So kicking around an idea about a comedy. The Devil is holding a quarterly soul gathering meeting (because demons should have to endure the hell of meetings, not just us mortals) when to his amazement his numbers are way too good. The back story is that God and the Devil have a long standing bet where if the Devil can win more souls he will be readmitted to heaven. The problem that arises is that heaven will cease to exist because the Devil has convinced to many people that God is not real. No God - No Heaven - No going back to heaven What's the Devil to do? What else, he ascends to earth and becomes a mega church televangelist in an attempt to win souls and keep heaven around. So, how dark should I attempt to make the writing. It's a conundrum for me. I want it to be dark because it's the freakin Devil, but I also want it to be funny. Any Tips? (I was thinking a little darker then say Dogma was.)
Heh! I love the idea. How dark? I don't know, how dark do you want it? It's a pretty vague term. Pitch-black comedy is certainly a thing. What sort of situations do you want to have come up?
That's exactly the struggle I am having. This is still in the early development stages and I have only a vague idea just yet. I just wanted to get some feedback on what the current mood is towards something like this. I am almost afraid to write it as evil as I could, because many get offended really easy now.
There is a market for fiction that's as offensive as possible, I guarantee you. I've read some depictions of Hell that were... well, let's just say inventive in how absolutely tasteless they were.
You could do worse than keep an eye on today's political situations around the world. Many of them will give you ideas.
I would enjoy a story with with a devil who is 100% flippant about murder and damnation, but otherwise pleasant and even ethical after a fashion, one who clucks at rudeness and the state of the world, insists that lackeys use their manners and genuinely seems to care about their self esteem, that sort of thing. ETA: You know, when he isn't snapping his fingers and burning them to a crisp for screwing up an assignment.
I love this idea and I think Devil working as a televangelist would make for really good comedy. So I look forward to reading this story. Though, I'm a bit concerned about the plot. 1. The Devil in Christianity is not that keen to go back to haven, he rather wants to be the master of the universe and for everyone to bow down before him. I don't think the devil we know wouldn't really care that much if heaven ceased to exist, so you may need to do some character building to show why the devil has changed his mind. 2. It seems strange that heaven will cease to exist just because people stop believing in it. I mean, it would make perfect sense to an Atheist, as "imaginary friends" are no longer believed in then they cease to exist all together. But if you are a Christian and believe that heaven and God exist, then they will continue to exist regardless of how many people believe in them. I think the biggest challenge for you will be to establish what kind of a devil you will be writing about. Will he be a funny/goofy devil like in "Little Nicky"? Or a more nuanced devil who takes the whole taking over the world seriously?
I don't think those are problems if you don't care about being theologically rigorous. I've seen stories where the Devil was trying to get back into God's good graces - the 1967 Bedazzled movie seemed to run on a similar premise, for one. And the idea that gods only exist if you believe in them is common in fantastic fiction. It's true that both fly directly in the face of what Christianity teaches, but I don't get the impression that this is the sort of story that cares about that.
In my story the Devil is all about the win. Even if it makes him have to do things he wouldn't do on his own accord. So getting back in heaven is how he wins over God. Not that he really wants back in. He just wants to be able to say "Ha, In your face God!" Kinda like how you see some people cheat at games to win. It's a hollow victory that really doesn't mean anything but they do it anyway just to try and prove to everyone they are better. I am thinking he thinks he is suave but in reality he is sort of an idiot. Kinda like Mr. Bean with an evil streak. Guess that would put him closer to the little Nicky type of Devil.
