Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Pop Theology

Home
Progressive Christian
Religious Music & Entertainment
The Leftovers: Cynics, Fools, and Prophetic Hyperbole

The Leftovers: Cynics, Fools, and Prophetic Hyperbole

Last updated on: June 30, 2014 at 1:34 pm by J. Ryan Parker

The Leftovers: Cynics, Fools, and Prophetic Hyperbole 2014-06-30T13:34:20-07:00 J. Ryan Parker

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Yesterday morning at church, we discussed Jacques Lacan‘s notions of the cynic and the fool and their application to the Jesus narrative. In some circles, this would be about as offensive as last night’s HBO premier of The Leftovers, Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta‘s new post-rapture series based on the latter’s book. Only a few minutes into the pilot episode, I found myself comparing the series (or at least its potential) to our discussions in church earlier that day.

For a brief, but insightful, overview of Lacan’s discussion of the cynic and the fool, check out Tad DeLay’s post on the subject. Here’s an even shorter summary that I’ve cribbed from that post:

Liberal leaders [fools] do indeed tend to act as if they truly believe in the causes they promote. […] Lacan says that liberalism acts exactly this way: here are a thousand genuinely good causes for which we should receive your vote—hopefully, you will not realize we did so little to change anything while in office.

On the other hand:

The most important thing the knave [or cynic…conservative leaders] must do is keep unconscious what he knows to be true. The rightwing leader is not foolish enough to believe in the conspiracies he promotes—he is far too educated and experienced to fall for this—but he promotes the conspiracy nonetheless in order to tell the tribe what it wants to hear.

This dichotomy finds expression in the Jesus narrative, particularly in Jesus’ engagement with the pious religious leaders of his day. Rather than simply dismissing their restrictive laws (and obsession with them) out of hand, he embraces them fully, over-identifying with them in order to expose their shortcomings. In this sense, DeLay argues, Jesus begins to play a twisted version of the fool or, to use another one of Lacan’s descriptions, the jester. In our conversation yesterday, we referenced two specific examples of this from Mark 7 and 9, Jesus discussing what actually defiles a person and Jesus giving instructions on how to keep from stumbling in sin respectively.

The concluding verses of Mark 9 brings us to another notion that closely parallels the cynic/fool dichotomy, prophetic hyperbole. Consider this verse: “‘If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire'” (Mark 9: 43). Jesus issues a hyperbolic command here that he in no way expects his audience to follow. Jesus doesn’t really mean that we should start amputating limbs or removing eyeballs, and, I would argue, even the most devout literalists don’t live like they truly believe Jesus meant it either. But we can easily detect the deeper message at play here, that we should take seriously the way we live and move in the world around us. I think these two themes, the cynic/fool dichotomy and prophetic hyperbole, form something of a spiritual, theological backbone for The Leftovers.

Here’s what, narratively, we know about the series so far, which isn’t much…it’s a Lindelof series after all. On October 14th, 2% of the world’s population disappeared…or about one in every 50 persons. Three years later, the remnant plot on with no answers. The clergy have given up on it being the rapture…unless God works in mysterious ways because they count the Pope and Gary Busey among the departed. Moreover, not all young children disappeared either. As one character says, “We’re fairly certain, sir, that God sat this one out.”

Officer Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux)

In the pilot, we meet some of the major players in the small town of Mapleton, police officer Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux), his wife Laurie (Amy Brenneman), who has joined a mysterious cult called the Guilty Remnant, their daughter Jill (Margaret Qualley), and son Tom (Chris Zylka), who works for another cultish figure, Wayne (Paterson Joseph), who may or may not have ties to the Guilty Remnant. Members of the Guilty Remnant dress in all white, take vows of silence, and chain smoke to express their belief in, I assume, some sort of divinity or afterlife.

Members of the Guilty Remnant

While the characters and their stories are intriguing, they are trumped by the setting in which Perrotta and Lindelof have placed them. Three years after the “rapture,” the world seems to be operating on the verge of anarchy. Life seems to have lost all meaning for those left behind: Tom drops out of college, people commit suicide, high schoolers play insane versions of spin the bottle (add choking and burning to hooking up), and people lash out violently against one another seemingly without repercussion. Oh…and a pack of wild dogs plague the small town of Mapleton.

I’ve seen almost every post-rapture/post-apocalyptic film and series out there, and nothing is as unsettling as the world of The Leftovers. While other films and series trade in cliches like over-the-top breakdown of societies or survivors resorting to cannibalism, for example, Perrotta and Lindelof seem to be addressing this scenario far more intelligently. For those who believe that this is how the future of humanity will go, The Leftovers plays it straight and takes it to its (il)logical conclusions. In the process, Perrotta and Lindelof assume the role of pop culture jester, calling the whole notion of the Rapture into question: who would believe this and, moreover, what kind of God would ordain this? For those of you who hold out hope for the Rapture, remember that it’s based less on Scripture and more on the visions of a Scottish teenage girl living in the 1800s.

A Maplteton statue commemorating the departed.

To be sure, more conservative viewers will be put off by The Leftovers‘ images of violence and sex and pervasive four-letter words. Some viewers might deem it all a bit excessive, but this is where we get into the prophetic hyperbole theme. By filling the pilot with these images, Perrotta and Lindelof create a world that has lost all meaning. What do morality, sexuality, belief, or devotion mean in a world where such an inexplicable phenomenon takes place? As shocking as some of these images may be, they should also force us to look at our own lives and societies, which, frighteningly enough, often appear just as disturbing and meaningless. There’s nothing in The Leftovers‘ pilot that is as horrific as a Sandy Hook, for example.

I don’t know where the rest of the series is going (I haven’t read the book), but I can’t wait to find out. If it keeps up the pace and direction of the pilot, The Leftovers should be one of the most talked about new series of the year.

The Leftovers airs on HBO on Sunday nights at 10.

NOTE: Big thanks to Tad DeLay for helping me think through these themes.

Television

Previous Post

June 16, 2014

The Sixties Were Groovy -- But So Is Today

Next Post

July 4, 2014 Long Train Runnin'

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Classics DVD Film Music News Pop Culture Events Print Sports Television Uncategorized Video Games

Select a Month March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I saw the Promised Land from a mountain but was not allowed to enter it. Who am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Caleb Moses Joshua Aaron