Backwater Gospel was an animated short bachelor film project by Animation Workshop. It was released in 2011 and has come a good way to over a million views. The video is about a good ten minutes, but the creators had done such a well job to push an entire lesson into this story.

Although I'm here to talk of most of the problems surrounding this amazing film.

The first one is a very obvious and unimportant situation, but the film is gore-filled. It is known for its extremely explicit and heavy amount of blood, gore, and violence. Many people have complained of it, but it's not really a problem because ignorance is bliss. Simple enough.

Now to cover the real problem, people misinterpreting the characters and meaning.

The entire meaning behind this animation is to believe in what you think is right.

The towns folk in the story are almost literally mind controlled by the minister (they actually sound like zombies coming into the church). He has plugged into their deepest cores to fear god. But it's very obvious the townsfolk don't want to be at the church. About the only reason that's holding these people in place is the promise that they will find salvation, to live happily in their next lives through the suffering of their current one. They grasp that promise so harshly that they can't think for themselves. They can't live life as is and happily. Unlike the villagers, the tramp lives his life to the fullest.

Also the part in which the minister suggested (or more like unkindly urged) the tramp that he should follow God and fear him, but the tramp responded with

"Why don't you try it."

This really has more meaning into it than you think.

Ironically, the minister is the bad guy. As much as he seems like he's preaching the word of God, the scene during the villagers rampage and violence, the minister takes a pistol that has been carved into the bible he held and attempts to shoot his own son, as well as the Undertaker was a very symbolic scene for him.

That pistol seems to represents his violent ways, his sins. There was a hole carved into the bible just for the pistol. Everyone thought he preached the word of God, but his words were hollow for he was sinning anyway.

Now to the problem we face with the Undertaker.

He is not the bad guy.

In fact, he is the exact opposite. The people fear him when instead they should embrace him.

He's not exactly "a person". The Undertaker is more like the physical representation of death. He is death.

Also the way he always smiles through the entire towns folk rampage and massacre, it's like he knew this was going to happen.

If this entire thing was a test that God had made for the people, then they had failed.

Nothing was ever the Undertakers fault, it's more on the people, but mostly the ministers.

The minister had plugged into everyone's brains the word, to fear God, they couldn't live their lives happily and to the fullest.

Also the part where the minister tried to shoot the Undertaker. He literally said the Undertaker is Gods servant, he's doing the work that must be done, yet he attempted to shoot him. This shows how much he didn't live for his words either, how much he faked everything.

And in the near end, when his son, Bubba, had smashed his head with a cross and killed him was symbolic too. He just kinda got killed with what he had preached to the people for his own punishment.