Entertainment in the Imperium of Man (WH40K)

[Lord Revan]

do things like movies, theater or similar exist in the Post-Heresy Imperium of Man or is it all banned by the inquisition in an effort to make sure life sucks so much that they always have people to torture or burn.

[Black Admiral]

Novels, TV shows and such exist. A specific example would be one mentioned in the Cain novels, a series called Attack Run, about a particularly successful squadron of fighter pilots during the Gothic War.

[Elheru Aran]

I am almost 100% positive they probably have an Office of Officially Sanctioned Imperial Entertainment for the Promotion of the Emperor's Morale or some such. Likely there are sector-wide networks and such, at least in the wealthier parts like Sameter/Gudrun.

I'm fairly sure that at least one book mentions holographic projections being used as part of a public display (HH book, perhaps), so I can see them using similar technology in "movie theaters".

They definitely also have literature, although it's questionable as to how much is actually read by the vast majority of the population.

Really it's not all that different from, say, entertainment in the former Soviet Union... all legit stuff has to be approved but it's necessary for the morale of the population, so they promote it.

[Darmalus]

I know there are places with carnivals with live (and sometimes fatal, who needs nets?) entertainment. I think it was an Eisenhorn book, but I'm fuzzy on that. The Caiphas Cane books mention popular (and filled with technical errors) entertainment series like Attack Run! And there are children's "info-tainment" books with cartoon characters who burn heritics and talk about how important promethium is to the Imperium.

It's likely most forms of entertainment exist, with a pro-imperial bend. We just don't see it for the same reason we don't see James Bond movies where he sits around watching TV.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Attack Run appears to be a Sandy Mitchell inside joke; from the few mentions of it, it seems to follow rather closely the plot of the Black Library BFG novel Execution Hour.

On most medium tech worlds I think we're looking at an only slightly modified nineteenth century ambience here, the upper class have literature, the moderately prosperous- except for those too busy- have film and something beginning to resemble pop culture, the grunt class, workers and squaddies, have an oral and musical tradition broken by official edutainment and devotionals. Hard though it may be to understand, there was a time not so long ago in the UK when a large proportion of the people sang hymns for fun.

What the Adeptus Mechanicus do for fun, especially when they pretend that for them the concept has no meaning, is anyone's guess. As far as the other more distinctive branches and cultures go, I have the glimmerings of an idea for a T- shirt, give me a moment to work on it...

[Tandrax218]

there is also mention of a popular song being played/sung in the Cain novels ...
Something about a Landraider crushing heretics with its tracks

[Ahriman238]

And Amberly related an amusing children's book with an anthropomorphic promethium fire burning heretics, with cheerfully colored illustrations. And I could swear one of the Gaunt's Ghosts early books mentioned newsreels. And, naturally gambling, regicide (chess) bars and brothels are regular parts of IG books.

EDIT: the problem with Imperial newsreels and movies is they all open with this.

[Lord Revan]

the Imperium isn't exactly democratic so certain things are to be expected (like very heavy censorship), but really my orginal question was really would an imperial citizen from world with roughly the same tech level as current day earth know what a movie is.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I think they'd know what a movie/film is (in terms of "fairly long broadcast/showing of a specific story someone wants to tell") but they're idea of what the content should be will be very different. I'd expect a lot of "XYZ saint/inquisitor/Space Marine chapter/IG regiment/Battlefleet returns in hour of need to save abc world/sector" or something similar.

Oddly, I'm not sure what they'd think of a film that depicts the Emperor or one of the Primarchs returning.

[Minischoles]

There is porn in WH40K at least - the Cain novels frequently mention Jurgens taste for porn slates.

[Sidewinder]

Oddly, I'm not sure what they'd think of a film that depicts the Emperor or one of the Primarchs returning.

Obvious answer: It's heresy, for it promotes a false hope that will cause irreparable damage to Imperial morale when the "hope" fails to materialize at the moment it's most needed- during the 13th Black Crusade, when Abaddon takes a foothold on Cadia, for example. The Inquisition and the Ecclesiarchy being what they are, there will be radicals who openly promote such a film and the beliefs it inspires, but the puritan factions dominating the Inquisition and the Ecclesiarchy will eventually and inevitably hunt down and destroy all traces of the radicals- with good reason, as Chaos cults can infiltrate radical factions with relative ease, and corrupt a film depicting the Emperor or the Primarchs returning, into one equating the Emperor to a Chaos God (see the Soul Drinkers honoring the Emperor as an "Architect of Fate") or worse.

