Religous fanaticism makes a good story, but so does a cartooned Moses

My favorite channel is Disney. Any religion in there? None besides my own religious watching of Wizards of Waverly Place. Next favorite channel, The Food Network, hmm I don’t think Ace of Cakes has any religion included. Last resort, cop shows! My husband and I love NCIS and Criminal Minds…ding ding ding!

And so it was with Criminal Minds that I began. I remember watching an episode called “Compulsion.” The storyline took place on a college campus where some buildings had been lit on fire and they concluded that the school was being terrorized by a serial arsonist. Automatically assuming the criminal was male, the show’s team of FBI profilers attempted to piece together the arsonist’s motives and most importantly the next move. By the end of the show you’ve watched them discover that the arsonist had obsessive compulsive disorder, was female and last but not least was a religious fanatic, although the denomination is not specifically referenced. You learn that she (the killer) had survived an apartment building fire at the age of sixteen, her mother told her it was a test from God that she passed. Then, propelled by her OCD, she “tested” others by fire. The agents on the show considered many possibilities, even referencing “baptism by fire.” Right before finally being apprehended, you see Clara, the religious arsonist, squirting oil from three different bottles onto some classmates she intends to “test” with her next fire. She labels the bottles as “The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost.”

It made a great plot for the show, but I think that many times religion is represented in its extreme. The fanatic makes a good villain, apparently. However, it doesn’t even have to be a villain, it just has to be something out of the ordinary; as presented in our textbook, Religion and Popular Culture in America, “When television did present clergy as principal characters, there was always a dramatic twist or character quirk to divert attention away from the subject of religion itself…” (44) This representation clearly fits into the first typology we discussed in class, religion in popular culture. This is pop culture’s “dramatic twist,” using religion to fuel the climax of the story.

As I searched Google for a clip from Criminal Minds, (sorry, you’ll have to make do with the above picture of Dr. Spencer Reid: a genius/nerd with a gun and really awful hair), I tried to think of other examples. Was the dramatic twist provided by religion presented in a better light? Okay, besides Touched by an Angel? My mind first went to 7^th Heaven, a popular show about a Protestant minister and his family. Teaching morals with each episode, the show relied heavily on the family’s religious beliefs and standards, prompted further by the father’s profession and the family’s regular church attendance. This isn’t your typical family show, like Full House, which also followed a family and taught moral lessons, 7^th Heaven specifically involved religion.

But that wasn’t the last thing to cross my mind. Crawling up through the recesses of my memory was an old favorite show. Don’t even pretend you didn’t like it. Yep, The Rugrats, a classic Nickelodeon production about a group of babies; best friends with some sweet imaginations. Tommy, the brave leader, Chucky the scaredy-cat best friend (though when confronting his fear of going down the slide he declares “I am not a aminal! I am a human bean, and I am going down that slide!” love the baby talk). Phil and Lil the comic relief but slightly strange twins, and of course Angelica, who is anything but angelic. Where and why would you find religion on this cartoon for kids? Well Nick fans, do you remember Grandpa Boris? He’s Jewish (therefore Tommy is Jewish) and in two episodes he plays a crucial role teaching the babies about Chanukah and who could forget the Passover episode where the story of Moses is told complete with plagues, Red Sea parting and yarmulkes? After watching, I learned about things like unleavened bread. They probably taught me that stuff in Sunday School but they also probably brought candy, so where was my focus?

It seems ironic to think that a show aimed specifically at children allowed such blatant presentations of religion, of Jewish tradition. Although not presented in a specifically spiritual way, the story is told pretty true to the Bible; even details like the burning bush (no mention of God, however), Moses’ staff turning into a snake, and blood being painted over the Hebrew’s doors in protection from the last plague (see video clip). The episode’s ending, which shows a bible closing and the back cover decorated with the Star of David seems a bold statement for a kid’s show. Have you ever seen the Crucifix in Blue’s Clues?

Even so, the biblical story was told, and told in Grandpa Boris’ Hebrew accent. In Criminal Minds, Grandpa Boris might have been a killer or a victim because of that accent. Two good stories, but only one good representation.

But to change topics without any transistion whatsoever, what about some of our other favorite shows? If sports can be considered religion, can’t What Not To Wear? It’s like the Spanish Inquisition! Someone’s horrible sin of bad dress is exposed. Stacy and Clinton bring the hell fire of judgment day as they force the sinner’s confession of bad dress, ensure the sin is forsaken (i.e. throw away their current wardrobe), oversee (and fund) the repentance process with $5,000 to spend shopping in New York City, and ultimately grant forgiveness as the initial sinner is stylishly reborn in their new clothes (and new hair and make-up, yes the makeover is included) that compliment their body, and always display confidence. Serioulsy, the show begins with making the bad dresser watch “secret footage” they’ve taken the past few weeks to prove that the horrible wardrobe is a consistent problem. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always pictured being required to watch The Movie of Life once in heaven. There are definitely some parts of my existence I can’t wait to watch again (my older sister spanking my butt when I was a baby; she couldn’t resist poor little 4 year old), but plenty I’d like fast-forward (sneaking whipped cream right out of the can…I still do it).

If the television show writers and producers can’t think of a better way to blatantly include religion on the tube, why not find it in subtler ways by our own interpretation? The oddest part about preparing to post this blog is that I learned once you start looking, it’s pretty easy to see religious symbolism in things. Disney Channel: family values. Food network: The Creation. The Office: Tolerance? Maybe. Try it with your favorites, and see what you get. Searching for these messages will have more personal meaning to you than the arrest of the religious fanatic in Criminal Minds, or even 7^th Heaven’s episode about pre-marital sex.

So here’s a question to consider: Why is the characterization of a religious extremist such an easy target for shows like Criminal Minds? If this is the way television has chosen to represent religion, how did a popular kid’s show like Rugrats get away with it?

Okay, that was two questions. Sorry.

-Cecily Lemmon