What the deus?

As of ten minutes ago, I finally submitted the video editing project that has taken me the better part of a month to compile. But being that this is Atheiatrical, I can't exactly pray or give thanks to any sort of god, so this means I'll be dancing in my kitchen to Gangnam Style instead. Excuse me for four minutes and thirteen seconds.



Of course once the song is over the panic sets in. Is it REALLY finished? Really? Did I forget something? What if the cuts are off, just a little? Even a fraction of a second's difference could throw the whole audience off kilter, there's a lot hanging in the balance. This could be the end of my career, right here. I try to keep the taste of bile down as I force myself to calm down. It's 3 AM. I just listened (and danced) to PSY on purpose. Clearly I'm not in my right mind.
And on that note, I'm going to ask everyone to bear with me through this post. When I decided to create Atheiatrical, it was on the basis of an idea I'd had kicking around for awhile, specifically after a long discussion of deus ex machina--the god in the machine, as it were.
It is a concept that fascinates me on many levels. Why is such a concept even in existence? Because it reflects the human desire to have everything work out in as quick, easy, and picturesque manner as possible. But the use of deus ex machina has evolved as our methods of storytelling have changed.
I have a friend who insists that the moment The Dark Knight stops being a good movie is at the end of the bank robbery scene, around the 3 minute mark in the video below.



"It's complete deus ex machina!" he gripes. "Not even an hour into the film and Nolan has completely betrayed both the comics and his own film."
This is usually the part where I awkwardly try to change the subject to something not so near and dear to my heart.
But, insofar as the bus is a convenient solution, I am forced to agree. The bus just barely manages to hit its intended target, and leaves the location at exactly the right time.
And yes, we can talk about the necessity or lack thereof for that kind of situation, I mean I'm sure the bus driver was packing heat to kill the money thief either way, and I could go on defending TDK for hours, but let's talk about why that particular device is really there: It looks really ridiculously cool. I remember seeing it in the theater for the first time; I practically hooted with excitement. It was taking a magical solution and concealing it under the guise of a well told story, using it as a sort of springboard to take the tale to an epic new level. I mean come on, after a smooth opening heist like that you couldn't just Michael Bay it up for the rest of the film, people would riot in the streets. It was a precursor to something bigger, and of course the film's conclusion didn't disappoint, at least if the box office stats are any indication.
It's a prime example of the way deus ex machina has changed, and, I would argue, gained validity in today's various storytelling formats. Yes, it's still abused to death, and I probably shouldn't be encouraging anyone to use it for fear of doing so, but it doesn't have to be bad all the time! Deus ex machina can be good sometimes! It's redemption at its finest. It's humanity saying, "Hey look universe, we can redeem even our worst creations!"
...This is usually the part where I would segue into a comparison of various creation-type religious Gods redeeming humanity to humanity redeeming its mental creations, using deus ex machina, but that will come another day, because A) this post is already running long, B) This blog is being read by someone who doesn't deserve to be subjected to my ridiculously arrogant and provocative notions dealing with politics, religion, and other touchy subjects, so I'll save it for later, and C) It's 4 AM. I am in no mental state to be coming up with that kind of thesis.
Let's just keep it simple and sum it up by saying deus ex machina, while overused and easy to (rightfully) criticize, is redeemable in context of a story that does not exclusively rely on it for resolution, simply because we seek stories that are greater than any that could happen in a real-life situation. And we'll continue on that thread another day.