Think Christians steer clear of secular pop culture, avoiding sex, violence and rock ‘n’ roll at the movies, on TV and on CDs? Think again, says William D. Romanowski.
Some of the same Christians who condemn pop culture also consume it — in pretty hefty doses.
In his new book, “Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture,” Romanowski cites a 2000 study by the Barna Group, a market research company that focuses on Christians and cultural trends. The study found that born-again Christian adults spend an average of seven times more hours each week watching television than in spiritual pursuits and spend roughly twice as much money on entertainment as they give to their churches.
It’s pretty clear, Romanowski says, that Christians consume pop culture. What’s not so clear is whether they are very critical consumers, the kind who think about what they see and how it jibes — or doesn’t — with what Romanowski calls “a Christian cultural landscape.”
Romanowski, a professor of communication arts and sciences at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., talked in a recent telephone interview about how he thinks Christians could get more out of pop culture.
Q: What is a “Christian cultural landscape”?
A: It’s a way of talking about culture as a kind of map of reality, a map that’s made up of ideals, beliefs, values and assumptions. … It becomes a way of understanding life and then you live according to that cultural landscape. A Christian cultural landscape would be one that’s biblically informed.
Q: How might you look at a popular film from such a landscape?
A: Let’s take “Traffic.” One of the things about “Traffic” that I think is very interesting is that there’s no clear line between good and evil. People (in the movie) are an ambiguous combination of good and evil. … We see them walking in crowded streets, among all these ordinary people. That’s an interesting way of thinking about how good and evil are woven into the fabric of the world we live in. … Some people would prefer movies with stark contrasts between good and evil. They want happy endings. But that’s not consistent with a biblical view of life.
Q: I think immediately of David, the biblical hero who struggled with good and evil in his own behavior.
A: David’s a good example. Here’s a man who was handsome, a powerful military leader, a great artist, but he also was a voyeur. He committed adultery, he set up the murder of Bathsheba’s husband. And yet, we read over and over in the Bible that he was “a man after God’s own heart.”
Q: So, what sort of questions can Christians ask to get at the biblical truth revealed by secular films, TV shows and music?
A: What ideals, values, beliefs, attitudes and assumptions are displayed? Which ones are glamorized or denigrated? What is the value of life? Is it worth experiencing? Sacrificing or even dying for?
Q: What about people who avoid anything with violent content?
A: When you read the Bible, it’s constantly reminding us of that dark side of life, that people are sinful, that evil does exist. To pretend that it doesn’t — to not see depictions of people dealing with that — is to live in a kind of fantasyland. (RNS)
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