Every week, Calvin presents you a film or a series which will be perfect for your spliff of the day.
Présentation: Since the 10th of March, Amazon Prime launches a new episode every week of the second season of its American Gods.
Based on the Best-Seller by Neil Gailman (who is also the source for the fantastic ‘Sandman’ of DC Comics), the series sees ancient gods face off, misled by the story of the ‘New Gods’.
We find Odin, in the form of an old con-man fighting the great vices of a society of consumption. Média, a polymorph goddess, the Technical Kid, who changes 1s to 0s and who hills without conscience. Finally, Mr World, old god of the trees who sacrificed nature on the alter of progress. The living archetype of globalisation.
The series presents a large number of passionate secondary stories, in which we can find the Queen of Saba, on her own Tinder, more Jesus’s than you could count, a disillusioned Djinn and two Egyptian gods who became undertakers.
Why should you watch this high: the show is magnificent, stuffed with psychedelic special effects and majestic sceneries: it is highly recommended to watch on a big screen, or as the author of this article recommends; with a Playstation VR headset which makes you feel like you’re at the cinema.
The dialogues are of great quality, with characters that are well defined and interact often, in unpredictable ways.
The cast is filled with talented actors among which you’ll find Gilian Anderson (X-Files), Pablo Schreiber (Orange is the new black) and Crispin Glover (Back to the Future)
This adaptation is probably the best series possible for a fan of comics. Its creator, Neil Gailman is a legend of comic-books for adults and uses gods as a post-modern archetype. After all, superheroes are simply characters of modern mythology. It’s the perfect occasion to leave with a philosophic introspection, to open a discussion with a friend or just to trip at all the punchlines from the numerous characters.
The cult moment: In the second episode of the first season.
The first sight of Mr Nancy (the African god Anansi in a motley costume). Called to help by slaves who have been taken against their will, he finds himself on a slave-ship to America.
Mr Nancy (Orlando Jones) explains to these poor buggers what is waiting for them in a prophetic discourse that makes them forsee a difficult tomorrow: ‘Be mad. Madness is useful. You have cried for me and I tell you that 300 years of slavery, racist stupidities and cardiac arrests await you’
”
The word of the end: it is quite ironic to find such a series on the streaming service Amazon, temple of consumption and tax avoidance. In particular as we see society today in a similar battle in France: 2500 independent libraries are launching a digital platform to take-back the power of culture.
Moral of the story? If you would like to join the battle, make the most of Amazon Prime’s first month free. But watch out, Mr World knows everything about you, watches you everyday, in order to serve more adequate advertising to you.
God is alive (and he accepts credit cards).
Mike Teevee