[Sidewinder]

While most Imperial worlds have forms of entertainment comparable to our own (the Ciaphas Cain novels giving multiple examples), I expect some worlds to be no-fun zones like Afghanistan under the Taliban, for the same reason: ultraconservative religious authorities believing fun is heresy, and that the only entertainment the people need, is the ecstasy one feels when deep in prayer. (Naturally, the religious authorities will NOT submit to the very rules they impose upon their parishes, and watch porn because they're hypocrites.)

[Lord Revan]

While most Imperial worlds have forms of entertainment comparable to our own (the Ciaphas Cain novels giving multiple examples), I expect some worlds to be no-fun zones like Afghanistan under the Taliban, for the same reason: ultraconservative religious authorities believing fun is heresy, and that the only entertainment the people need, is the ecstasy one feels when deep in prayer. (Naturally, the religious authorities will NOT submit to the very rules they impose upon their parishes, and watch porn because they're hypocrites.)

tbh I'd suspect that particular style hypocrites to be quite rare in the Imperium as their public message would attract people they would NOT under the circumstances want to visit them, like Adepta Soritas members, members of the Black Templars chapter of Adeptus Astrades or puritan Inquisitors, aka Fanatics who actually practice what they preach and should these people find any hint of Heresy on these worlds, well I probably don't need to spell out what would happen.

[Simon_Jester]

The fact that the Black Templars, Sisters of Battle, and Inquisition seem to find an endless supply of new heretics (and for that matter Slaaneshi cults) suggests that there is no shortage of religious hypocrites in the Imperium.

Sure, many of them get punished for hypocritically acting ultra-religious while indulging the very pleasures denied to them by their own religious law. But that does not appear to stop them.

[Irbis]

First, I expect WH entertainment to be similar to Soviet one - manpower intensive, but little in the way of expensive technology. Things like choirs, theatre, books, music, anything where man hours can replace yet another lost technology gimmick. I wouldn't be surprised if they used people good at repeating instead of microphones and speakers

Really it's not all that different from, say, entertainment in the former Soviet Union... all legit stuff has to be approved but it's necessary for the morale of the population, so they promote it.

In old Warsaw Pact, stuff had to be sort of approved (mostly because state controlled all the presses) but printing runs were much larger than in the west, popular authors had monthly stipend from creator's association as long as they wanted to work on something instead of doing job. Also, quite a lot of people played game of cat and mouse with censors trying to smuggle allusions and second meanings in, often things that would never fly said out loud, and I suspect WH version would look similar.

There is porn in WH40K at least - the Cain novels frequently mention Jurgens taste for porn slates.

These were noted by Cain to be illegal, though. He didn't precise if because of content, IG regulations, or in general, to be fair.

[Jedi Commisar]

And Amberly related an amusing children's book with an anthropomorphic promethium fire burning heretics, with cheerfully colored illustrations. And I could swear one of the Gaunt's Ghosts early books mentioned newsreels. And, naturally gambling, regicide (chess) bars and brothels are regular parts of IG books.

EDIT: the problem with Imperial newsreels and movies is they all open with this.

My responce to seeing the "Imperium is under attack" bit was "What again?"

Anyway sports exsit scrumball is metioned a few times in the IG novels

[Ahriman238]

And some planets have gladiatorial combat.

[Zinegata]

More civilized 40K worlds have TV, they're just called pict-casters.

Also, there are plays and theater depicting the Emperor. Benquin actually reads some to Inquisitor Eisenhorn when the latter was recovering from wounds in the first Eisenhorn novel - with Eisenhorn even noting that the performance was borderline heretical (he didn't shoot here though, as she was funny and he was pretty much falling in love with her).

[andrewgpaul]

And some planets have gladiatorial combat.

And at least one sector apparently plays cricket, or a variant thereof. Cain's reply of "Harriers for the cup!" to a Khornate cultist's battlecry suggests something football-like, too.

[Jedi Commisar]

And at least one sector apparently plays cricket, or a variant thereof. Cain's reply of "Harriers for the cup!" to a Khornate cultist's battlecry suggests something football-like, too.

Scrumball is the football anolug

[Sinewmire]

And at least one sector apparently plays cricket, or a variant thereof. Cain's reply of "Harriers for the cup!" to a Khornate cultist's battlecry suggests something football-like, too.

Scrumball is the football anolug

Well, more likely Rugby, but yeah.

