Keeping up with the Christ-dashians

Before writing this blog post I tried listing every metaphor that could be applied to my relationship with television. I could not complete the task because it simply became way too extensive. I think that speaks to how television (at least in my case) has become such a constant. Whether feeding my crime-show addiction with a Criminal Minds marathon, letting my mind turn to mush watching the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, foaming at the mouth to the Food Network, being lulled into the disillusionment of infomercials or simply having the comfort of background noise, the television is a constant and unfaltering companion. Like a person, it can be a source of comfort, conversation, argument, escape, education and much more.

Like the lecture regarding the use of Christ in films, the depiction of Christians on television also appears to be the result of great interpretation. Christian teachings, narratives and characters, are widely used to stimulate discussion within shows. Whether virtues are subtly conveyed or images are explicitly shown, Christianity is ever-present on the silver screen yet in highly subjective ways. The use of Christianity written into the characters and dialogues of shows is dependent on the discretion and objectives of screenwriters, editors, directors and others.    

Television shows like The Simpsons and 19 Kids and Counting paint Christian families, such as the Flanders and the Duggars, as extremists living as close to Scripture as they can. By depicting this lifestyle, producers are able to stimulate discussions regarding how faith is practiced.

Other shows like the recent controversial hit The Borgias attempt to expose the tension between the virtues promoted by the Catholic church and their own inability to resist the temptations of lust, wealth, and power (with a great deal of creative license).

In addition, a soon-to-be-airing ABC series is already under fire because of its title. GCB also known as “Good Christian [insert THE not so nice ‘B’ word here]” chronicles the lives of so-called “proper” Church-going ladies as they tempt men, backstab each other, and plot against “thy” neighbors.

All of these shows depict Christians, Christianity and Christian values in completely different ways. Whether it is placed in the context of a drama, comedy or even a reality show, religion is still closely tied to this form of popular culture. As shown above, it is sometimes featured in ways that is contradictory to what it purports to serve yet that is a part of the heavily interpretative use of religion in television. Many of the shows listed above are new series, demonstrating how the use of Christianity on the silver screen is still thriving.