Posted in: Netflix, TV | Tagged: 3 Body Problem, Liu Cixin, netflix

3 Body Problem: A Look at Religious Imagery and Meditations on Faith

The Netflix adaptation of 3 Body Problem is filled with intentional religious imagery and an ongoing theme about faith and religious belief.

There's an underlying theme that runs through 3 Body Problem, both the Chinese TV series and the Netflix series, and that is the desperate human need to believe in a God or higher power and the consequences of that need. The Tencent and Netflix versions tackle them quite differently, especially when it comes to religion and dogma. That theme begins in the first scene of the Netflix version, where Ye Wen Jie's (Zine Tseng) father is prosecuted in the Cultural Revolution for teaching Theoretical Physics that might suggest the existence of God, which goes against Communist dogma. The Red Guard has their own religion and god, Maoism, and it leads them to brutalise and kill millions of people.

3 Body Problem: The Search for God

The theme of finding a God to believe in is less overt in the Chinese adaptation of 3 Body Problem. The main thrust of the plot, as in the book, starts with top scientists across the world seeming to commit suicide because "Physics doesn't exist." The loss of their faith is what seems to drive them to their deaths, which doesn't ring true in real life since scientists would never kill themselves if they discovered all their theories have been proven wrong. They would conduct experiments to explore the debunking. Anyway, both the Tencent and Netflix versions try to fix that flaw by implying or showing that it is actually the monstrous countdown projected into their eyes that drives them insane, causing them to kill themselves in terror. The Netflix version also implies some of them are murdered by the pro-alien cult.

The Aliens as False God

Ye Wen Jie (Rosalind Chao) and Mike Evans (Jonathan Pryce) founded the pro-alien cult as a religious cult. As in the book and Chinese TV version, they and their followers call the San-Ti, or Trisolarans in the book, their "lord," which is a misconception. They treat the aliens as a single entity when the San-Ti are a race with individuals with different thoughts and opinions, as evidenced when the first one to detect Ye Wen Jie's radio signal is a pacifist who warns her not to reply and reveals Earth's location as his people would conquer Earth. This already indicates they are aggressive, but the cultists choose to believe they will be benevolent colonisers who have never been in world history. But they have faith, and that leads them to commit murder and betray the world. True believer Tatiana Haas (Marlo Kelly) is the deadliest of the true believers, willing to kill anyone for the alien cause, even those she cares about, if ordered to.

3 Body Problem: Religious Imagery Abounds

Showrunners D.B. Weiss, David Benioff, and Alexander Woo sprinkled religious imagery and symbolism throughout the series, making the theme of religiosity more prominent than in the book or Chinese adaptation. Mike Evans's conversations in his office with the unseen San-Ti through a radio looks like a confessional. Ye Wen Jie holds a Buddhist funeral for her daughter in Oxford with monks chanting mantras at the wake, which is inaccurate considering her family are scientists and non-believers back in China, and it's highly unlikely her daughter was a believer either, but the script included this to add to the underlying motif of religion. Later, Ye and Jin Cheng (Jess Hong) also burn incense on the altar of her daughter. Jin and Jack play the VR game where their player characters are essential pilgrims seeking to solve an existential riddle. The Sophon (Sea Shimooka) often appears in the VR game, descending like an angel bringin the Lord's proclamations. Mike Evans, in his final moments, is on his knees in penance, clutching a read hard drive that looks like Mao's Little Red Book, which gives the tragedy of his misplaced faith in the aliens' multiple layers of meaning – it suggests the aliens are a version of Communism coming to destroy the world. The dying Will (Alex Sharp) becomes increasingly beatific and saint-like, and the moment when he confesses his love to Jin Cheng and comforts her from his hospital bed looks like a religious tableau. Ye Wen Jie's final words to the aliens in her house after she again burns incense to an altar of her daughter are spoken while on her knees as if she was praying to them; the gods she realizes are really devils as she pledges her defiance.

Faith in Science, Science as Faith

In the Chinese adaptation of 3 Body Problem, Wang Miao's (Edward Zhang) faith in Science is what keeps him going, but the countdown and seeing the universe wink causes a major existential crisis until Da Shi (Yu Hewei) brings him back down to Earth. Later, the research assistant at an observatory (played by popular Chinese comedian Kong Lian Shun) implores Wang Miao to let him in on the secret because he, too, wants to feel special and believe in this new thing. Religion and blind faith are portrayed as a negative in the Chinese adaptation. This is in keeping with the anti-religious ethos of the government.

In the Netflix version of 3 Body Problem, the Oxford Five are like apostles of Science. They don't debate or question Science but use their scientific training to analyze problems and rationally think through them. Auggie (Eiza Gonzalez) is an engineer. Jin Cheng, one of the most respected Physicists of her generation, forges ahead using Science to work out the puzzles in the VR game and then uses applied Physics to design the Staircase Project. Jack (John Bradley) used his scientific expertise to become a snack tycoon. Will becomes a Physics teacher hoping to inspire future generations of kids. Saul (Jovan Adepo) uses his analytical skills to reason out how things are happening and is often right and uses scientific debate to try to talk Will out of committing his sacrifice. In the story, these friends are the true torchbearers without agonizing over Science being broken, and their being called one by one to action sets them on their individual hero's journey. Spymaster Thomas Wade (Liam Cunningham) puts his faith in them and weaponises them in the war against the false god The San-Ti.

Original book author Liu Cixin is not religious, but the series is an expression of his belief in Science.

3 Body Problem is streaming on Netflix.

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