Round 9.5 [The Atheist v. Atmosphere]

The Atheist

First off, we need the entire population believing in one god.

I don't get this. Why? If one particular religion is wrong, then X number of religions are wrong.

Secondly, in my view, we actually need to disprove that this god exists--or, at least, that the historical evidence for this god was made by their imprisoned forefathers.

How can we disprove a god that real people actually believe in (when some people can't even draw cartoons of one version of him)?

I guess this is where our visions of this completely differ, as I don't see how we can disprove an imaginary god either. To me, this is a story about faith and belief -- the character comes to believe, against all the believers of various religions and the atheists, that the planet is a giant prison for their ancestors -- and he turns out to be right. To put it another way, a planet with a made-up culture is too distancing to me, ultimately too watered-down. I guess what I'm saying is, the belief systems of aliens are completely uninteresting to me, especially when the ones we've got here on Earth are fascinating enough.

Maybe it's because the story of your protagonist just wasn't as compelling to me.

Which was kind of the point, for me. He's an ordinary guy with ordinary, slightly banal problems. His story doesn't really begin until the screenplay. And when he starts to believe the world is a prison planet, how does that affect him as an environmentalist? As a potential father who will be bringing another "prisoner" into the world?

Atmosphere

for some reason (and I'm not sure if this is purely in my head or is on the page) your guy seems more redeemable.

You think? I don't necessarily disagree, but remember he is autistic. He doesn't really get regular emotions, he doesn't really have empathy. He knows there's something abnormal with himself, but he can't see outside of himself to really "get it". I'm wondering if it's because he has a mental impairment (for lack of a better phrase), and such characters aren't usually villains in this sense, that you're confusing your empathy for him with his potential for redemption. [Because sometimes I feel like I do -- edit for clarity and to sound a little less accusatory.]

Basically, if you want him to unredeemable, then we need to take the plunge and have him make a choice between sacrificing something he wants and saving the people of the colony, or sacrificing the people of the colony for something he wants... and he sacrifices the people. I'm not sure an accident is going to cut it anymore.