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"The Line" is a full-cast fantasy serial drama. “How far do you want to go with this, Chris? You’re going to piss off a lot of people!”
It’s possible I like to push boundaries a little bit; question the status quo... perhaps it’s growing up with parents who encouraged an open mind, perhaps it’s a life-long allegiance to ‘fringe’ politics (currently known as the Left Wing); I think spending the first sixteen years of my life regularly attending a Catholic Church had a lot to do with it.
Let’s be clear, religion fascinates me. The entire concept, the entire conceit, the entire... entirety of it. I mean, getting away from the “is it real?” discussion for a minute, the possibilities that religions give to us are almost limitless. An afterlife, heaven, hell, sin, reincarnation, demons, angels, possession, exorcism, spells, power – all these ideas and many more come from the plethora of religious texts from around the world.
And this is important, there are so many religions and so many facets within each of them that it would take a lifetime to begin to understand each of them, to truly comprehend what they mean and, possibly most importantly, discover which (if any) was the ‘truth’.
You would think an omniscient and omnipotent deity (or deities) would have given a better clue as to which is the correct path to follow. Perhaps though, half the fun is in the finding out. The human experience would be pretty dull if we knew for sure what the right path for each of us was right from the get go.
Which brings us to "The Line".
It’s been a long road to this point, from a very different idea developed in the dark days of 2007 to its current incarnation. The first few episodes have been through more re-writes than I have changes of heart because, if I’m honest, it wasn’t until I was well into the production of the first arc that I really knew what I wanted the series to be. This show is all about questions and I certainly had a few in terms of development.
Did I want to take apart religion, examine it like the inside of a computer with each component individually removed before clumsily putting them all back together, inevitably trigging a blue screen of death upon start-up?
Did I want to cram together a collection of sex scenes, drug orgies, teenage angst and enough uses of the word "fuck" to fuel several anti-obscenity rallies?
Did I want to write about oppressed groups taking centre stage with women, the differently abled, people of colour and queer persons calling the shots?
Did I just want to have fun or did I want to say something real... something important?
In the end which of the above I’ve actually managed to achieve (if any) I pretty much leave up to you, it’s more interesting that way.
I’m not setting out to offend; I guess the old adage that offense is taken not given applies here. I do hope that the show occasionally makes you think, that it poses questions through its characters which aren’t asked enough. In amongst the lives that are portrayed, there is a story of people searching for answers. Whether that search is taking place through reading, through pain, through travelling, through screwing or through experimenting with mind-expanding substances doesn’t really matter, the fact that they are searching in any way at all will make it all worthwhile, even if answers are not forthcoming.
I believe my search for answers will never be complete and that’s fine. The fact that there is always more to know is what gets me up in the morning.
So welcome to "The Line". Welcome to the unsure and unstable people you find within. Welcome to my mind. There is a very long journey ahead and while what you discover may not be what you expect or what you want, it will be as honest and true as I can make it.
Love it. Hate it. Doesn’t matter.
Just think about it.
"The Line" is not about picking a side. It’s about standing in the middle, screaming "fuck you!" and moving forward. Chris Brittain
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Past episodes are available by scrolling down the page.
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