Blog Three: Everybody Loves Jesus?

As discussed in lecture, the very basis of television was to sell product, as TV shows were created to entertain its viewers. Now, in 2012, is TV trying to sell us Christianity? In a short answer, sorta. The width and breadth of television programming has reached an all time high. There quite literally is a channel dedicated for rotisserie chicken.  Apart from making this blogger very hungry, it does not serve any true purpose. In fact, most programs have no true purpose…

But I digress. When looking at TLC’s ’19 Kids and Counting’, the overt Christian themes can clearly be seen, especially in the first few seasons. As the show progressed, the theme of Christianity became more subversive. This can be seen as a microcosm of Western programming. Very much unlike the photo above, Christianity is not running away with television program. The simple fact is, just like in film, Christian morals, values and teaches have permeated through all levels of popular culture. The MTV era has put an end to Christianity on TV. Gone are the days of the Partridge Family, Brady Bunch, Family Ties and Seven Heaven. We now have shows like “1 Girl 5 Gays” (much to Rick Santorum’s dismay) and Jersey Shore (much to everyone’s dismay).  Sitcoms have seen a slow and steady decline and ‘reality TV’ has been on the rise. While ’19 Kids and Counting’ has been able to make the leap to reality TV, the family based Christian sit-coms of the past have all but died out. Although some shows like ’19 Kids and Counting’  are still on air, television has becoming a largely secular entertainment base. In fact, television has been producing programs that do not mesh with Christianity for awhile now, depicting homosexuality, sex before marriage and excessive violence. While there was once a large Christian presence on TV, in today’s world the division between television and Christianity has reached an all time high.

Blog Two: Silver Screen Jesus

The idea of the Christ-figure in film is as old as Hollywood itself. As Kozlovic states, the Christ-Figure in Hollywood films began with Cecil B. DeMille, the originator of modern Hollywood movies. DeMille was also a ‘master of the American Bible epic’ and used his mastery to subtly place the Jesus figure within his Hollywood films (Kozlovic 3). I feel that DeMille had a fantastic grasp of his audience. Selling various portrayals of Jesus to a nation of Christians is a simple yet effective strategy. Also not to be forgotten, the stories within the Bible also permeate throughout all popular culture, and have for some time.  The stories, and specifically that of Jesus, are memorized and their values taken. Certainly, they would have some effect upon writers and film makers alike?

Kozlovic’s ‘Twenty-Five Structural Characteristics of the Cinematic Christ-Figure’ systematically show the reader the categories he has created to display his connection between Hollywood and Jesus. In a response to Kozlovic, Deacy surmises that a film does not the Kozlovic-esque Christian themes in order to be amenable to Christian ideals (Deacy 12). I tend to agree with Deacy, as in the majority of films, one or two of the twenty-five elements of the primary characteristics of the ‘Christic phenomenon’ (Kozlovic 8) can be pulled from a movie.

In the utterly ridiculous (and completely hilarious) 2003 film ‘Old School’, I can relate Mitch Martin (Luke Wilson) to several of the 25 Christ-Figure Characteristics. In the movie, Wilson is a kind and amiable character, betrayed by both his wife and later the dean of the university at which he creates a fraternity. He also had multiple followers, who treat him as a deity.  Wilson is also ‘special-normal’, a calm and cool character but also has the great ability to rally those around him and become a leader. Beyond this, Wilson has an alter-ego as he known by those in the town and university as ‘The Godfather’. I Sincerely doubt that the comedy trio of Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughan had any notion to create and emulate a Christ-like figure in this film. Rather, as Deacy argues, these general themes of leadership, otherness, and a close group of followers do not make Wilson into a Christ-like figure. Instead, these tenements of character co-relate very well to Christian ideals and can slot into the story of Jesus, because his character was so vast and all-encompassing. Even with a utterly ridiculous movie such as ‘Old School’ is bound to have at least a few ‘Christic phenomena’.

Works Cited:

Deacy, Christopher. “Reflections on the Uncritical Appropriation of Cinematic Christ Figures: Holy Other or Wholly Inadequate?” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 13 (2006):16pp

Kozlovic, Anton Karl.“The Structural Characteristics of the Cinematic Christ-­‐Figure.” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 8 (2004), 39 pp.

Luke Wilson, a modern day Jesus?

This guy tends to disagree...

Blog One: The Media of Popular Culture

In this Western consumer culture we live in, most- dare I say if not all- of us buy into it. From something as small as Coke and Cadbury peddling their sugary treats, to BMW and Audi showing the consumer the vehicular freedom they can grant us if we only buy in,  ad’s have grown exponentially since their inauguration well over a century ago, and yet their effectiveness has never truly been proven. Billions of dollars are spent, yet do we the consumer truly buy in? I can personally report that some ad campaigns have gotten to me. The sheer brilliance of their work often does suck me in, and prompts me to go and purchase their product at one point or another. For example, Under Amour’s ‘I.WILL’ commercials never fail to make me want to play a sport, or run to the gym. It therefore not a huge surprise that I own a fair amount of clothing from Under Armour.

However, is consumer influence necessarily a bad thing? With the right government controls to weed out negative social issues (IE: violence, abuse, segregation), ad’s try and pull us into a world in which we feel we need certain things. And while fast food corporations can take blame for helping to cause obesity, and car companies take blame for contributing to our pollution issues, it is inevitably up to the customer to see if he or she wants to buy into such a product or service. There is simply no ad that can truly brainwash a consumer. Even with my penchant for Under Armour, there are a variety of other reasons why I choose to buy their workout gear in comparison to Nike, Reebok or Adidas. There was even a time in early Christianity in which they used their own, albeit very sacrificial and brutal, form of advertising to attracted people of all beliefs to Christianity. Seeing countless Christian martyrs and hearing of early Christian prayer groups coming together in secret in the dead of night might have been the best selling feature for this new religion. However, people still resisted and other religions still flourished. And to be clear, I am not trying to say that modern companies are trying to create a religious following, I am saying that the followers of these companies buy their products religiously for a variety of reasons, fantastic ads being just one reason. There is no ‘Mark of the Beast’, informal and formal advertising has existed for thousands of years. We have just come to a point in humanity where we are able to convey the advertisers message like never before, creating brand loyalty and a love of certain products. Its not evil, just good business.