Adam and Eve: A Comedy

I'm convinced that the Adam and Eve story was intended to be a comedy. Somehow through the centuries, it got taken seriously. Which is perhaps the biggest pitfall of comedy: dusty scholars with magnifying glasses trying to determine just why did that chicken cross the road.

But when you really look at the story, what you see is the perfect comedy set up. First, there’s the authoritative figure of God. He wants to be a nice guy, but he’s also a bit of a high-control neurotic: “Relax, feel free to enjoy yourselves, just don’t touch that fruit. Now I’m going away for a while, and you kids have fun. When I get back, I expect everything to be shipshape.” And second, you have the comic duo: “Don’t worry, sir, everything will be fine. We won’t screw up.”

It’s important to note that there are two elements that make good comedy: deception and rule-breaking. The classic TV comedy I Love Lucy (1951-1957) capitalized on this. Most of the plots of this sitcom dealt with Ricky playing the God role, as in, don’t-cause-trouble while I’m out. While Lucy and her friend Ethel ignore his warnings and proceeded to disguise themselves, sneak in to places they shouldn’t, and generally mess things up royally.       

In the Adam and Eve story, the main characters get some help in their rule breaking in the form of a con man, aka the Serpent. The con man is an excellent figure in comedies and is often the hero. Take The Sting, for example. Hooker and Gondroff go to elaborate lengths to bilk people out of their money. And it’s great fun watching them succeed.   

But in all good comedies, there comes a time when one must pay the piper. They call this The Fall: the boss returns, the parents come home, the police show up. And there’s a frantic attempt cover everything up and explain away any inconsistencies, such as, “Why are you wearing clothes?” In the movie Death at a Funeral, the various members of the Barnes family try desperately to hide the family secrets and keep everything looking respectable. This becomes more and more difficult to do, and eventually leads to hilarious consequences.

In the end, God throws Adam and Eve out of Paradise. A sad ending like this is not usually true in comedy. But it’s interesting to note that are several ancient Egyptian versions of this story in which the ending is quite different. In them, the serpent is good. Often a foolish character discovers the creature. And then, through bumbling his way along, the fool comes to great wealth at the end, a la W.C. Fields, The Bank Dick.

Adam and Eve follow a more Woody Allen-esque ending. In Allen’s Love and Death, for example, (a parody of War and Peace) life is filled with heartbreak. In the end, the main character dies; however, the circumstances that led to this mock tragedy are extremely comical.

Boris Grushenko (Woody Allen) and Death

So, yes, one could look at end of Adam and Eve tearfully. As a sad story of tragic loss. But me, I’m reminded of Laurel and Hardy. I picture Adam and Eve stumbling dizzily out of the garden. And Adam turns to Eve and says, “And now here’s another fine mess you got us into.” 

Next: Adam and Eve: A Horror Story.

Order Versus Chaos

In several creation stories throughout the world, chaos is often symbolized as a dark, formless watery void. Out of this void order is created. The ancient Egyptians called the watery abyss Nun, from which the stable land arose. In Norse myth, fire and ice commingled amid the fathomless deep; and through a great turmoil, the birth of all things came to be.

It's not always easy to put things in order. In Babylonian myth, there is a great war in heaven to try and subdue the watery, chaotic Tiamat. It turns out to be very difficult to do, but in the end, the god Marduk succeeds. He divides the body of Tiamat in two, creating the earth and sky.

Marduk

In Genesis, God orders the universe out of a watery chaos. Light and dark are separated; time is set in sequence; stars, land, and sea are properly organized. Thus the tidy, the neat, the trim becomes the ideal. “A place for everything, and everything in its place,” as my mother used to say. Order soon becomes the security and safety of civilization. It’s protection against the wild man-eating animals out there in the shadowy, chaotic realms.

Yet paradoxically, as dark and foreboding as chaos can seem, we seem to have a need for it. Think confetti at a parade. Wild, messy parties. Children playing in the dirt. There’s graffiti on bridges that's  considered art. As a writer, I know there can be no story without chaos. Cracks have to appear in the perfect symmetry of things. There can be no plot without something going out of order. Or otherwise--borrrr--ing. Often in stories, it’s the order itself that’s evil, not the chaos. Think of Nazis or Darth Vader. They’re highly structured beings, but they’re the bad guys.  

In the movie V for Vendetta, the main character V could be thought of as a symbol for chaos. V is a threat to order, the totalitarian government under Adam Sutler. The movie reminds us that for a new order to establish itself, the old one must crumble, thus creating chaos.

A lot of people complain that movements of social unrest, like Occupy Wall Street, disrupt things too much. But significant change isn’t going to happen without chaos. So grab yourself a V mask, and enjoy the party.  

Beginnings

In Hindu mythology, Vac (Word) is the goddess of speech and the mother of creation. Later she evolves to become the source of all inspiration and creativity, and is associated with Saraswati, the goddess, among other things, of music and poetry. 

Goddess Saraswati

The concept of Word is found in other places as well. In Christian philosophy, the Word or Logos is what brings the whole universe into existence. The idea came from the Greeks, who may have borrowed it from the ancient Egyptians. The Egyptians believed the creator god, Re, who possessed a hidden name, could speak other beings into existence. And in some versions of this myth, he is called Word.

The spoken word, and later writing, is what gave birth to stories. So the beginning of things teaches us that we're all part of some universal tale, characters living in a great cosmic play. Is it a tragedy or a comedy? I’m not sure.

But one thing I do know is that those who try to bring forth the message that we're all in this together, so maybe we should get along, don’t fare so well.

Jesus, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King wove universal love into their talks. But there are always people who hate this idea so much that they’ll kill the perpetrators of such a dangerous notion.

Martin Luther King Jr.

So the whole love and peace thing is nothing more than the recognition that we’re all part of Vac. Even if we don’t see it, it’s something we can dream about. John Lennon had a nice song years ago where he imagined it. (Oh that’s right, they shot him, too.)

Well, a story’s still a story, so let’s play our parts with pizzazz and maybe we'll get our names listed in the credits.