01
The TV series "American Gods" (American Gods) premiered on Starz in 2017. After two years, the second season came late.
This work that has discouraged large-scale subject matter professionals HBO is one of the masterpieces of British novelist Neil Gaiman (Neil Gaiman).
The novel "American Gods" won both the Hugo Award (Hugo Award, World's Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Work of the Year) and Nebula Award (Nebula Award, America's Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Work of the Year) in 2002.
As a digression, Liu Cixin, the original author of the popular domestic science fiction film "The Wandering Earth" in the past two years, was also known for his work "The Three-Body Problem" (The Three-Body Problem). ) Won the 2015 Hugo Award.
The double prize is close to you. It is conceivable that the original novel is so boisterous.
02
"American Gods" tells the story of the confrontation between the old gods and the modern new gods led by the ancient Nordic god Odin (appearing as "Wednesday" in the work).
The power of God comes from the worship and belief of the believers, and it most intuitively explains the truth of "believe there will be something, and if you don't believe it, there will be nothing". The old gods who have lost their followers are declining and have to be mixed in the mortal world; the technology and media (even new media) of the new era have replaced them, and the new gods who dominate the faith are of course very dragged.
This story sets that Gaiman's brain is really not covered.
The name "Wednesday" is also worth mentioning. Wednesday in English is Wednesday. According to etymology, it evolved from Woden's Day, and Woden is the name of Odin in Old English.
So Gaiman buried an easter egg about the protagonist's true identity from the beginning.
Extending further, Thursday is Thor's Day (Tor should be familiar to all of you), and Friday is Freya's Day (it should be Frigg's and Freya's Day to be exact, Freya, the god of fertility in Norse ancient Norwegian mythology, is Odin's wife is now, and it's her sister's.)
But in the Latin family, the origin of Wednesday is related to Mercury. In Spanish, for example, Wednesday is Miercoles, and French is Mercredi. By analogy, Thursday is Jupiter, Spanish is Jueves; Friday is Venus, Spanish is Viernes; Saturday is Saturn; Sunday is Sun; Monday is Moon In Spanish, the moon is Luna, Monday is Lunes; Tuesday (Tuesday) is Mars, and Spanish is Martes.
03
The story is sturdy, and the title is also deliberate. Next, we will cut to the topic to analyze the title that cannot be skipped by fast forward. Even if you haven't watched this film, you can just taste it alone. The following are analyzed in order of appearance.
World Tree Yggdrasil
In Norse mythology, the tree of the world has a pivotal position. It connects nine worlds. The top of the tree is the Protoss Asgard, which is located between the sun and the moon. The human world Midgard is located in the middle of the tree. The two are connected by a rainbow bridge (Bifrost). , Those who have watched "Thor" should have some impressions.
This picture hints at the true identity of the protagonist of the story Wednesday. Odin once stabbed himself with his weapon, Gungnir, and spent nine days and nights on the tree of the world before he gained the supernatural power of Runes.
I won’t go into details about the other kingdoms on the tree. If you’re interested, you can check Baidu, Google or Wikipedia. Refer to the picture below, the tree of the world probably means this.
Medusa
You should also be familiar with Medusa. The Gorgon in Greek mythology, the one you petrify when you look at her, is also the one with the Versace brand logo.
But look carefully here, Medusa's hair is no longer the snake in the traditional story, but has become a fiber optic cable. These cables send information and transmit data through light pulses, implying that we have been petrified by technology. Now, who doesn’t stare at mobile phones or other electronic devices all the time?
Selfie Nymphs
The self-portrait goddess was created by the filming director Patrick Clair. Nymph is similar to a fairy in the forest in Greek mythology. The eyes of the goddess here are a camera, suggesting the current phenomenon of indulging in selfies and the vanity culture that accompanies the popularity of the Internet.
The setting of the three sisters can also refer to The Norns in Norse mythology. The three sisters perform their duties, respectively in charge of the past, present and future.
Jewish Hanukkah Menorah Menorah
In addition to the meaning of the candlestick itself, this scene also has a background wallpaper. The wallpaper brings together the symbols of four major world denominations: Christianity, Judaism, Taoism and Islam.
Returning to the candlesticks, according to the Talmud, the traditional seven candlesticks are limited to temples, so the nine candlesticks that appear here are evolved for family sacrifices.
However, there is no candle on the candlestick, but a power socket and DIN interface design. Foreign gods also discovered that DIN is the abbreviation of Deutsches Institut für Normung (Deutsches Institut für Normung). The origins between German and Jewish descent will not be repeated. But this may also be just a coincidence.
Lady Modonna
The Virgin Mary often appears in various religious works of art in the form of a scarf, and always has its own halo (Halo).
A closer look at the veil here turns out to be the pattern of the circuit board. The Madonna shrouded in the veil of technology also reveals the story background of "American Gods". People are gradually moving away from traditional religious worship and turning to technology. Believers.
