| Kasz216 said: Are atheists actually underrepresented? To have an atheist in a show you would need. A) A show about religion or that deals with religion a lot. B) A show who also needs a counterpoint to that. Aka not a show SOLEY about religion.
I just got done watching Babylon 5 again through netflix. There are a number of atheists on that show. Or heck, Look at Star Trek. Every single person on Star Trek I think is an atheist. Outside of Worf anyway and maybe Riker. The thing is, nobody knows that... because atheism is kinda useless as a storytelling device. I mean, if Chandler from friends was an atheist. Or George Costanza or the fat guy from king of queens... how would you know? And why would you care? There is nothing you can do with an "hey i'm an atheist" angle that would work in a comedy or super drama. Basically you'd need to have it in a dramadey... and even then it's likely to be a plot point that lasts all of 1 episode because there isn't anything you can do with it. Unlike say, religions where you can have a crisis of faith or there are things you can go to. The only thing atheism is really "functional" for from a writing perspective is to show a pessimism to a greater force pulling you out of trouble. Like during a big war. |
So is the "Lord of the Rings" universe, i am still fascinated how Tolkien was able to create a Fantasy universe without Religion, Priests or Gods.
“It appeared that there had even been demonstrations to thank Big Brother for raising the chocolate ration to twenty grams a week. And only yesterday, he reflected, it had been announced that the ration was to be reduced to twenty grams a week. Was it possible that they could swallow that, after only twenty-four hours? Yes, they swallowed it.”
- George Orwell, ‘1984’
