I dunno about movies, but I remember one of the reasons I enjoyed the TV show “Moonlighting” was that Maddie Hayes was the ONLY admitted atheist TV character I’d ever seen. This was brought up in at least two episodes, and she never backed down from it.
Can anyone think of any other TV character who admitted to being an atheist?
Mike Stivic (Meathead) declared himself an agnostic on “All in the Family.” On a recent “Judging Amy” episode, Amy Brenneman’s character indicated she was an atheist, although I don’t remember if she came right out and said it.
Wasn’t our beloved First Mate Gilligan an atheist?
Am now, but good point, there was a show that avoided all references to religion. The Unoffical Gilligan’s Island Handbook (Joey Green) notes that the castaways “never question their fate or pray for cosmic intervention” and that for all our books, we didn’t have a Bible. (The author also brings up the Seven Deadly Sins, but this was covered already here in a thread a couple months ago.)
Other 60’s shows also seemd to be areligious, if not atheistic. Was Samantha Stevens a Wiccan? What religion was Jeannie? I don’t think church or God was mentioned even once on The Brady Bunch.
While “Life of Brian” made fun of organised religion, I do not feel it was atheistic. After all they showed the “standard” Christmas scene and had Jesus reciting the sermon on the mount. (which was misheard by the people in the back – “Blessed are the Cheesemakers?”)
Monty Python’s “Life of Brian” certainly isn’t a ringing endorsement of Christianity, but it’s hardly anti-Christian. JEsus himself appears foir a minute or so, and is treated respectfully- rather, the film makes fun of the idiots who misunderstand and misinterpret everything Jesus says.
Indeed, I recall reading an interview in which Eric Idle said that the Python gang WANTED to make a flat-out Christian parody, but found that (while none of them were exactly devout) Jesus was an admirable guy, and his words/actions didn’t seem to lend themselves readily to ridicule.