Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Actors who have played God in films


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.  

The result was delete.  Singu larity  02:12, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Actors who have played God in films

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Previous prod; removed by administrator as not uncontroversial with rationale on talk page. As in the original prod reason and talk page follow-up, this article fails WP:NOT#INFO, since it meets a common definition of an indiscriminate list, failing the original talk page support by WP:OTHERSTUFFEXISTS. Also as noted, 'God' could legitimately mean Jesus, non-Christian deities, and other God-like supernatural entities, potentially running to thousands of entries. No apparent significance or notability in the article, nor is a rewrite or expansion likely to make the article significant or notable. Michael Devore 06:50, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Delete per nomination. Trivia reference point at best. Looks more like a candidate for a category page rather than an article Dick G 07:28, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Delete per nomination and do not make a category. Thin Arthur 08:42, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Delete Take note that at the moment, the article is biased, in favor of a Christian interpretation of God, as well as from a religious perspective "the Almighty Himself". And many. more actors have played God than have been listed. As for the deletion rationale, it's true, it would get confusing, as "God" is a term thrown around loosely, and could refer to any of the many interpretations of the God of the Abrahamic religions, could refer to Jesus, who is though of by some Christians as God, and then, of course, there are all of the little gods and dieties that we don't care to talk about. But let's nottalk about that, as Wikipedia is not a paper encyclopedia. Let's just say that a list of actors who have played God is not notable, unless the actors themselves are notable for playing God. That being said, however, I think that it is a good idea for there to be a God in film article that discusses the subject of the portrayal of God in motion pictures rather than the actors who have done the portraying, but this is not the place to discuss such matters. Calgary 09:23, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Delete - actors play a variety of roles in the course of a career. There's nothing particularly notable about happening to have played God. This seems to be something of a run-around of the consensus here. Otto4711 14:08, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Delete While the cinematic interpretation of the Almighty would be a worthwhile subject of study, this list is not it. I actually looked at WP:LISTCRUFT, thanks to a very persuasive editor, and I can see where this hits that checklist of don'ts and more don'ts.  As the author concedes, very few people have had the temerity to portray God on film, and this is basically the list of blue links with little hope of becoming something of interest.  Mandsford 14:50, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Delete per nom. LOZ :  OOT  22:54, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Delete I came to this AFD thinking "Alanis and Morgan". Seeing as those two constitute half of the article, it's not comprehensive enough by a long shot Will (talk) 14:46, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Keep There are a number of actors who have played deities of other religions, and the e is no reason not to have them either--we can adjust the title. I think a film role played by many people is not the least random or miscellaneous, and is a useful correlate to our listings of actors, and roles they have played. Intrinsically, I do not see how one is more notable than the other as an encyclopedic way or organising material. DGG (talk) 07:12, 17 August 2007 (UTC)
 * You raise interesting points. In response, I offer further insight into why, I think, the article is best deleted. It is manifestly true that God is notable and significant. Further, the portrayal of God in movies is clearly notable and significant, if for no other reason (and there are many) than because the role reflects on fundamental beliefs and behaviors in society. So, in that respect, you are absolutely correct that the movie role is neither random nor miscellaneous. An article listing movies where God was the subject or played a nontrivial supporting role could be more difficult to argue against. But in this article, we address merely the mechanics of the role, the person whose body just happens to fill out the robes for the screening duration (my apologies to actors here). Those mechanics are not intrinsically part of God's role, but rather a human animation of the movie script's subject noun of the day. The "God" slot in the article is just as easily replaced by any other noun. Actors who have played kings, beggars, cauliflower, mothers, fathers, tables, chairs, rocks, centaurs, warriors, feminists, and so on all have equal claim to a valid Wikipedia listing, because they also "correlate to our listings of actors, and roles they have played". I don't want to get too silly here, but it reminds me of another movie which frequently points out that when everyone is special, no one is.  Opening the door to actors who have played 'X' where 'X' is any noun invites the worst kind of listcruft. Here I see no special reason to have an article about actors who have played God in films. Its extremely low threshold for existence denies either notability or significance of the topic. Michael Devore 08:24, 17 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Delete per nom and what Michael Devore said above. Ford MF 09:49, 17 August 2007 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.