Oh, My Neo Pleasant Purgatory… Ambience
Digital Purgatory—Neo-noir-ish but chill purgatory ambience, I was thinking of a (techy) modern island of Purgatorio mashed with elements from the Heavenly Kid and “Neo Bowser City” from Mario Kart. Take a break on one of the rings as folks move about you, working out the flaws of their souls. I imagine mass transit and people movers nearby, working their way up to the next ring amongst stationary kiosks and sidewalk vendors.But why purgatory? Global calamities have had me thinking more about the Inferno, and as summer loosens its grasp upon us and the morning chills of fall hint at the spooky season… It’s hard not to watch the television and be like, “I hope you go to hell.” (Preferably the one with her gate in Philadelphia).Which is off-the-chain talk for a podcast meant to be chill.How about purgatory? Talking purgatory won’t raise as many hackles (right?). So—I attended a religious military boarding school. My first course on Wednesday was Bible; during lights-out, a night guard would check to make sure I was in bed (and not setting fire to anything) and occasionally hand over a rapture comic book. All this is to say, even the underground thinking at school was, “there has to be an enchanted place to hold the so-so souls.”So purgatory is accepted—just unloved, and underrepresented in popular culture. Aside from Purgatorio or Beetlejuice, there aren’t many mega-hits that focus on limbo. (And we covered Beetlejuice last year.)I am an afterlife aficionado, and of the big three soul deposit locations, purgatory is represented the least in popular culture. (And I mean big three in the way that Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin could be counted as a big three of something. And purgatory would be Litecoin... also, I’m not equating the other two.)There are notable purgatories to be found in pop culture. One deep-cut purgatory construction I’m fond of is from the 1985 movie The Heavenly Kid. The film’s afterlife layout is a mall hallway that leads to escalators carrying people into a blinding light, presumably heaven. It’s guarded by a couple of bouncers dressed like Vegas clergy, standing in front of an Applebee’s-looking “please wait to be seated” lectern.Down a dark tunnel motorcycle ride is "Midtown" where an unhinged bar entertains unclaimed souls. The bar feels like a smokers-welcome 80s airport bar was smashed with Oscar's restaurant selection in Follow That Bird. In the Heavenly Kid, a grizzled angel with probably an alcohol problem (portrayed by Richard Mulligan) drags the film’s hero into that unhinged bar. There’s a classic 80s “food is gross” buffet scene followed by a mission briefing. You, Heavenly Kid, are not quite good enough for paradise (because your a greaser). But if you can rescue this other downcast 80s kid—and turn him into a cool 80s greaser (take that almighty)—you will be cleared for the escalator.The movie is garbage but contains one of my favorite purgatory moments in film. Have you ever feared an awful bar mirrorverse where every exit is the entrance so when you try to escape you just keep ending up in the same ***** bar. (BTW the angel character is charming—I would describe his vibe as Doc Brown from Back to the Future but played by Gary Busey).The film’s purgatory mission begins on an afterlife subway train taking our likable bumbling dummy, the heavenly kid, back to Earth. I should mention that he originally dies a cliff-chicken loser. Who is offered the chance to be the hero, to "rescue" a kid from making his exact same mistakes. And rescue kid makes the exact same cliff-chicken mistake with the heavenly kid in the car. The heavenly kid drives off two cliffs in this movie... And then is let into heaven. We didn't have much else going on in the 80s so we watched it. WOLVERIIIINES!!!PS: to the purgatory heads (hello!)_drop a popular fiction purgatory below!
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