Fleabag and Religion

The TV comedy series (do we still call them TV series/) Fleabag has won a lot of awards in the last year. This is deserved because its funny, topical, and the creator and star, Pheobe Waller-Bridge is bitingly funny. The show is also, well, raunchy, at times -- at least for our sensibilities. So, we watch for a bit, then we quit for a bit, and eventually return.

In Season 2 there is a fair amount of "ligion in the plot, surprisingly. Not surprisingly some of this religious stuff is irreverent, as the poster suggests. Waller-Bridge's character ends up in a relationship with a Roman Catholic priest, which takes her into the confessional and beyond -- well beyond. They also go to a Quaker meeting where she breaks the silence by blurting out something rather inappropriate in an "overshare" sort of way. It did make me laugh and wonder, when has a Quaker meeting ever shown up in a comedy? The scene was shot in a Quaker Meeting House, bye the way. 



All this caused me to ponder the prevalence of religion in shows that are not religious. Sometimes they are poking fun at religion, or sneering at it.  Other times they are asking the questions which religion might address if we were willing to be more honest. It turns out that Waller-Bridge has a religious grandmother who said grace at the table and Phoebe volunteered enthusiastically to say the blessing as a child. She admits to being "transgressive" in her writing, and I don't think she wants anyone, including God to forgive her transgressions. 

Are you a Fleabag fan? Are you willing to admit it? Do you notice that religion does appear in lots of series and movies as well?