We Need To Talk About Adam

Lovecraft Country

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Hi y’all,I have a few thoughts on Adam and the Adamites after three episodes of Lovecraft Country and am willing to propose a hypothesis for the season. The first is that I was reminded of the English Civil War period as it was a moment where we lost our heads. There was a lot of millennial thinking that these were the end times and it prompted an explosion of religious cults including a revival of Adamite beliefs (or perhaps just an excuse to get naked). Ironically perhaps given that Cromwell’s lot were very puritan. It was a strange time in England. What I find interesting about that is you have an early Christian cult re-emerging over a thousand years later in another part of the Christian world. Yet I don’t think that we should be surprised given the story of the fall and how it’s been interpreted. Here we need to talk about snakedick (sorry) and I want to follow up on the excellent email from Beth on the role of Eve in the Fall Now according to some Jewish mysticism, Adam had possibly two wives: Lilith and Eve. Lilith being the equal of Adam (despite being made from the same clay) meant that Adam couldn’t cope with her. Lilith leaves the Garden of Eden and goes off to shag demons rather than Adam. This tradition suggests that Adam is a poor fuck as well as being insecure. Lilith is a strange character in the Bible. She appears to be part of God’s initial six days of creation but is female, woman and demon or mix thereof. Eve also has different interpretations to her. She can be seen as the temptress and having a higher sex drive than Adam (like Lilith) or she can be seen as the victim of lust from the Serpent which is what snakedick seems to be alluding to. However it feels like Eve can’t win whether she is the instigator of the Fall through her actions or being the object that causes the Fall. It’s the woman’s fault regardless. So I am wondering after the last scene in episode 3 and it’s emphasis on the language of Adam whether part of what we are looking at is the showrunners exploring an Adam, Eve and Lilith dynamic in the relationships between Tic, Leti and Christina? My thinking is that snakedick scene is telling us that Tic is Adam in our story and Christina is Lilith shut out of the Garden as Christina is shut out of the Sons of Adam. Eve/Leti in the hands of Misha Green becomes this complicated living woman rather than a projection of others. This feels like an interesting exploration to undertake and could explain the gender swap to Christina from the novel? If Tic’s inheritance is to be able to speak the language of Adam and give him the power of naming then that’s requires balance (tension) between the world as represented by Christina and the world as represented by Leti. And to challenge Ash’s description of the showrunners being able to write women better, perhaps the development of female characters is essential and intentional to tell this dynamic of Adam, Eve and Lilith. The Biblical Adam is a bit of a dick yet is centre stage. Both Eve and Lilith are underdeveloped. I would argue that Christina’s language of horror and demons is well understood and explored in mediums regardless of the gender swap. Tic as the male protagonist is also well explored. It is the black female experience in horror that is underrepresented. So I am wondering if what I am watching is a deliberate subversion of traditional tropes to give voice to black women’s experiences? And if Tic does receive his inheritance then which world does he choose? I know that I should really just enjoy the show but I like a good hypothesis even if most crash and burn terribly. Oh and Jurnee Smollett was terrific in this latest episode. If this is a female centric show, I’m all for it. Keep well Shat familyJohn Lish

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