Being a pastor's son it's safe to say that I've been in the church since before I was born. When you hear stories about preacher kids there tends to be one of two stories; they're either super devout or super rebellious. While I myself am a true believer *wink wink* in the lord Jesus Christ and his word, ask anyone who knows me and they'll likely tell you that I'm pretty chill, down to Earth, and not at all the stereotypical Christian out to convert every stranger he meets. Now while my passions lie with comic books, video games, heavy metal, and anime, my first loyalty is first and foremost to the one who put himself to death to redeem me. Being a Christian isn't just going to church for an hour on Sunday, or regular readings of the Bible followed by prayer every day. Those are part of it, but there's more to it. Being a Christian is coming to terms with the fact that I am fundamentally a sinful person and my only hope is to surrender myself to Christ. Okay, I've accepted Jesus as my savior, everything's coming up roses, right? Wrong, that was just the first step. Till the day I die, my life needs to emulate the example Jesus provides in the Bible and don't think it's easy trying to live my life like he who was without sin. Some days it seems downright impossible, but the whole point is that by emulating Jesus I am able to become the best version of myself and live a life transformed where even though I still make mistakes I'm no longer a slave to sin.
Now, what does any of that have to do with Daredevil? Trust me I'm going somewhere with this. In this day and age, it has more or less become in vogue to either ridicule or outright vilify Christianity and by extension Christians. We live a post-modern world where everything must be deconstructed and cynicism is the order of the day. We live in a world where the secularism of the Enlightenment has become the new religion. Now don't take this as me bemoaning Christians losing their purchase on society, because to be frank we're not completely blameless given that the church became complacent and sanctimonious. Instead of being a hospital to heal the spiritually sick, we became a luxury cruise line for the self-righteous. But none of this changes with how modern pop culture has chosen to represent us as either hopelessly naive, foolish, bigoted, detached or in certain cases evil. One of the most egregious examples of this is Ned Flanders from "The Simpsons" whose Christianity was originally just supposed to be another character trait to make him annoy Homer because of how good a neighbor he was and therefore, highlight Homer's own shortcomings as a human being. But as the show went on that became Ned's only character trait and rather serve as a contrast to Homer, he became the butt of a joke, "Christians sure are silly". So when Marvel and Netflix produced the excellent Daredevil tv series with full intent on including the faith of Matt Murdock as a central character trait well I was certainly glad to see it. Even Charlie Cox, the actor who plays Daredevil, grew up Catholic and demonstrating an understanding of what makes the character tick. And so far the show has handled Matt Murdock's Catholicism rather well, the first episode has him in a confessional, he seeks the advice of his priest when presented with a moral dilemma, and in another from the recently released second season, he prays to God when Elektra's life hangs in the balance.
Now Matt's Catholicism isn't just something that was added to the character for this show, it's been a part of his character since Frank Miller took over the book back in the 80's. Frank Miller - who also grew up Irish Catholic - incorporated that as part of Matt because according to him, "Only a Catholic could be both an attorney and a vigilante." No more was Matt's faith more put on display than in the excellent "Born Again" arc where the Kingpin systematically tears Matt's life apart after learning the blind lawyer from Hell's Kitchen and the vigilante that has been a perpetual thorn in his side are one in the same. At his lowest point having lost his home, his career, reputation, and even costume - which for the majority of the story he goes without - Matt finds himself in a Catholic shelter where he is nursed back to health. The story is ripe with religious symbolism that includes a splash page where Matt assumes the position of the crucifixion, a sequence where he walks through Hell's Kitchen in a manner similar to Christ's walk to Golgotha, and even an allusion to the Pieta where Matt takes the role of Jesus and his absent mother the Virgin Mary. Kevin Smith's run, Guardian Devil, also included heavy use of religious themes, which also came from Smith's own experiences being raised Catholic. Smith's run shows how Matt's faith simultaneously both a source of inner strength but also a weakness that can be exploited the wicked, and to explain any further, would spoil this story. (In fact, read both "Born Again" and "Guardian Devil")
While I wish that Matt's faith was more deeply explored I understand that concessions need to be made to keep the plot moving. Even Matt's job as a lawyer has to take a backseat at certain points to his nighttime vigilantism. So to include it at all without falling back on how pop culture tends to treat Christianity is something I can certainly get behind. And given that it's a show there's always the chance an episode can be devoted to examining Matt's faith a Christian in the future, hopefully showing the positive aspects. What I like about Daredevil is that it can hopefully open the door for Christianity to be reexamined with perhaps more sympathetic eyes. I'm not calling for media to go for converting viewers. What I'm hoping for is more nuanced portrayals of Christians that not only portray the personal struggle one goes through as a follower of Christ but also how through that struggle we are able to draw strength and become better people for it. More than being an excellent adaptation of an underrated comic book, Daredevil shows that pop culture still has room for Christianity without it being turned into a farce or overly criticized.
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