Islamic Moon
This scene is a fleeting transition from the statue of the Virgin from the previous scene to the Bodhisattva in the next scene.
The halo in the Madonna became the moon in the Islamic crescent symbol. An ecstasy engraved with a five-pointed star slowly floats to the moon, forming a crescent moon symbol. This transition contains a subtle hint that certain religions may have similar origins.
The Happy Buddha
Laughing Buddha appeared, he was surrounded by more pills and drugs. The Buddhist philosophy believes that disease is controlled by the mind. You should have seen stories of people who have been treated for serious illnesses who have converted to Buddhism and recovered from death (only for illustrative purposes, and do not represent the author's point of view). This scene undoubtedly implies that the Bodhisattva uses medicine to make himself happy. It can be understood as the conflict between Chinese and Western cultures, and it can also be understood as the loss of some traditional beliefs in the wave of modern technology in the background of the story of "American Gods".
Elephant Trunk God Ganesh
Elephant Trunk God is one of the main gods in Hinduism and the god of wisdom. In this scene, the elephant trunk god not only holds a mobile phone in his hand, but his "lotus seat" is also composed of a jet turbine and countless needles and test tubes. I don’t know if traditional gods are addicted to the Internet and have no time to care for the believers, or technology has solved problems such as traffic (turbo) and fertility (needle). People no longer need the blessing of traditional gods, and the idle gods can only play with mobile phones to pass the time.
The Pyramid
The Pyramid and the "Sphinx" appeared. But a closer look reveals that it is not the Sphinx (The Sphinx), but Sony's Aibo robot dog (Aibo). The first generation of robotic dogs came out in 1999 and was discontinued in 2006. In 2017, the fourth generation of Aibo Dog came out again after 11 years.
Since its inception, Aibo Dog has been well received by the public, and it has also aroused the discussion about whether artificial intelligence plays the role of "God". After Aibo ceased production, many people who loved it spontaneously organized memorial services and funerals, as if the ancient Egyptians regarded cats as gods.
Neon Cowboy
The prototype of this scene is the Cowboy Vegas Vic, a classic neon sign, which was established in The Pioneer Club in Las Vegas in 1951. The cowboy is an iconic hero in American culture, symbolizing the spirit of adventure. But the Vic here is equipped with a prosthetic leg, representing the soldiers wounded in the war.
The cowboy is not riding a horse, but a mechanical centaur with a fun mask on his head, a "satellite" collar around his neck, and a U.S. military combat robot (Bigdog) on all fours.
The Angel of Death
This is an angel of death wearing a night vision goggles and combat equipment, firing a machine gun into the sky passionately, symbolizing peace and war at the same time. Peace is often achieved through war.
The angel of death is said to have a lot of eyes and burning wings, so in this look he also wears a number of night vision goggles. The fire of the bullet also makes the wings look like they are on fire. This is not what Americans think of themselves. The so-called world police are actually wolves in sheep's clothing.
The God of War
There are two versions of the archetype of the God of War here, one is the God of War Ares in ancient Greek mythology, and the other is Lady Justice. I am more inclined to the view of the goddess of justice. The goddess of justice often appears with eyes closed or blindfolded, holding a scale in one hand and a sword in the other, and the position of the scale is often higher than the position of the sword.
Here, God of War takes the Ford Mustang as a mount, wears VR glasses (Virtual Reality), and holds a crossbow. The nuclear bomb has been loaded, and it looks like it is ready to go. Observe carefully, the position of the weapon is already higher than the position of the balance.
This scene once again implies that the United States, as a superpower, cannot wait for its ambitions for justice. But what is the justice in his eyes, is it seen in virtual glasses? How noble is justice that is above fairness and equality.
Space Shuttle
This is a picture of a spacecraft launching. The launch base seems to be engraved with Egyptian hieroglyphs, which secretly reflects the depiction of similar spaceships in ancient hieroglyphs. The rest of the base is composed of modern mechanical parts. Whether the launched spacecraft symbolizes that technology has brought mankind into the realm of gods, and human beings call themselves gods.
The Crucified Astronaut
The astronaut nailed to the cross is the first picture produced in the entire title. It not only conveys the saying that the gods came from outer space, but also symbolizes the conflict between religion and technology. There are many meanings such as when funds run out or lose public attention (the era of the US-Soviet space competition), the aerospace industry becomes a political victim.
In 2015, Russian graffiti artist Alexander Zhunev created a similar work, depicting the first astronaut Yuri Gagarin (Yuri Gagarin) to be nailed to the cross. Afterwards, the painting was not only cleared, the artist also endured prison.
American Eagle
In addition to the eagle at the top, the last picture also contains all the images of the gods that appeared before. The eagle on the top not only symbolizes Native American culture, but also was an important cultural symbol during the time of Greek mythology, Roman Empire and Nazi Germany. In the end, all these diverse religions and cultures came to the United States through immigration. The entire totem constitutes the American belief system.
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