Things that made me feel like Bernini’s Saint Teresa
Not to be dramatic, but the last two episodes of Ticket to Heaven have been a mystical experience. My friends had to listen to 10 minutes of chaotic voice messages about episode 2 last week, so today I'm gonna spare them and ramble on here instead.
Random thoughts about episodes 2 and 3 in no particular order:
- Last week the episode focused on lust and desire, this week on sin and fear and the way Tanrak dealt with all these big emotions.
- Episode 2 told us that the believer always lies and the lost one always tells the truth. Barth, our lost one (but is he truly?), in episode 3, asks Tanrak, our believer, to stop lying to himself and then confesses to him, tells him his truth. Barth, who didn't want (need) to go to confession in the beginning of episode 3, is now confessing his feelings through what looks like the grille in confessional booths.
- I loved how, in episode 2, they showed us Tanrak's descent into, what he believes to be, sin. He walks past the bars into the bathing room (was he entering a prison of sin or leaving one of repression?). He walks slowly past holy images, like a twisted via crucis, and with every step, he marks his own downfall. Firstly, he leaves behind the holy family (his family in heaven, who he won’t see again unless he lives following the rightful path) and Christ on the cross (symbol of the sacrifice that washed away the original sin, the one Adam and Eve committed by eating the forbidden fruit, just like Tanrak’s done but a few minutes earlier. It’s also not a coincidence that his house, his only tether to his family, has been wiped out and the apple tree is long dead...); then God, who is now casting the sinners into Hell, and lastly the damned who cannot climb the steps to salvation (as shown in the Ticket to heaven painting of episode 1). Tanrak walks past all of these images and steps into a cubicle that serves both as a cell and a confessional.
- In episode 2 Barth is the serpent and the forbidden fruit and God himself all at once, the way he stands high on the wall, with the tree behind him, and holds his hand out to Tanrak (Michelangelo's creation of Adam, hello) and asks him to follow him outside the garden. When he comes back, he offers the prize of his transgression, but at the same time... he shares the food like Communion. And what do you know, episode 3, once they sneak out, showed us the eucharist, with Barth breaking the bread and giving it to Tanrak.
- Water has a pivotal role in the series, because it is an important element in christian lore as well: water purifies, which is why you have to immerse your fingers in holy water before doing the sign of the cross and wet children's heads in it during baptism. And it's veeery interesting that Tanrak's christian name is John the Baptist. Also, we saw throughout episode 3 Barth's attempt to "dirty" Tanrak, both physically and metaphorically, only for them to wash themselves before offering their bodies to the other.
- Another thing I like about the series is that our boy without God is often positioned on higher grounds than Tanrak and linked to wood: in episode 2 he was on the wall, looking down; Tanrak lifted him up, not with his hands cupped under Barth's foot, but embracing him by the legs, as if carrying the cross. In episode 3, Barth was standing higher both on the steps (when eating donuts) and on the ladder when painting (and asking Tanrak to trust him, as shown by the writing on the banner).
- One last thing I want to talk about, which is probably not at all what P'Aof meant, but like I said in a previous post, I'm an odd brand of catholic turned atheist (and I attended the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart), is the holy portrait of Mary in episode 2. Tanrak is at the piano, feeling all confused, when Barth shows up. There's a sign telling us that "God always sees us" and next to it, right above Barth's head, the portrait of the sacred heart of the Virgin. Now... I want to believe, since episode 2 dealt with Love (through the riddle, the story of Saint Cecilia, the meaning of Tanrak's name), that Barth represents the unconditional love that Mary is the embodiment of (and also the feminine, as opposed to a masculine that is aggressive and oppressive). A love that is totally pure and given freely. Barth wants to show Tanrak that Love is salvific in all its forms. And I think that's the one true value of Christ's message (so often forgotten by the Church as an institution).
- Lastly... the hands!!! A touch that can be playful or meaningful, tentative or confident, innocent or sensual..
For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss
