Every day is a “Happy Day in Hell” with Hazbin Hotel!
Charlotte Morningstar, or Charlie for short, is princess of hell and is a happy, bubbly spirit with dreams of redeeming the fallen souls of her people with her very own Hazbin Hotel. With an eclectic ensemble joining her, including Alastor (the Radio Demon), Angel Dust (a famous pornstar), and Sir Pentious (a snake man striving for inventions), Charlie attempts to rehabilitate lost souls, to convince those in heaven of her plans.
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This show has been booming on TikTok, with popular songs like “Hell’s Greatest Dad” and “Poison” taking the mainstage. It also helps that some very well-known Broadway stars are in the show. Broadway mainstay and “Supergirl” and “The Last Five Years” star, Jeremy Jordan plays Lucifer, Charlie’s father. The evil Adam is played by “Beetlejuice: The Musical”’s own Beetlejuice, Alexander Brightman..
Fans waited years for this show to air, and boy, was it worth the wait! Getting to explore the worlds of hell and heaven with Charlie and her girlfriend, Vaggie, is an adventure the viewer is happy to join in on. The show covers a lot of sensitive adult topics, so definitely watch with discretion if you haven’t already seen it.
Why is there such a big draw to the show? Maybe part of it is the lack of fear in dealing with these extremely sensitive topics (drugs, sexual harassment, torture, murder, and religion, to name a few). A bigger part of it is likely the religious trauma a lot of fans seem to have. As someone who was raised (and currently lives) in the Deep South, this is a sentiment I relate to as I sort through my own religious beliefs and because of how prominent religion is in the South.
In Hazbin Hotel, we see the most religious trauma out of Christianity. Seeing how the plot directly talks about heaven and hell and the fall of Adam and Eve, the show heavily implies that is the goal. Religious trauma is definitely not an easy topic to discuss, but Hazbin Hotel does it well.
This brings into question, what is religious trauma? In short, religious trauma is something deeply-rooted that shapes the way you think about yourself, specifically in relation to religion. It’s like “standard” trauma, just with religious connotations. It’s easy to see how something you’re raised with can shape your life and definitions of yourself. Personally, religion has taken away just as many things that it’s given, if not more.
Religion and religious trauma are extremely personal and subjective topics. Everyone has to decide for themselves what they believe, but this show addresses it in a lighter and more digestible manner.
“You Didn’t Know,” a song which premieres in the 6th episode, is an excellent example of the themes of religion and religious trauma, which is a song a lot of fans cycle back to. There’s heavy emphasis on the realities of what the Bible’s heaven and hell mean, and how— if you go by the book of Revelation— all of those tormented souls just die again in the end. There’s all sorts of other things that are widely seen throughout the show, such as Adam (the first man) being a blatant misogynist. A lot of Christians wouldn’t have ever thought of Adam as someone who would believe he was so extremely superior to women e.t’s a very satirical take on Adam and some of the perspectives that could be assumed he had. Or, there’s Lilith, Charlie’s mother, being labeled as ‘The First Woman,’ a character that is something wildly outside of the Christian beliefs.
There’s also a major discussion of fallen angels and angels who left heaven: there appears to be a distinction in the show. Lucifer maintains his powers, even though he was banished from heaven for questioning how the rules of heaven work, while Vaggie seems to lose hers, even though she left heaven. It’s an interesting thought to compare the concepts of angels with biblical ones as opposed to the stereotypical ones we see. There are even angels in the show that are modeled after what biblically-accurate angels are supposed to look like.
Hazbin Hotel personally opened a lot of questions for me about the God I thought I knew. They were questions I had already been struggling with, but the show brought them forward into a new light, and honestly, I felt seen and heard. Vivienne Medrano, the creator of the show, did an excellent job with producing a show that I didn’t know I needed in my life.
One song in particular that stands out to a lot of people is “More Than Anything.” The song is a duet between Lucifer and Charlie, and allows Charlie to feel seen, heard, and accepted by her father. There’s even a scene where Lucifer meets Vaggie, Charlie’s girlfriend, for the first time and is fully accepting of it. His flawed idealism aside, there’s something about the devoted father-figure that really speaks to fans of the show.
There’s a lot to be critical about when it comes to the religion of Christianity in particular. None of this is meant to be attacking, just questions to prompt further thinking. Why do we give our faith to a God who condemns good people for not believing in him? What about the torment of souls in hell, only to kill them again on the day he returns? Does hell even exist? What about homosexuality? Was it a cultural belief, or is it really God’s command? What about mistranslations? The Bible is at least 2,000 years old, and you’re telling me there’s never been even a slight mistranslation? Were there intentional mistranslations to hold power?
There are so many more questions to ask.
Hazbin Hotel has been especially thought-provoking because of the way it highlights the controversial elements of the Christian faith. It raises some of these questions, even down to subtle comments some of the characters make.
Deconstructing your faith because of a television show may not seem normal, but it’s far from the most outlandish thing out there. It’s okay to be working through the questions you have. There’s a lot of heavy questions we have to answer as we become adults, and these are some of them for those of us who were raised surrounded by religion. Shows like Hazbin Hotel can help us process through some of them, but don’t be afraid to ask a friend to talk to about it.
Religion is a hard thing to talk about, but it’s one we need to analyze and think critically about. If you have these questions, let me assure you, it’s very normal. No matter where you land with your faith, it’s okay to have questions. After all, there’s no such thing as a stupid question.
Stream Hazbin Hotel now on Prime Video.
