A serial killer and God walk into a bar...

Maybe I’m just reading into this too much, but I found it really coincidental that the semester I decide to enroll in SMC305, one of my favorite television series is wrapping up a season that contextualized a number of debates regarding Christianity in society. The sixth season of Dexter, featuring the world’s most loveable serial killer, engages in a twelve episode discussion of Christianity within its usual crime drama plotline. I believe that by applying this cultural artifact to our previous class discussion, the multidimensional approaches to studying the relationship between Christianity and popular culture will become more evident. More specifically, by applying Dexter to Lynch’s argument, it will become clear that this course will not yield many solid truths. How so? If you take on any of the frameworks outlined by Lynch, it is obvious that there is no conclusive perspective on how Christianity and pop culture interact and influence each other. The debate surrounding the relationship between the two is still so contentious and fierce because of this uncertainty. 

 

Dexter is the vigilante serial killer who sees himself as rebalancing the equilibrium between good and bad in the world. This season, Dexter and the surrounding cast of characters grapple with questions of Christianity. Dexter is struggling with the notion of faith as he debates what to teach his young son while dealing with his own personal demons. The rest of the team is hunting a serial killer who is using Scripture to motivate and justify his crimes.

Using Lynch’s frameworks, it is evident that the power of interpretation is still very potent. Someone studying the relationship between religion and pop culture from the “outside” may see this season as a great representation of religion. The characters, dialogue and events present Christian teachings, demonstrate contemporary religious debates and illustrate religious practices in everyday life. Yet even the debate amongst religious groups may be heavily divided. It would not be surprising to see that a large portion of individuals studying this relationship from the “inside” would view it with great suspicion. Using Christianity in the context of a show that displays violence, sexuality and corruption is blatant exploitation. Yet those who delve a bit deeper than this superficial argumentation may see the notions of love, self-sacrifice, and loyalty heavily present in the episodes.

Personally I believe this is an example of how the relationship between religion and pop culture can be largely positive. The series always shows the importance of love, the conquering of bad by forces of good, and the virtue of patience. I accept that some groups may disregard my analysis and look at the series for what it is on the surface and claim that Dexter used religion as a prevalent theme this season for its own gain. It is clear that the same piece of pop culture can be examined many different ways and reveals itself as either promoting or exploiting Christianity. I believe this is an important place to start the course from. The study of religion and pop culture can be approached from various frameworks and throughout the course of my blog I plan on using those perspectives to explore this interaction further.