Time for another one of my late critiques! It’s been nearly a year since Hazbin Hotel was released on Prime, and once again, I’m late to the party when it comes to my critique. Needless to say, I fucking loved it. I watched the pilot way back in 2019 when it was first released, and I was excited when I heard that A24 and Prime had picked it up for streaming. Although I think some of the transitions from regular scenes to musical numbers are a little clunky, Hazbin Hotel has quickly made itself one of my favorite shows this year.
One of the appeals of Hazbin Hotel is how relatable the characters are. Although I’m not a huge fan of Charlie (not overly fond of the savior archetype, which is definitely what Charlie aspires to), all of the characters of Hazbin Hotel resemble people I know and love. Even two-faced Alastor, who is 100% going to betray Charlie and the other denizens of the hotel, is among my favorite characters. Carmilla Carmine and Rosie are the types of protective, observant, and wise women I aspire to be myself.
However, the biggest appeal of Hazbin Hotel for me is its portrayal of Satanic themes. Of course, the show also portrays Christian themes, but considering it’s through the lens of some pretty heavy criticism, many Christians are too pissy about it to really see the Christian ones—a fact I find hilarious, and it does better to prove the show’s point than the show itself. Since I am a Satanist and not a Christian, let’s talk about some of the Satanic themes in the show.
Celebration of Individuality and Self-Expression
The expression of individuality is a key aspect of Hazbin Hotel. Charlie is a huge example of this. She has a bubbly, optimistic type of personality that really stands out in Hell, and not necessarily in a good way. Does she care? Not really. While I dislike Charlie’s savior character archetype, one of the things that’s admirable about her is that she is unabashedly herself, even when everyone around her is telling her she’s wrong.
And Charlie isn’t the only character who exemplifies this theme. All of them do. When they were doing trust exercises, each character had a different exercise that corresponded with each of their personalities. Charlie had her trust falls, Angel Dust chose BDSM for his trust exercise, and Vaggie just threw the hotel residents into a turf war and expected them to support each other.
Rejection of Traditional Morality
One of the things Hazbin Hotel is most known for, and one of the things that most pisses Christians off, is its rejection of traditional morality. In the show, the angels, a clear allegory for Christians and the church, are portrayed as the bad guys. They are cruel, judgmental, and unyielding. Instead of acknowledging that the angels don’t fully understand what qualifies someone as a good person, Sera, the high seraph of Heaven, doubles down and refuses to admit that she may have made a mistake by authorizing Adam’s exterminations. The angels in Heaven are just as flawed as the sinners in Hell, making the criteria for a good person vague and undefined.
Blasphemy and Humor
One of the Satanic Temple’s favorite approaches when making a point is through humor, and Hazbin Hotel very much follows this same approach. Along with the humor comes a healthy dose of blasphemy. A major aspect of the show, having the angels be the antagonists, is something that would be considered blasphemous in many circles. Although this is more a criticism of Christianity than actual blasphemy (blasphemy is defined as insulting or showing irreverence for God), many Christians don’t know the difference (or that they don’t know how to handle criticism and mistake it for disrespect). That doesn’t mean that the only blasphemy in Hazbin Hotel is criticism. My favorite character Alastor’s whole schtick is to mock the idea of redemption, which is one of those Christian themes I mentioned earlier. His involvement with the hotel (he claims) is solely for his own entertainment. He’s there to make fun of people who are trying to better themselves rather than support them, which is a much better fit for the definition of blasphemy.
Overall Hazbin Hotel is a wonderful series. It’s an unapologetic but humorous critique of modern Christianity, which is always something I can get behind. Beyond that, the show explores Satanic themes in a more positive light, a refreshing change from a lot of the negative portrayals of Satanism we often see in the media.
Playing With Demons 