Isn't hell a relative thing?

[Kiwi & Cow]

I'm obviously not talking about the hell that is romanticised in the bible with all the sulphur and magma, this is probs pleasant for literally nobody. I'm thinking of the term "hell" in general and how it sometimes shows up in media.

For example, you have the Underwhere in Super Paper Mario which is basically hell in this game's world. As far as things are concerned, that weeb shit of Corpse Party is basically inside hell school if you really think about it.

Let's not forget the many horror games that can be described as "hell" like Silent Hill or Resident Evil. There are also games like DOOM that would make hell look fun for some people because you're freely killing stuff.
Also IRL, places like Auschwitz are places that people describe as "hell" that aren't the literal hell from the bible.

Ok anyways, IIRC masochists are sex pests who enjoy pain, so in an hypothetical afterlife if they were sent to be tortured by gremlins wouldn't that basically be heaven for them? Most people would cringe at the thought that anyone would find joy in this, but they're masochists, they literally want pain.

So wouldn't that mean that whatever afterlife you're sent to could be either hell or heaven for you, but the complete opposite for someone else. Thoughts?

 

[PipTheAlchemist]

>For example, you have the Underwhere in Super Paper Mario
kek

 

[Ultrapenguin]

Even the sulphur and magma hell would eventually just become the norm. People would become desensitized to the fire and heat (I don't know how any of it would work though since the human body couldn't operate at all in that situation, all your cellular structures and even the hydrogen bonds of your DNA itself would fall apart so there would be no nerves or brain to process pain, but whatever) and before you know it you'd have the classier areas of hell, the industrial areas, the slums, you'd get guys like:

"I've been an infernal engineer now for a good thirty thousand years Bob, and I'm thinking it's about time to retire. I made some investments a while back that are really paying off, so I've been eyeing up some beachfront property over on the southern Lake of the Damned, have you ever been down there? It's fantastic, up here in the pits it's always at least 2000 degrees, but down there it's a constant 1920 degrees all the time, and the feces and bile currents sweep all the muck up north so the magma is always so clean. Plus since it's a nicer area the demons usually keep the tortured souls away so you aren't constantly getting groped at and begged for mercy whenever you walk down the street, and the perditional institute down there is one of the best ritual schools in the entire region, so think Lillith and our little demon spawn would really like it. It's beautiful, really"

The only way a hell could exist is if it was somehow personalized, but the entire idea is a bit silly. Humans aren't significant enough to warrant some kind of supernatural intervention to punish them for their chimp-brained behavior.

 

[Marika]

The movie "Jacob's Ladder" (1990) deals with this exact same idea, and I think it was also an inspiration for the first Silent Hill game. I'd say the film takes the idea of hell being a relative thing and runs with it.