Faith in Context

A Bible Story on Television

NBC is set to release a new dramatic series in the next two or three months that seeks to bring a Bible story into contemporary genre. Kings is the story of Saul, David, Jonathan, etc., but placed in a fictional "parallel universe" that is entirely a part of the 21st century. From the little bit that can be seen in the promotional materials, some effort has been made to use names from the Old Testament. The name of the kingdom is Gilboa. The name of the king is Silas Benjamin. The hero is David Shepherd, a farm boy thrust into the middle of battle. Goliath is a type of enemy tank. But the technology is today. The social context is urban. There are no camels, robes or sandals.

It us unclear from the names of the names of the three producers that have been released that there is any connection or history with projects with an overtly religious connection. Before someone starts looking for a Christian connection, it should be remembered that the David story is primarily a Jewish story. It will be interesting to see if this project gets better ratings than the Revelation or Daniel TV series, and lasts longer. Clearly some of the decision makers in Hollywood have decided that Bible themes have enough value in the market to be worth this third attempt in recent years.

For more information: There is a two-page ad in the Dec. 29 issue of Time magazine. There is a copy of the news release from NBC and brief blog comments here and a promotional web site with a trailer DVD here.  

Trends in Video Usage

New generations are moving in new directions with their use of video. Americans currently under 44 years of age, Gen X and the Millennial generation, are more likely to purchase or rent a DVD at least once a month than are Baby Boomers. The generational trends are particularly apparent in the distribution of video over the Internet. The majority of Millennials regularly view streaming video (52 percent), while only 37 percent of Gen X and 21% of Boomers do so. More than a third of Millennials download videos regularly (37 percent), while only 18 percent of Gen X and 11 percent of Boomers do so. Although the numbers are still small, Millennials are five times as likely to consume video over their cell phones as are people over 30 years of age.

What does this mean? Distribution of video over the Internet is far less costly than any of the earlier methods, but those who access video this way are overwhelmingly younger people. If the product you are trying to disseminate is not produced in a way to speak to younger consumers, then it will not likely go very far through Internet distribution. Take for example, the growing numbers of pastors who are distributing video of their sermons over the Internet. Are they preaching sermons tailored to the younger audience? It is unlikely, considering the median age of the congregation. So this method has great potential, but it is almost entirely unrealized at the moment.

Source: Survey conducted by Knowledge Networks, Cranford, New Jersey

50th Anniversary of "Leave it to Beaver"

For Baby Boomers, one of the most influential television shows of our childhood is Leave it to Beaver, a family comedy show of the late 1950s and early 1960s produced in black and white. (Yes, there was black and white television once upon a time. In fact, the first television I remember seeing as a child was really green and white. It had one of those little, round green cathode tubes that you find today only on certain kinds of diagnostic instruments for engines, etc.)

The show featured two boys and their father and mother. The plots were extremely simple. I found one recently on the TV Land channel on cable where "the Beaver" was in Sixth Grade and assigned to write a story about his mother. He wanted to show off to his classmates, so he used information about a famous actress that he saw in a television interview and wrote a fictional story about his mother's background. His teacher knew his mother well enough to know that it was fiction, but she didn't say anthing when he read his story to the classroom. Instead, she called and asked his mother to come in and chat with her, and told her the situation. This resulted in a conversation between mother and father, and then father discussed it with the Beaver. The boy had to make an apology to his teacher and classmates and learned that it was better to tell the truth than tell a whopper to make things more exciting.

That was typical television fare 50 years ago. How things have changed! For better or worse? What do you think?

Television is an even greater influence on our culture and the values of people than it was when I was a child, but it seems that there is clearly not the same consensus about values that existed 50 years ago. What kinds of values actually drive the commercial interests who control television today?

Insight on How the Unchurched Think About Faith

Holly Hunter's character in the new television series Saving Grace provides one of the richest, in-depth looks at how the typical unchurched person relates to faith and religion that has been portrayed in popular culture for some time. If she's not disdainful and disrespectful toward faith, then she's offended and frightened by it. She doesn't seem to have any way to just come to terms with it, even after an angel of the Lord appears to her and rescues her from a fate worse than death. Her reactions bounce around between disbelief, anger and bargaining and never seem to settle on one consistent response. As I watched this, I wondered if grief theory helps to explain the attitudes of the "Nones." That theory is rooted in a sense of loss; what would be the loss they perceive as resulting from the possibility that religion might be real? What are you learning from this drama?

Did Someone Find the Tomb of Jesus?

CNN and other big media decided yesterday to carry the story about a documentary film producer who has a product being released on the Discovery Channel. CNN this morning is admitting that this is due, in part, to the popular movie The DaVinci Code. This producer is actually from Canada and the Canadian national newspaper has a more balanced and detailed report than most American media.

The tomb in question was actually unearthed in 1980. (Why has it taken 27 years to become a news story?) The documentary will be released on the Discovery Channel on March 4. It evidently will include no mention of long-standing claims regarding tombs of Jesus in India and Japan. So far, no reputable scholar has been willing to go on record agreeing with the story presented in this documentary.

Nonetheless, this should be seen as an opportunity for dialog with people who have questions. It is wrong for believers to jump on this with scorn. I recommend that pastors and directors of community ministries start now advertising events on March 4 to watch the documentary and then discuss it, or events on March 5 and thereafter to discuss the questions raised. A couple of good resources can be found at Bill Craig's website and the Y-zine web site.

"Reality" Television Discovers Spirituality

You may not have noticed this, but the genre of television called "Reality TV" is moving into spirituality as a major topic. The Learning Channel is launching two new shows of this type. The Messengers premieres on Sunday (July 23) at 10 p.m. It is a talent contest show for preachers. Next fall The Monastery will use the formula from the various survival shows as five men and five women try the cloistered life for 40 days. The Arts & Entertainment Channel (A&E) has already released God or the Girl which is a documentary series about four young men deciding whether to become Roman Catholic priests and end the relationships with their girlfriends.

What does this mean? The entertainment industry has discovered that spirituality is a subject that many people have an interest in. They have really run out of rope with some of the "Reality TV" stuff they've done for the past couple of years, so they are looking for something new. Religion is no longer an untouchable for Hollywood. How will the theologians and religious leaders who have been concerned about entertainment values in the church respond to church material in entertainment? Are there opportunities related to these new shows for outreach? For example, should pastors preach sermons or send out material via Email or Podcasts related to themes in these shows?