Writing a supernatural horror screenplay wherein our heroes are chasing a Jinn. This Jinn is going around granting peoples' wishes, but there's always a catch. One guy wished his dead daughter be brought back to life, but she wasn't the same, and won't die, so he kills himself. Another wishes to be rich, but when he deposits the money in a bank, the serial numbers are marked, and he's arrested for a series of bank robberies. The third victim is a priest. I'm looking for something a priest (a chaplain) may wish for that could potentially backfire in this sorta way, particularly if it results in his death. Any ideas?
I don't know, these are just quick off the top of my head: He considers wishing to be the Pope, but there's already a Pope, and that's too vain anyway, so he makes a more modest wish to be a Cardinal but the Jinn turns him into a real cardinal and a cat jumps out of a tree and eats him. He wants to share the gospel with everyone on Earth so the Jinn first takes him to some islands still untouched by modern man and they find the gospel, when translated to their language, to be blasphemous and an act of aggression and kill him (this has actually happened, sort of). He wishes everyone on Earth will confess and repent their sins, everyone does, resulting in skyrocketing rates of jealous murder and suicide, 'The Purge' style. He commits suicide in anguish at the suffering he's caused (which is a big violation in itself in some denominations, depending on the interpretation).
He wishes for the ability to lead the world back to old time Catholicism, and ends up unleashing a modern Inquisition on the world.
This is good, though God is something I wouldn't want to introduce until way later on (same with Lucifer or any of the "big guys."
He wants to meet God and talk with him in person, and God says, "OK. You've contracted a fatal illness, and we'll be talking face to face before you know it."
I'm also thinking that maybe the priest had a thing for one of the female ushers, and he wished to be with her. Maybe she ended up getting pregnant, and he was kicked out of the Catholic Church.
That was really in consideration, but honestly, think it'd limit my audience too much (in terms of agents/production companies wanting to take me on).
He could wish for peace on earth. What are some ways total peace could be achieved? A couple of the easiest ones don't bode well for mankind.
No decent Catholic priest would ask a Jinn to grant a wish. It's idolatrous. So you'll have to explain that away somehow. Perhaps the priest is weak in faith, his "flock" is shrinking, and though he initially refuses to listen to the Jinn, in a moment of desperation/weakness he succumbs to the temptation and asks the Jinn to make him an inspirational, saintly example to the people in his community. Then you just need to find a way to martyr him for the glory of the faith.
Oh, his faith is certainly faltering, especially after discovering that Jinn are real. I was thinking of the oldest tales of priesthood: wanting to get married. Or perhaps he knocked-up an usher, and wants to elope with her. Not quite sure, but I want it to be something that doesn't kill him or cause any kind of worldwide cataclysm. Something personal to him and perhaps the usher.
Is it important that your man of the cloth know that he's dealing with a Jinn? Maybe your priest/minister/pastor is standing in the way of something else the Jinn wants to accomplish and grants the wish to get him out of the way.
Unfortunately, yeah. He and a squad of soldiers find a talisman in Afghanistan, and quickly discover that a Jinn is bound to it. Perhaps the priest discovering that Jinn are real makes him question his own religion? Not sure. I still like the idea of him choosing love over the church.
Priests already believe in demons and the power of Satan to influence people and events, so a Jinn showing up isn't likely to shake the foundation of his faith. I imagine most priests would consider it a demon by another name and be accordingly wary of it. I think your best angle is to have the Jinn offer him something so enticing he goes for it despite the knowledge that the Jinn is very probably demonic/evil/whatever. If you want to stick with the relationship-with-the-usher angle, maybe the Jinn offers him a way to keep the relationship secret. That seemingly removes the dilemma of church/upright standing/heartbreak vs. relationship/public embarrassment/love. But the drama of course is that the Jinn's way is indeed too good to be true, and the woman comes to hate him, or he's so guilt-ridden he's driven to despair, or if he's knocked her up the baby dies in infancy, etc. etc.
Without being seen by the burglar, the priest spots the burglar inside a church or a cathedral. The priest calls the police. When the burglar is caught and being taken to the police car, the priest walks to the burglar and prays for God's forgiveness on the burglar's sins. Due to the governor's strange policy, the burglar is released shortly after. The burglar returns to the church or the cathedral to take revenge.
This is an interesting question. The first thing that popped into my mind seeing this is, what is the priests religion? How does that religions doctrine or dogma come into play when encountering a djinn? The answers to those will give use a better idea of the priests world view. Then we need to look at the character himself. Does he have an internal or external conflict the djinn can exploit?
This thread reminds me of an old joke: Father Flannigan likes to sneak away every Sunday, travel to a distant golf course where he isn't known, and knock off a round of golf without other players around. St. Peter informs God of this, adding that this isn't the sort of thing a priest should be doing... using the Lord's day for sport. God sighs and says, "Oh, all right, Pete. I'll find some way to punish him." So the next Sunday, the priest tees up his ball on the first hole, delivers a mighty swing, and the ball goes all the way to the green and lands in the hole. The next hole is also a hole-in-one, and the one after that. Saint Peter scolds God. "I thought you said you were going to punish him!" "I did," God replies. "Who can he tell?"
