Hazbin Hotel

Note: The following post includes spoilers on several television programs.

One of the significant contributions of 19th-century Romantics was reimagining the Devil and Hell from symbols of evil and suffering to liberation and freedom. This reimagining continues today. 

One of the popular modern reimaginings was the television series Lucifer, which was broadcast initially on NBC and then moved to Netflix. Another popular NBC series that reimagined Hell was The Good Place, which starred Ted Danson and Kristen Bell. Lucifer’s title character is shown as a likable and sympathetic person who, by the end of the series, works to rehabilitate those condemned to Hell. In The Good Place, Hell begins as a place of eternal torment but, in the end, is converted into one of rehabilitation.

Hazbin Hotel is the newest member of this infernal club. 

Hazbin Hotel is an adult animated musical comedy series created by Vivienne Medrano. The central character is Charlie Morningstar, the princess of Hell and the daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. She creates the Hazbin Hotel in Hell, intending to rehabilitate the demons and sinners so that they can be allowed into Heaven.

 

As of the writing of this blog post, six episodes have been released. I love Hazbin Hotel. The series is a fantastic, raunchy, violent romp. Each episode has an extraordinary musical piece that’s Broadway quality. The characters are well-written, and the storylines are creative. Hazbin Hotel is streamed on Amazon Prime Video.

I highly recommend Hazbin Hotel.  

Hazbin Hotel, like Lucifer and The Good Place, shares a common feature. They all address the philosophical problems with beliefs in an embodiment of evil, Hell, and eternal damnation. 

In mainstream Christian thought, Hell isn’t limited to dishing out justice to those who commit evil acts (con artists, murderers, rapists, etc) as it is in non-Christian traditions. It’s very common to find Christian theologians who declare any non-Christian, including the ethical, as being condemned to Hell just for not being Christian. In addition, most Christians believe anyone, no matter how evil of a life they may have lived, can receive a “Get Out of Jail” card, even at the last moment, through a deathbed conversion. Heaven, according to mainstream Christianity, is filled with converted murderers and rapists, while Hell is populated by virtuous non-Christians.

The concept of Hell, even the non-Christian versions, demands a series of blog posts to address its many issues. However, one can say that all versions of Hell contain a significant philosophical flaw: they fail to consider life’s complexities and our inherent flawed human nature. The Christian Hell is the worst in that, in addition, it fails in the area of justice, which the idea of Hell was initially meant to address.