Reaper

I love Kevin Smith so much that I’d watch him direct traffic.   There’s a lot about him that I don’t necessarily groove on (he could tone down the “Jesus Christ!” expletives, for instance) but there’s a lot we have in common.   And I think he’s got his finger on the pulse of something insofar as he can express the ennui and delight and consternation I feel about things.  He seems to feel the same ennui, delight and consternation about the same things, so I groove on the fact that he’s out there.  It’s like I have a more profane male stoner version of myself out in Hollywood.

I wanted to like Reaper, because he’s involved.   I really did.  I tried to like Reaper–even the parts of the pilot that were Clerks II 1/2.

Here’s the thing, though.   I’m sorry.  You can call me a prude or a backward hick or a Bible thumper to your heart’s content, but I just can’t get past the premise.   Yes, I know that the parents made the decision and that we’re going to hear over and over again about how it wasn’t the kid’s own choice.  So what.  It’s still a story about a kid whose parents sold his soul to the devil.    Try as I might I just can’t derive 48 minutes of enjoyment from “My Whacky Adventures With Satan!”

And yes, I did try.  I made it exactly 31 minutes into the pilot before I decided that it truly wasn’t for me.  I was willing to give it a shot.   But you know what?  No.  Just no.  I’m not seeing how this is in any way a worthwhile use of my time.

I’ve said repeatedly that I’m a mystic.  And that’s true.  Part of that means that I believe with all my heart that Satan is real.  I don’t think Satan is a punch line to a joke any more than God is, quite frankly.    I get that I’m old-fashioned and that you are probably sitting there right now rolling your eyes at me.  “Oh man, religious people are nutjobs!” you say to yourself.  And it’s probably true.  We are nutjobs.   We believe in beings which defy description, who cannot be seen and who are to many people the equivalent of the World’s Most Successful Rumour Mill On Crack.  Faith is a truly absurd position, I admit.   Yet it is my position.

I’m not asking that the CW take Reaper off the air.  They can run it 24/7, for all I care.  I’m just not going to watch it and I’m going to be very open about why.