EDINBURGH (SatireWire.com) – The Lord God Almighty, executive producer of the long-running Life on Earth, has defended its often graphic scenes of violence, sex and abuse, arguing that His job is not to police, “how many breasts get exposed or how many people die, or whatever.”
The global show, which airs 24-7, is often criticized for its graphic nature, but its Creator said powerful storytelling must sometimes make audiences uncomfortable.
“Life on Earth involves wars, violence and sex because life involves wars, violence and sex,” said God, speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival. “If we wrote it any other way, it wouldn’t be believable.”
God revealed that while He created the show, it is actually scripted by two experienced writers, whom He identified as Dan and Benji.
“I give Dan and Benji free reign on the scripts, and I’m certainly not going to have them tone things down over a few complaints,” He said.
The program has been running for 4.5 billion years, although the human characters weren’t introduced until about 100,000 years ago. Ever since, the level of violence in the show has raised debate within the vast community of humans. Recently viewed scenes of relentless bombings, viral outbreaks, rapes and beheadings have been widely discussed in the media, sparking a storm of criticism and argument that Life on Earth is “crossing the line.”
God, however, said the criticism only confirms that the show has got it right.
“I appreciate there was some controversy and it generated a conversation about what acceptable levels of violence and assault are,” God said. “But to Me, those responsible for programming have two responsibilities. One is to be responsible, that is, to not show sex and violence that’s gratuitous. That is certainly not who I am. At the same time, I don’t want to be a censor that inhibits the authentic, organic creative process by policing how many breasts should be on a show, or how many children die, or whatever.”
The program, which airs everywhere on the planet, certainly has had its critics through the years. Thomas Hobbes called it, “nasty, brutish, and short,” while H.L. Mencken labeled it, “a bore.”
But God said the ratings speak for themselves.
“People might not like what they see happening in Israel or Ukraine or Malaysia, but you have to admit it’s compelling,” He said. “People tune in, day after day after day. Always have, always will.”
But do they have a choice?
“Actually, yes,” God said. “Everyone watches the show, and everyone is in the show. It’s participatory theater writ large. But if you don’t want to be in it, or don’t want to watch it, you can just change the channel. Which is to say, Benji and Dan will just write you out.”
“Keep in mind that Dan and Benji will eventually write you out anyway,” He added. “They’ll just do it sooner.”
As for the scenes of violence, horror and degradation, the Producer insisted they will continue.
“Right now the show is centered around humans – at least as far as humans are concerned – and we’re just showing humans behaving like they do,” He said. “And it’s not all horrible. We have beautiful characters, too. Friendly characters. Honorable characters. It’s not graphic all the time. It’s not ‘Game of Thrones.’”
When asked, God said he does not know how the show will end, as Dan and Benji haven’t told him.
© 2014 SatireWire.com
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