American Gods

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Cybsled

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Which actually brings up a question: How would God god be portrayed, considering they tend to be much more abstract? Even in the bible it was just voices or burning bushes or w/e.
 
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Homsar

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Cant really explain who he is unless you want the story ruined, on the show he is the god of globalization
 
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Kirun

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Kristen Chenoweth is definitely in my top 5 celebrity "would bangs". My dick is fucking powerless against women that have that "cutesy" attitude/demeanor down to a science.
 
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Royal

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Which actually brings up a question: How would God god be portrayed, considering they tend to be much more abstract?

In his truest, most perfect form.

mpeFnhS.gif
 
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Enzee

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Who is Mr World?
If you think he's a version of an existing 'Old' God, I don't believe he is. If you are asking what does he represent, someone else said it above. Globalization. Though, I kind of took him to be the representation of systems/data and the structure of the world now. Sort of an atheist version of God. He represents everything. Everything can be classified, broken down and filed with how our world works now. He is information itself. But, I haven't read the book, just going off what we've been shown in the TV show so far. At the same time, Technical boy is how we access that information, and Media is how we enjoy that information. Fitting it's a trinity as well, the father, the son and the holy ghost/maiden. Since most of the world either believes, or is most familiar with, the trinity. It's clever that Gaiman made the new gods into a trinity as a manifestation of that latent belief in most people. Dunno if that was intended or not, but I'm guessing it was.
 

Cantatus

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Odin's reveal was done completely different in the book (and much earlier), but I think it worked a lot better the way they did it in the show. In the book, Shadow goes on a carousel with Wednesday, Czernobog, and Mr. Nancy and sees their true forms while riding it. I'm not sure even Bryan Fuller could've worked something that bizarre in the show without it coming across as cheesy. And while I still think delaying the reveal made Shadow seem a little slow on the uptake, I liked how it was simultaneously used as a call to battle, which is very consistent with who Odin is. In the book, I think the reveal had more of an impact since it's also a reveal to the reader, but I think the reveal in the show gave it a lot more oomph as it's used to set the stage for next season and the battle to come.

I have to say, between this and The Magicians, my opinion on shows straying far from the source material is really changing. Everything they added to the show to fill out the first few chapters was really well-done and felt like seamless additions.
 

Enzee

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Yea.. when the new gods introduced that 'ODIN guidance system' i dont get how shadow didnt figure out his name right there.
 
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Voyce

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but, but, but what about Tiamat, or insert obscure but still known ancient god?

Got to breakdown the abstraction that is "worship" and what it takes for a belief in some such superstition for it to transform into a god
 

Zaara

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Yea.. when the new gods introduced that 'ODIN guidance system' i dont get how shadow didnt figure out his name right there.

That's thrown me off a few times. Czernobog called him Wotan, the ODIN missle, all that...I understand that the whole 'Wednesday is my day' hint might've been too obscure for most, but Shadow should've figured it out sooner than he did. I understand Shadow is the tabula rasa/audience stand-in character for the people watching the show, but it just made him look stupid.
 

Abefroman

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I figured Mr. World represented Big Brother and the surveillance state we live in.

The Odin reveal did nothing for me and was anti-climatic after the entire huge fucking ODIN rocket in the other episode.

Still feel the same way about the show. Love the actors, characters, concept, universe and style. Story is super slow but I still stick with it because overall I'm enjoying it and not everything has to be fast paced.
 

Qhue

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Yeah Mr. World, just like Technical Boy, is different in this version of the story. Whereas in the original he was an aspect of the Men in Black / The Smoking Man / Illuminati-type conspiracy, here he is Globalization personified.

So whereas in the original the New God's were led by a mostly faceless canal, in this version they clearly have Mr. World as the ultimate manifestation of secular belief.
 

spronk

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Marathoned through the entire show this weekend. Not what I was expecting, at all. Haven't read the book so don't know the source material either. It was interesting, but I wouldn't call it great. I'm glad I binged through, I probably would have stopped at episode 3 or 4 if I was watching week to week. That gay djinn stuff was wretchedly bad. Almost everything to do with Shadow and his dead wife was bad.

