Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Religion in movies vs. sitcoms

Our class discussion last week about sitcoms and how little religion is discussed in them made me think about how much religion and religious themes are presented in movies. I started listing off in my head all the movies I could think of that were built around a religious theme or spoke about religion, and I surprisingly came up with a pretty long list. The last movie I saw in the theater, that everyone I talked to raved about, was The Blind Side. It started off with a coach at a Christian school telling the school board they needed to admit a certain teenager, Big Mike, even though his grades weren't good because they were a "Christian" school.



I searched the Web and learned more about how religion is apparent in this movie. I even saw that Sandra Bullock's faith in people who live their religion was renewed after doing this movie.

Another movie that came to mind when I was thinking of religious-themed films was Evan Almighty, where Steve Carell becomes a modern-aged Noah and even speaks with God several times during the movie. After just discussing religion in the media in class, I looked at the trailer again and was a little surprised about how forward this movie was about God. Right at the beginning, it says God has chosen different prophets to speak to throughout the ages and then lists off Moses, Abraham, and Joan of Arc. This is stated as fact in the trailer. Can you imagine many TV shows that would say the same thing? It reminded me a little bit of the clip we watched of the interview with the Dalai Lama and the newscaster calls him the reincarnated Buddha.



Movies like The Davinci Code, where the Catholic church and the question of Mary Magdalene's relationship with Jesus is discussed; The Passion of the Christ, where the depth of Jesus' suffering is explored; Bruce Almighty, where one man is given the "power of God;" and Licensed to Wed, where a preacher tells a couple they can't sleep together until they are married, do not hide their inherent theme of religion. Even a movie like Knowing, that was kind of creepy throughout, turned religious at the end. I could go on and on with movies that center around religious themes (and I found lots of Web sites that list movie after movie with religious themes in them). Many don't just laugh and mention religion (like sitcoms seem to), but they explore and discuss religious stories and beliefs.

I thought of many reasons why this might be so. First of all, there is more time in movies to discuss religion than there usually is on a TV show. TV shows last 20 to 40 minutes, where most movies are 90 to 160 minutes. Religion can be brought up and different aspects can be given more thought and be explained more.

Another reason perhaps is that movies have a more targeted audience and don't have to appeal to so many people, like sitcoms do. They don't have to worry about offending as much because people buy and pay for a ticket and the previews tell them essentially that "this movie is going to be about religion, so if you don't want to see something about religion, don't watch it."

Movies could also just be a way for a producer to impart his or her religious beliefs on a mass scale. I read about a certain professor who uses movies in his religion class to appeal more to his students and to reach them more. He even commented that:
Hollywood and religion, as cultural forms, have the power to reinforce, alter, or challenge our most deep-seated beliefs, values, and hopes. For this reason, a study of religion and film is a natural one for religious studies curricula and for programs that rely upon and promote critical thinking. For whatever else they might be, for good or bad, popular movies do carry substantial weight in the public presentation of values and beliefs, and for that reason alone, films exist as natural texts for our students interested in religion in contemporary society.
Or maybe movies have more religious themes and discussions because they reflect society and the search for truth more than sitcoms do.

In my opinion, though, I think the real reason may be that religion appeals to movie-goers more than sitcom-watchers. Watching a sitcom can often be a way to relax after a long day and people may not want to have to think about religion, whereas movies are more about thinking, discovery and action. Movies, in a sense, have become society's way of exploring religion at a mass level. And this is not a new phenomenon. I found that movies back when our teachers and parents were growing up also had religious themes to them.



On one Web site I was going over about religion and movies, the author said films with religious themes "provide a place for us to pause and meditate on our purpose and place in life." I found that even movies like Star Wars, Avatar, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe have religious themes to them. People can choose whether to take religious-themed movies as they are or dig deeper for perhaps a religious undertone. I think society enjoys looking for these religious undertones and reflecting perhaps on their own lives by watching a movie and contemplating it.

Some people may disagree and say those who are spiritual are offended by different spiritual explorations or discussions in movies. I know several people who were offended by The Davinci Code and other such movies.

So why do you think movies explore religion more often than sitcoms do?


8 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. I think this is a really interesting trend that you have found. I've noticed that religion is usually brought up during sitcoms just as a simple set up for a one liner or a funny scene. As you have illustrated above, sitcoms don't ever seem to really explore religion despite introducing it often in their plots.

    I think that understanding the fundamental purpose behind the production of a movie gives us a key to understanding why movies often explore religion whereas sitcoms do not. As I see it, a sitcom represents nothing more than an attempt to entertain and thus boost ratings and ad revenues. In contrast, directors, screenwriters and producers of movies seem to have deeper motives. Though also motivated by revenues, those who create movies often want to make an artistic, philosophical, or political statement with their movie. The larger budget, time allotment and freedom available to filmmakers is perfect for making the kind of cultural impact they seek.

