The Gospel of Glee?
3rd December 2009TV2 Comments
Many people consider TV shows and movies good bad based on the amount of violence, sex or language present. In recent years several films have challenged this notion. The Passion of the Christ was embraced by many Christians despite its R rating while the Harry Potter films (rated PG) were rejected due to perceptions of occult material. Can we judge entertainment so easily? I don’t think so. I believe we need to develop skills of discernment and eyes to see beyond the surface issues.
In this article (thanks to Craig Dunham for finding this) in Time magazine author Nancy Gibbs provides some food for thought. She writes that the benefits of a show like Glee are found in “beneath all the snark and snideness in this show or any other. The point lies in the surprises that jostle us out of our smug little certainties and invite us to weigh what we value, whatever our faith tradition” and suggests that this is similar to how Jesus used parables.
What do you think?
2 responses to "The Gospel of Glee?"
5:50 on December 5th, 2009
I’m torn…
1. I’ve definitely seen Glee, and even Desperate Housewives, tell a story that is MORE TRUE than some of what happens in churches on Sunday mornings. So hooray for that!
2. Also, I don’t think we need to be AFRAID of shows that feature gay characters, promiscuity, etc. I don’t get the sense that Jesus avoided those beloved ones.
3. The pull I feel in the other direction, though, is about my responsibility to be a good steward of my time. While something like Harry Potter might stimulate the creative imagination, I’m less convinced that my personal tv time stretches me very much.
Go ahead, readers, push back…
9:22 on December 5th, 2009
You raise a good point that I hope to address in a future post and that is; we need to learn to discern between that which is offensive and that which is tempting or a poor exercise of stewardship. I do not believe there is anything godly about avoiding offense. The company Jesus kept must have been very offensive. At the same time I need to be careful not to put myself in tempting situations or those which are poor exercises of stewardship.