Protagonist
March 26th, 2007, 10:51 AM
Is anyone else here a fan of the Lonelygirl15 videos? Yes, yes, everyone knows that they're "fake," but they're only fake in the same way that something like Seinfeld is fake, and I find them genuinely entertaining. Anyone who's followed the series knows that the main character, Bree (Lonelygirl15) is a homeschooled 16-year old who vlogs from her bedroom. In the background, you can see an altar and a picture of Aleister Crowley, and neither her nor her room look gothic/creepy/anything other than mainstream, aside from the religious objects.
The story progresses, and we learn that her family is non-Christian but practices a very strict faith, and that she is to undergo a special ceremony that she knows almost nothing about. Early fans thought she was meant to be a Thelemite, but later videos denied this explicitly. After her friend Daniel convinces her that maybe this mysterious ceremony isn't for the best, she runs away with him, and her father is murdered by members of her mysterious religious Order.
I'm not a pagan, but I'm curious as to how a pagan looks at this series, since the main character is obviously some sort of pagan (though probably part of a fictional pagan religion). I've always been fascinated by Crowley, and it does bother me (I guess) a bit that a lot of his trappings (his image, his birthday, words like Thelema in Greek, the unicursal hexagram) are being used in the series to give it an esoteric, occult flavor. I guess I can't blame them, and Crowley himself probably wouldn't mind, but it gives everyone the idea that Crowley is just some creepy shadowy figure. It reminds me of when Nietzsche was used in Murder By Numbers, and all the time I run into people who, when they hear the name Nietzsche, automatically think of that movie.
The only good thing about them using Crowley in this fashion (as opposed to Gardner, or someone else) is that Thelemites and actual Crowley followers aren't going to kvetch about it, whereas if it were Gardner, there'd be big protests by Wiccans about how their religion is being portrayed. This is mainly because there are more Wiccans than Thelemites, of course.
The story progresses, and we learn that her family is non-Christian but practices a very strict faith, and that she is to undergo a special ceremony that she knows almost nothing about. Early fans thought she was meant to be a Thelemite, but later videos denied this explicitly. After her friend Daniel convinces her that maybe this mysterious ceremony isn't for the best, she runs away with him, and her father is murdered by members of her mysterious religious Order.
I'm not a pagan, but I'm curious as to how a pagan looks at this series, since the main character is obviously some sort of pagan (though probably part of a fictional pagan religion). I've always been fascinated by Crowley, and it does bother me (I guess) a bit that a lot of his trappings (his image, his birthday, words like Thelema in Greek, the unicursal hexagram) are being used in the series to give it an esoteric, occult flavor. I guess I can't blame them, and Crowley himself probably wouldn't mind, but it gives everyone the idea that Crowley is just some creepy shadowy figure. It reminds me of when Nietzsche was used in Murder By Numbers, and all the time I run into people who, when they hear the name Nietzsche, automatically think of that movie.
The only good thing about them using Crowley in this fashion (as opposed to Gardner, or someone else) is that Thelemites and actual Crowley followers aren't going to kvetch about it, whereas if it were Gardner, there'd be big protests by Wiccans about how their religion is being portrayed. This is mainly because there are more Wiccans than Thelemites, of course.