Alright, fellow American Gods fans, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: it’s a little bit ironic that technology and the media are the antagonists of this story, right? Sure, it was brilliant of Neil Gaiman to predict that these would be the “New Gods” of America back in 2001 when he first wrote the book, because he was definitely right. Still, it feels extremely weird to be talking online about how excited I am for a TV show in which the internet and TV are basically the main bad guys.
While at a press junket in New York City, Gaiman and series creators Michael Green and Bryan Fuller admitted that they know this struggle all too well — I mean, just look at how often they tweet. “We had to acknowledge there’s a certain amount of media worship even in our own lives, as much as we’d like to think we’re agnostic about a goddess like that,“ Green said. Which, fair. You don’t cast Gillian Anderson as a character if you don’t want people to strongly consider devoting their lives to her, because that’s just poor planning.https://twitter.com/bryanfuller/status/843968461197869056?lang=en
But hey, that’s not necessarily a bad thing! If it weren’t for the internet, in fact, Orlando Jones might not have gotten the chance to play Mr. Nancy in the series. Just listen to Gaiman explain in the above video how it was Twitter that dropped the actor into their laps just as it was time to start casting, and maybe you’ll think twice about dismissing the social media network entirely. You know. Maybe. I’m still pretty ready for a Twitter break, to be honest.
Esoteric question time! Do you think you worship the internet and the media, or are your online consumption habits a bit more healthy than mine? Sound off in the comments below — and don’t forget to check out American Gods when it premieres on April 30!
Image: Starz