My favorite part was the episode where they just revisted the irish chicks story, was a cool little story but unfortunately for the show it had almost nothing to do with gods, just a slice of interesting historical life that just showed how fascinating stories can be. Liked all the Ibis/"Once in America" stuff too.

I dunno, all these gods seem like useless retards. I guess I'll keep watching, but the Odin reveal was anti climactic, Shadow continues to be a terrible actor, and I'm not really enjoying the idea of gods with terribly limited abilities still somehow pulling a fast one on human beings. I really hope the gods get their shit pushed in next season by humans. I'll definitely binge watch a second season, way too slow to enjoy it week to week.

Biggest surprise for me was I didn't like Wednesday as much as I thought I would. McShane was my fav actor on Deadwood but it just didn't do anything for me here.
 

Lithose

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Which actually brings up a question: How would God god be portrayed, considering they tend to be much more abstract? Even in the bible it was just voices or burning bushes or w/e.

This is avoided this in the books, I wondered it too. Effectively though you get the sense that "God god" wouldn't exist, since "Gods" are the embodiment of ideas that are tied to specific forces. "God" is too abstract, which is why he has elements (Like Jesus, Love ect.) Like the Saints would probably be Gods to Catholics, they would be the attribution of Gods various qualities. Mary might be akin to Easter for them. (He kind of alludes to all this shit being REALLY muddled in the books, because human belief is so muddled. Which is why there is a lot of Jesus)
 
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jayrebb

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My favorite part was the episode where they just revisted the irish chicks story, was a cool little story but unfortunately for the show it had almost nothing to do with gods, just a slice of interesting historical life that just showed how fascinating stories can be. Liked all the Ibis/"Once in America" stuff too.

That is all this show is. A psychedelic trip.

Making anything more of it, as people seem to be so apt at doing in this thread, just about amounts to interpreting Finnegan's Wake.
 
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Voyce

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This is avoided this in the books, I wondered it too. Effectively though you get the sense that "God god" wouldn't exist, since "Gods" are the embodiment of ideas that are tied to specific forces. "God" is too abstract, which is why he has elements (Like Jesus, Love ect.) Like the Saints would probably be Gods to Catholics, they would be the attribution of Gods various qualities. Mary might be akin to Easter for them. (He kind of alludes to all this shit being REALLY muddled in the books, because human belief is so muddled. Which is why there is a lot of Jesus)

I mean God as in the Christian God, is Jesus according to the holy trinity, when on earth he will always either be the son or the holy ghost. Even though he talks to himself while on earth...clearly the holy trinity is just a retcon.

Now the Jewish version...
 

iannis

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This is avoided this in the books, I wondered it too. Effectively though you get the sense that "God god" wouldn't exist, since "Gods" are the embodiment of ideas that are tied to specific forces. "God" is too abstract, which is why he has elements (Like Jesus, Love ect.) Like the Saints would probably be Gods to Catholics, they would be the attribution of Gods various qualities. Mary might be akin to Easter for them. (He kind of alludes to all this shit being REALLY muddled in the books, because human belief is so muddled. Which is why there is a lot of Jesus)

Was it avoided in the book? I think it was confronted wasn't it? And the answer was that God God IS too abstract.

But I might be thinking of a different book.

I really enjoyed this show. Bloom's slaveship tirade was pretty great too. That was perfect. They did about the best job possible of turning that book into a screenshow.

It was political, but not THAT political. It wasn't crazy ass SJW levels of bullshit. It flowed within the context of the story, and the points being made were acceptable. Nothing really was all that objectionable.

I could have done without the gay sex djinn cabby scene. But I knew what it was gonna be, having read it.
 

Xevy

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You just called Orlando Jones "Bloom" confusing him with Orlando Bloom.

That's name racism, bro.
 
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