If you’re reading this, the world has not come to an end… yet. It could still happen a bit later, or perhaps The Rapture has occurred and, I hate to tell you, if you’re still here it’s not looking good.My hell is pointless Hollywood remakes, so June 6, 2006 will truly be a devilish day for me. Witness a remake of The Omen being released to coincide with the, um, ominous date. The original is fantastically creepy piece of horror and suspense. It has entered the pop culture lexicon, with Family Guy’s Stewie Griffen attempting to kill his mother Lois by knocking her off the stairs with his tricycle in a scene straight out of the film. Damien, the son of Satan himself, joins the South Park boys' class.
Is watching a 30-year-old movie really that hard? Or is it just a cynical piece of marketing based around the 6/6/06 date? Silly question, of course. Jokes on them – The Book of Revelation, which started this whole mark of the devil foolishness ("This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six.") – was written when the Julian calendar was in use, not the modern day Gregorian calendar, so who knows what day 6/6/06 would really fall on. Take that marketing department!
As I wrote in my blog, if we were still using the Julian calendar, today would be May 24th. Of course, the whole 666 thing is a mistranslation anyway. The original was three Greek numerals, which, coincidentally were also letters (because the silly Greeks did things that way). Most scholars agree that those "numerals" were intended to represent a person; possibly the Roman emperor Nero.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, love the REM reference. Wish I'd thought of it.
ReplyDeleteTHat's a pretty funny comment on the Julen Calender vs. the Gregorian Calender...i love it.
ReplyDelete--RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com
I have a shirt with that picture of Damien on it, I should have worn it today, but it's not work appropriate. =/
ReplyDeleteSo it would have been this past May Two-Four? Canada's most beer-swillingist tribute to a long-dead queen was potentially the most evil day on the calendar? I was at the cottage (of course) and while there were no locusts, there was certainly a plauge of mosquitoes and blackflies. It all makes sense now.
ReplyDeleteAnd Marilyn, if you can't wear a Damien shirt to work, it's not a job worth having. Says the unemployed guy.