Christ and Pop Culture

Jesus made it very clear, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20). He holds us to a standard where “good” simply isn’t enough. So what does this mean, then, for “good” men? What does this mean for the just and upright, the honorable? What does it mean for good cops like Richie Robbins, who once found 5 million dollars and turned in every cent of it? And Richie is an especially worthy cop to mention here. He, along with his team, brought down Harlem’s most dangerous drug lord and crime boss: Frank Lucas. Their story is the highlight of the big screen this fall as Ridley Scott’s latest film American Gangster has stormed the box office.

Last night’s CNN-Youtube debate was fascinating for a number of reasons. One was the moment that a sarcastic-looking kid basically asked a question about biblical inerrancy and the following took place:

Let’s say you want to research preschoolers, but your study requires children who are NOT able to recognize Sesame Street characters. So you, “interview,” one child. And another. And another.

Nielson Media Research has shown that it will take a long time to finish your study, because as of 2004 they found that 99% of American preschoolers recognized the Sesame Street characters.

Ridley Scott’s newest film, American Gangster stars a cold-blooded killer who is also a hip, likable, Robin Hood, family man type played by everyone’s favorite actor, Denzel Washington. He kills and beats numerous people in the movie, and most of the time it turns out pretty well for him.

I like to talk. In general, I feel that I usually know what the right thing is to say to a person when they need advice or admonishment. But there’s one situation where I don’t know if I’ll ever have the right words: when a person has lost a loved one. What is there to say that could ever come close to what they are going through? The sorrow, the questions, the guilt, the shock, what words exist that could be shaped to be commensurate to their experience? As difficult as these situations are, imagine if it was your job to summarize the entire life of a person within one or two sentences, not to offer eulogies or condolences, but to give readers or viewers a succinct statement that expressed what the person did with their life. Whenever I read of a murder, a suicide, or an accident, I try to note how the reporter sums up the life of a once living human in 12 words or less.

He’s so nervous he could vomit. And of course who wouldn’t be when the world’s worst terrorists were shooting machine guns (and crossbows?) at them? But poor Chuck Bartowski is not cut out for this job. He’s not a “secret agent man,” he’s a computer repair man at the local Buy More (the fictional equivalent of our Best Buy Geek Squad). Ever since secret government information was imprinted onto his brain, however, he’s found himself tangled up in one caper after another. But the major theme of Chuck is not the average man world terrorism (though this in itself is a fitting topic for discussion and the show has something to say about it too). Rather, the recurring theme of this delightful new comedy is “truth.”

Daniel Boorstin is my favorite historian. He has written widely and well on some of the key players, events, and influences on both world and American history.

Perhaps my favorite piece of his work, though, is an article he wrote discussing the role of the historian called, “The Historian: ‘A Wrestler with the Angel.’” He points out that the greatest challenge for the historian is to discover the things that TRULY move history.

Look around and you probably don’t see a lot of Christian art. Walk into a Christian bookstore, and you probably don’t see a lot of good art. Look… well, anywhere and you probably won’t see a lot of good Christian art. So is there such a thing?

In response to our recent podcast, Sniping for Christ, Seminarian writes:

“Are we giving young adults and men further justification that they do not need to grow up? Later, an assertion is made that ‘Movies touch on the deep things of life.’ Sure, they might, but for many we would have to expose ourselves to sin first, and most teens don’t sit and ponder the questions afterwards anyway.”

On November 20th, one of the most anticipated games of the year will be released for the Xbox 360, Bioware’s Mass Effect; when it arrives on my doorstep, I will have the choice to encourage alien, unnatural, sexual immorality.