (for a writing project) was that *on top* of Jesus showing up in both the NT and the Quran; the angel Gabriel is not only used to tell various women they are about to conceive miraculously (Mary and Salome, who happens to be Mary's cousin... very soap opera of the NT... anyway), Gabriel also is the angel who hangs out (off and on) in a cave over 13+ years with Muhammad as he's writing out the Quran. So yeah, there's a lot of fun overlap between characters that get utilized differently. PS. I'm an hour into this video and it's awesome.

I haven't gotten there yet, but I noticed a section ahead is titled, "what do you want, Paul?" and if I don't get a starkid clip when I arrive there, I'm gonna riot. Edit: I have literally never been more satisfied in my entire life

Created a new playlist called "life changing" for this video essay. Thank you so much for making this. I was raised very much a "God's Not Dead" type of Christian and have been battling my own feelings that blind faith without independent moral thought is not enough, and what to do about that. I feel your analysis of Riley has helped me get one step further toward an answer. Will be checking out the brothers karamozov. Thank you!

i had to finish this in two days and this... this is beautiful. i needed this video and i think allah continues to lead me to places like this in order to feel secure and comfortable despite knowing i will stay questioning. your work was impeccable, the way you tie themes and stories together with transitions -- just a masterful script, i hope you give yourself lots of credit. that was very informative but also very powerful. thank you for this.

Riley being taken to heaven by an angel makes sense in the context of the show. As an atheist watching Midnight Mass, I had just figured he was hallucinating.

Great Video! And thanks for the out of nowhere starkid reference, that broke me for a sec xD Also same with the Isaak story, also always had your reading, didn't even know the other one existed (but I was raised catholic, so maybe they were more pro the fearing god side)

The whole video waiting for the clip where Riley's mom says "you aren't a good person" and i was worth it, sooo good, love it, chef's kiss

4:49 I got “asked politely not to come back” after interrupting the ark story for asking too many questions about the boat. I was 8.