

The QAA podcast recently had an episode on AI generated images and right wing movements and they said something that really stuck with me- AI “art” is so popular among right wingers and barely literate tech bros because it is truly art the way they see all art, images with only surface level literal meaning and no subtext, context, or anything actually thought provoking. The dumbest thing about this is that there are several Black Mirror episodes that are ultimately hopeful or value-neutral about the effects of technology on the future- San Bernardino and Striking Vipers come to mind. Then again, both of those are about how sexuality intersects with transhumanism, which right wingers generally see as bad things so maybe they see those as dystopian episodes as well.
If you think Christianity is unique in this regard look towards Buddhism, specifically the Vajrayana branches (often associated with Tibet) and you’ll see even more gruesome imagery than any Christian symbolism. Buddhas drinking blood out of the skulls of their enemies, stomping on corpses, and having sex all at the same time, and even more shocking things. These"fearsome" or “wrathful” manifestation of Buddhist deities that display raw power and the trappings of demons to destroy said demons are relatively common. Religion is weird and powerful symbolism is often shocking.