Podcast: On the Catholicism of “Daredevil”

Readers may be aware that, periodically, The Divine Wedgie gets together with lecturers at Campion College Australia to discuss the theological, philosophical and literary aspects of particular artifacts of pop culture. These include discussions on the Richard Linklater movie Boyhood and the Netflix original series Stranger Things.

This time, the Divine Wedgie got together again with Dr. Colin Dray, Lecturer in Literature at the college, to discuss the Catholic symbols and tropes in another Netflix original series, Daredevil. With the lapsed Catholicism of Matthew Murdoch, the frequenting of the confessional and the increasing prevalence of Father Lantom as Murdoch’s confidante, it is easy for Christian fans to make this out to be a vaguely Catholic show. In this podcast, however, it was argued that the overt symbolism was actually tangentially theological.

Instead, the true theological freight of the show is to be found in the subtler aspects of the Daredevil aesthetic, such as the opening credits, the omni-presence of blood, the focus on open wounds and dismemberment (even decapitation), rituals involving eggs and the potency of the female characters of the show. These tropes, far from being a mundane aspect of the show, drip with theological significance, and these are explored with reference to the works of Plato, Augustine and Rene Girard.

For further details, click here to access the full podcast.