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  3. I like this idea you have, and your conclusions about religion vs. sitcom. I can definitely agree wit you on how movies has a certian audience appeal other than sitcomes who tries to get more of a variety of audience. I have notice many trends of religion in our movies nowadays with dialogue and characters who play certian figures affiliated with scripture. I think it relates to the American people and that is why we see religion in so many movies. It may cause the ratings to go up for certian films because of the religous affilates in the movie. Your right about religion in television, it is in a different context than in movies, due to the type of show and how the director wants to attract viewers. This is a great blog that comes with a lot of diverse thoughs on the subject of relgion in movies, which is really great!

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  4. Stephanie Walton:

    For the most part, I agree that religion is shown more in movies than on TV, however, I do believe that religion does appear on TV, it is just a lot less obvious. Many times it's right in front of your face, but in context it may not seem like religion. I believe that many TV shows teach moral themes and ideas without showing a church steeple.

    I don't watch much TV but a very obvious TV show that includes even a great deal of religious element is the show LOST on ABC. The character of John lock in particular blatantly says he is a man of faith and his character revolves around a "power" on the island and that all the people in the plane crash were brought there for a specific reason. "The Others," or the "bad guys" on the island are the force of evil opposed to Jack, the leader, and his crew of everyone from the plane.

    I think of other family shows that teach right from wrong and lessons are always learned from immoral behavior on TV shows for older audiences. In ways, moral teaching and ideas are a way of showing a kind of religion on TV. Anything with a good side and a bad side (which is every story ever written), can in one way or another represent righteousness and evil, which is the story of our reality, heaven and hell, God and Satan.

    So I do think that religion is just as much in TV as it is in the movies, it just takes critical thinking to recognize it on TV whereas in the movies, they can blatantly put it in your face because you are a captive audience and they already have your money if you do leave. Because TV watchers are not a captive audience, TV has to be a lot more sneaky about airing blatantly obvious religious footage.

    Also, since we are studying pop culture AS religion, I guess you could argue that everything you see on TV is religious.

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  5. As someone mentioned in class, people take more lightly to sitcoms than they would/do with films. They are more apt to look into a deeper meaning of a movie than your everyday sitcom. I think that the reasons tend to explore religion more than sitcoms is for the very reason that people are coming to the theaters with an open mind, usually. If the trailer for a film comes out that they deem worthy of seeing, they'll be a little more open minded to the message than what they would expect on usually the light hearted, happy sitcoms which rarely break into sensitive subjects.

    I also think that people realize that movies may delve into the sensitive subject that is religion making them a little more keen on the idea that the movie will be thought provoking, invigorating, or infuriating. To me, it's almost as though these movies that explore religion tend to be up for more awards, critically acclaimed/insulted and that draws people in, which is why they continue to explore the realm of religion.

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  6. For whatever reason it seems movies have the ability to talk about religion in a much more serious way than sitcoms ever can. There are a few sitcoms that have religion as one of its main themes, while there is a whole list of movies that have religion as one of its main focuses.

    I think the difference becomes more understandable just by looking at the difference between film and TV sitcoms. The purpose of TV sitcoms is to entertain, this is mostly done through comedic elements, and to attract sponsor advertising to a network. While films are created to entertain as well, comedy is not always the main tool used. Sitcoms depend on comic elements to draw and keep viewers, while films do not always need to be funny for people to watch.

    I think that talking about religion in a film is more credible than talking about religion in a sitcom. I am more likely to learn something about what it is like to live like someone of the Jewish faith by watching a movie about the Holocaust then by watching Seinfeld joke about what it means to be Jewish.

    Josh Scott

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  7. I agree Sara. Movies explore religion more than sitcoms. I think it's probable that sitcoms are meant to entertain a larger audience and don't have as much time to feature religion. Thinking about my expereince wih The Blind Side, I'm reminded that it was on my mind for many weeks. The Blind Side feautred religion in a positive light. It conveyed Christianity in the sense of doing good to all man. This movie was definitely a feel good one because we saw how a strong Christian woman not only positiively changed the life of a young man, but she also changed her family's life for good. Obviously, this movie explored religion because the true story was not only uplifting but happened to be based on a particular religion-Christianity.

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  8. While sitcoms can have references here and there to religion, most sitcoms never delve into the heart of a religion. Movies have the opportunity to make a bolder statement. They don't need to be afraid of the backlash from the network and worry about the invasive nature that is found in television. People choose to go to certain movies and are prepared to hear and see certain messages that may be shared in that movie. I agree with what was mentioned in class about people's reasons for viewing different movies. Most television shows are watched for pure entertainment reason while people are more willing to watch a movie that makes them think. People are more receptive to messages shared in movies versus television shows.

    - Rebecca Anderson

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