From: "Rocky" <howler-AT-obscure.org> Subject: PUPT: Devil's Work (belaboring a bit) Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2003 07:52:27 -0400 Supplements to Mathieu's wealth of Devil dealings- > You can't give him your soul if you already sold or given it to someone else. > (also seen on the simpsons, Homer had written behind a photograph that he > was giving Marge his soul, as a gift) That's beautiful. FINE PRINT is a modern way to cause contract disputes. Speaking of-- Futurama (created by Simpson's creator) had Mr. Frye exchange hands with the Devil in order to be able to play an instrument. There were so many deal-technicality twists I can only remember one - the Devil later has Leela sign a contract for her hand, not reading the fine print, "...in marriage." > There's a Primus song called "The Devil Went Down in Georgia".The hero got > in a violin-playing challenge with the Devil. I think the hero won just > because he was that good. Never heard the Primus version. The original was Charlie Daniels. At least that's the first I heard of it, circa 1979? > In the movie Bedazzled, the guy has wishes he's got in exchange for his > soul. He uses his one last wish for something completely selfless (namely, > the happiness of the woman he wanted to seduce). That was a loophole in the > contract. selfless act. This reminds me of one of the more moving episodes of The X-files, where Mulder meets a genie. He knew the only wishes that turn out right are selfless ones. He tries wishing for world peace but that destroyed the population and he was the only one left in the world. He had to use his second wish to undo that. The third wish is probably irrelevant to this conversation and I would not dare tell. Worth seeking out. Speaking of puppets and the Devil- Iron Maiden (rock band) was in town recently but I didn't go. They might hold the record for unlikely use of puppetry. Their mascot, Eddie, a rotting zombie, closes their shows as a double/triple human size puppet flailing about, apparently coltrolled by a team standing behind him with poles. Also see Iron Maiden's puppetry themed album cover, where the Devil conrols Eddie via marionette strings but little does the Devil know-- (you have to imagine strings; the reproduction isn't that good...) http://cdcovers.iespana.es/cdcovers/PaginasI/pgsIronMaidenTheNumberOfTheBeas t.htm Another idea from modern times: I know a few poeple, personally, whose defense against the devil is to label him a product of christianity, a religion whose legitimacy they reject. Also, I can't remember whether this was this was an 80's Twilight Zone or an episode of Insight. Sherman Hemsley plays a professor (of math?) who is visited by a demon who challenges him to name a thing the demon ca not do, as the demon claimed to be able to do everything. The episode ends when Sherman says, "get lost," and the demon screams his way into oblivion. In Star Trek, Kirk destroys a robot in a similar way of creating a paradox but I forget the details. Rocky --- Personal replies to: "Rocky" <howler-AT-obscure.org> --- List replies to: puptcrit-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu --- Admin commands to: majordomo-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu --- Archives at: http://lists.village.virginia.edu/~spoons
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