Porn gets a mention in Gaunt's Ghosts too. Rawne was buying a big truck full of drink, smokes and "dataslates with dirty pictures on them".

Pound seems to be a sort of heavy metal / rap analogue, music for the underclasses, so presumably there's dancing/drinking clubs.

We have films, as evinced by Attack Run and Arbitrator Foreboding, although the second might be a comic? I can't recall.

[PainRack]

Oddly, I'm not sure what they'd think of a film that depicts the Emperor or one of the Primarchs returning.

Obvious answer: It's heresy, for it promotes a false hope that will cause irreparable damage to Imperial morale when the "hope" fails to materialize at the moment it's most needed- during the 13th Black Crusade, when Abaddon takes a foothold on Cadia, for example. The Inquisition and the Ecclesiarchy being what they are, there will be radicals who openly promote such a film and the beliefs it inspires, but the puritan factions dominating the Inquisition and the Ecclesiarchy will eventually and inevitably hunt down and destroy all traces of the radicals- with good reason, as Chaos cults can infiltrate radical factions with relative ease, and corrupt a film depicting the Emperor or the Primarchs returning, into one equating the Emperor to a Chaos God (see the Soul Drinkers honoring the Emperor as an "Architect of Fate") or worse.

Not likely. The belief that Roboute wounds are healing is accepted by many pilgrims and we know that the genestealer cult successfully preached that the Emperor was returning in physical form without being purged for heresy.

[Sidewinder]

Oddly, I'm not sure what they'd think of a film that depicts the Emperor or one of the Primarchs returning.

Obvious answer: It's heresy, for it promotes a false hope that will cause irreparable damage to Imperial morale when the "hope" fails to materialize at the moment it's most needed- during the 13th Black Crusade, when Abaddon takes a foothold on Cadia, for example. The Inquisition and the Ecclesiarchy being what they are, there will be radicals who openly promote such a film and the beliefs it inspires, but the puritan factions dominating the Inquisition and the Ecclesiarchy will eventually and inevitably hunt down and destroy all traces of the radicals- with good reason, as Chaos cults can infiltrate radical factions with relative ease, and corrupt a film depicting the Emperor or the Primarchs returning, into one equating the Emperor to a Chaos God (see the Soul Drinkers honoring the Emperor as an "Architect of Fate") or worse.

Not likely. The belief that Roboute wounds are healing is accepted by many pilgrims and we know that the genestealer cult successfully preached that the Emperor was returning in physical form without being purged for heresy.

These are likely the exceptions to the rule. In the latter case, the Inquisition will DEFINITELY begin cracking down on people who preach the Emperor's returning, once they learn a genestealer cult equated the Emperor's return with a Hive Fleet's approach.

[Sinewmire]

These are likely the exceptions to the rule. In the latter case, the Inquisition will DEFINITELY begin cracking down on people who preach the Emperor's returning, once they learn a genestealer cult equated the Emperor's return with a Hive Fleet's approach.

Given the sheer variety of sub-cults within the Imperium, I think that sort of faith or teaching wouldn't be too harshly looked upon.

The Ecclesiarchy missionaries basically replaced "God" with "Emperor" and "Heaven" with "Earth" and left it at that on many planets, so you've got stuff like Eisenhorn with the Emperor being the local Sun.
Nobody's gonna go on trial if the sun goes down.

I can quite see a redemptionist style cult based around the idea that the Emperor is going to get off the golden throne and scour the galaxy clean. So, look busy! The Emperor is coming!
Maybe they'd print cheap comics for kids, like the Left Behind series!

[PainRack]

These are likely the exceptions to the rule. In the latter case, the Inquisition will DEFINITELY begin cracking down on people who preach the Emperor's returning, once they learn a genestealer cult equated the Emperor's return with a Hive Fleet's approach.

How are these exceptions to the rule,when the belief that Robiute wounds are healing is so widespread?
As for the Brotherhood, despite scrutiny by the Eccelesairchy, it wasn't shut down until they revolted and brought in the Ultramarines attention

Similarly, the belief that Russia will return in the Wolftime seems to be endorsed by the Space Wolves and their serfs.

Or Vulkan.

So, we have both Space Marines as well as pilgrims believing in a Primarch return and the Ministorium hasn't cracked down on this. This even though we are told that they view the Space Wolves with distrust.

And Cain himself subscribes to the superstition that the Emperor will walk again, at least enough to use colloquial expression on its part and he isn't censured.

The Star Child is the only Emperor will return belief that has been censured so far.