- cross-posted to:
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- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- til
so i stumbled upon a thing on reddit
the thing is that there’s an obscure early scifi book by none other than wernher von braun, that is about mars colonization, where they find already existing civilization, leader of which is called elon. apparently this is why megaracist elon’s father named him that:
Interest in this novel increased in 2021 when people connected the Martian leader, called the Elon, to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, suggesting that von Braun may have somehow foreseen Musk’s space exploration ventures.[15] However, Errol Musk, Elon’s father, asserted in 2022 that he was fully aware of the von Braun connection in naming his son.[16]
also in that book: tunnels used for high-speed travel; nation-states became obsolete because of some magic tech; highly technocratic planetary government as a result. that stimulant habit seems historically accurate then, even if it’s cut with ketamine sometimes. some more red string on corkboard https://www.mind-war.com/p/the-elon-how-a-nazi-rocket-scientist this tracks as one of his grandparents moved from canada to south africa because canada in 40s wasn’t racist enough for them, and with all the technocracy inc things.
so yeah, motherfucker might be believing - or even groomed into - that he’s destined to be a planetary overlord, all based on nazi scifi, and he’s playing it out irl with all the fuck you money he has
Also it borrows a lot of imagery from esoteric judaism and christianity, but mostly for the sake of aesthetics or very surface level symbolism, a bit like a western show might use buddhist symbolism just for the sake of being a little bit exotic.
Borrowing bits of Christian iconography and such was a thing in anime going back to the '80s, as I understand it, to get that creepy/exotic flavor. In Evangelion, I don’t think it’s entirely clear how much of the esoteric religious references are supposed to be taken literally and how many are more like in-universe code names (in the vein of Trinity test). Like, maybe the “Dead Sea Scrolls” they keep talking about really are the Dead Sea Scrolls, but NERV named their supercomputers the “Magi” just because they’re pompous weirdos.
Ultraman in particular may have been a big trendsetter in using Christian imagery for flavor in Japanese science fiction media at the time.
My take is that the meaning of the Abrahamic references in Eva goes a little bit deeper than just random aesthetics. Most of the allusions fit their mythological counterparts neatly enough, that clearly some research went into them and the references aren’t just random. I don’t think the series is trying to comment on Abrahamic religion, though. The references are considered and deliberate as worldbuilding devices, but ultimately just there for flavor.
And yeah, jury’s still out on whether in-universe they’re really invoking biblical figures and concepts or if someone at NERV/SEELE/GEHIRN was simply feeling a bit pretentious with their code name scheme.