Article
Salvation from Illusion, Salvation by Illusion: The Gospel According to Christopher Nolan
Implicit Religion
(2014)
Abstract
That science fiction implicitly conveys religious world views is evident in the cinematic corpus of writer-director Christopher Nolan. The Prestige, Inception, and Nolans Batman trilogy represent a variation on Gnosticism, in that salvation comes from a secret way of seeing the world. Nolans vision, however, is a repudiation of Gnostic norms, fo r salvation hinges not on the truth, but on the perfect lie. Illusion is both what is being redeemed, and the means of its redemption. Contrary to traditional Western religious norms, in Nolans stories the truth is destructive; it is deception that is salvific. Yet, counter the mainstreams of post-modern culture, in the worlds that Nolan crafts not all constructed perspectives are equally viable. To understand Nolans work clearly is to have insight into popular culture, into those who consume it, and, perhaps, into reality itself.
Keywords
- Post-modernism,
- Pseudo-Gnosticism,
- Science Fiction,
- Christopher Nolan
Disciplines
Publication Date
2014
Citation Information
George Faithful. "Salvation from Illusion, Salvation by Illusion: The Gospel According to Christopher Nolan" Implicit Religion Vol. 17 Iss. 4 (2014) p. 405 - 416 ISSN: 1463-9955 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/george-faithful/7/