We've long lived out our anxieties through the media we consume, and the pandemic is no exception. Surreal Netflix series Midnight Gospel helps people explore the philosophical concepts of life and death at the very time when they're isolating at home and contemplating their own mortality. We explore the insights behind this and why people are turning to entertainment to abate pandemic anxieties.
Social isolation has seen life become a succession of digital moments, with technology used to simulate a spectrum of real-life experiences, both for work and play. At the same time, COVID-19 has forced people to confront their own mortality, as non-stop updates keep global infection and death rates top-of-mind. In timely fashion, a surreal animation series from the creator of Adventure Time tackles both of these themes.
Netflix’s Midnight Gospel pairs hallucinogenic scenes based in different worlds with podcast interviews about topics related to death, held between comedian Duncan Trussel and various authors, thinkers, and spiritual guides. “All these conversations are piquant right now, when every day’s news invites you to imagine your death, or your loved ones’, untimely or accelerated,” writes James Poniewozik in The New York Times.
The show arrives at a time when we’ve seen how people use pop culture as a way to understand and articulate what’s going on in the world around them. Black Mirror gave people a dystopian dialect to discuss what’s happening in society, and the game Plague Inc. has helped people investigate their newfound curiosity about viruses in the face of a real threat. With 53% of British adults feeling anxious as a result of COVID-19, Midnight Gospel may become the next piece of escapist entertainment to help people manage and understand their fears. In a time when brands are questioning how and whether to connect with consumers through comms, this serves up a way to lean meaningfully into the current consumer context without relying on crass and explicit references to the pandemic.
Ant Firth-Clark is Senior Cultural Strategist at Canvas8, with a ten year history helping top-tier brands such as Nike, Google, adidas, Diageo and Wella Professionals connect with creative and culture-driven audiences. Outside of Canvas8, Ant consults emerging artists on their careers and is also working on the completion of his first (and probably only) novel.
