Syfy’s gruesome series Happy! is finally ending its second season. This seems like a perfect time to remind everyone how much it hates Christianity. There have already been jabs at “bringing sexy back” to Easter with an evil “Make Easter Great Again” plan, so the bar is already low. Somehow it gets worse with the assertion that God is simply an imaginary friend and prayers do nothing.
The May 29 season finale “Resurrection” sees the murder of children’s TV entertainer and secret crime boss Sonny Shine (Christopher Fitzgerald) on live television. This shocking event traumatizes kids across the country, leading to many imaginary friends disappearing from the loss of innocence. Because of this, Happy (Patton Oswalt), an imaginary winged horse, questions his purpose in a world where people might not believe in him anymore. In frustration, he flies up above the clouds and runs into what the series considers the ultimate imaginary friend: God.
No, really, God (voiced by Jeff Goldblum) in the scene calls Himself an imaginary friend to civilization. Considering he’s conversing with Happy, He can pretty much only be an imaginary friend rather than the undisputed Creator of Heaven and Earth. Despite being a “friend,” though, He doesn’t seem to think highly of people on Earth. He also doesn’t seem to think that highly of prayer, either, which He implies doesn’t change anything. Some "friend" He turns out to be.
Happy: God?
God: Let's call me, uh, an imaginary friend. Only, my friend, uh, happens to be, you know, a whole civilization. At this point, thankfully, an ever-dwindling portion of civilization. That's a funny name for it, isn't it? "Civilization." Geez, insects are more civilized.
Happy: You, an-- an imaginary friend? That's silly, everyone believes in you.
God: They do? Really? [Scoffs] To tell you the truth, I got days when I feel just like you. Like, "What the hell am I even doing up here?" I mean, yes, you're right. People--people talk about me, but they don't really believe. I mean, they pretend to. But look at them. Geez. But, you know, that's exactly my point. Every day, I hear these sanctimonious assholes saying, "God told me this," and "God spoke to me that." Um, n-no. No, I did--did not. I dunno what voice you're hearing, but, uh, it's not mine. Not mine.
Happy: But what about prayers?
God: Prayers? That's--that's for them. That's not for me, not for us. Uh, hey, if I played favorites based on who, uh, stroked my ego more, you know, what kind of-- what kind of jagoff would I be? No, prayers are like those buttons at the crosswalk. You press them to make you feel better, but you're not gonna change the traffic by hitting a button. If I were you, here's what I'd do: I'd focus on doing what I do best. Being a friend. Forget the "Imaginary" part.
Once again, the show’s attempt to be edgy falls spectacularly flat considering dozens of shows have made the same claim about God and religion being imaginary. It’s not even a surprise to hear it on primetime television anymore much less a niche channel like Syfy. In fact, it would be more shocking to see shows acknowledging God’s existence. I guarantee that it would turn more heads then slashing throats and dropping f-bombs nowadays.
It’s probably expecting a lot at this point for a show like Happy! to tone it down, but it shouldn’t be too much for a show to keep out of a religion it clearly despises. These were the people who called Easter a “lame-ass holiday” that “no one cares about,” after all. Portraying God as real clearly wasn’t high on their priorities.
Never mind that there are billions of people worldwide who do believe in God and have been positively affected through the power of prayer and religion. They’re apparently not edgy enough for an MA rating. In the end, all I can do is pray the real God can guide them to something more productive. It would certainly make the rest of us happy.
