Last week’s lecture was focused on the topic of
broadcasting, and the discussion on the presence of Christianity reminded me
the reason why I haven’t been as interested in television shows as before. If
the idea of “television using metaphor” was brought up to me 5 years ago, I
would say that television is my favorite baby-sitter, it comforted me through
many years and I would consider it as the best remedy whenever I was sick. I
haven’t been as addicted to television as I used to, I never really wondered
why until recently.
I normally like all kinds of shows, though I have a very
serious interest in horror and suspense. I was hooked on “Lost” for a long
time, my all time favorite is “Desperate Housewives”, and I was addicted to
“Supernatural” and “Ghost Whisperer” throughout high school. Interestingly, I
actually never finished watching all seasons of any of these shows. I was crazy
for “American Horror Story” a few months ago, but have already lost my passion
for it after the first season. I lost my interest in “Lost” after a couple of
seasons, and I started getting frustrated on the predictability of the
storyline in “Supernatural”, as well as “Ghost Whisperer”. The only show that I
am still caught up on is “Desperate Housewives”. I never understood why I could
never finish watching a show, and it is through the recent article on cinematic
Christ figure and last week’s discussion that made me realize the real reason
behind my television watching habit. I figured that most televisions shows are
actually based or related to religion, and they usually don’t reveal this at
the beginning of the show. When television shows begin to uncover their hidden
concept, they always center around a few themes, either something to do with suffering,
salvation, demonic child, purgatory, or perhaps all of them, and this concept
causes many television shows to be predictable because their themes are so
similar.
"Lost" religious ending:
I thought “American Horry Story” was my typical type of
show, but then at the end of the first season, the show starts becoming
religious and the story gets predictable. I enjoyed the suspense in “Lost” a
lot, and I would never have thought that it would be related to religion.
However, throughout the seasons, there seem to be more references to
Christianity, and this is revealed in the very last episode of the show where
Jack dies, appears in a Church setting, and all the other characters were
waiting for him to guide them. “Supernatural” was very addictive at the
beginning, I knew it has something to do with supernatural beings but I wasn’t
expecting it to be heavily Christianity-based, eventually I was tired of the
predictable storyline that centers only on the fights between Angels and
Demons. As for “Ghost Whisperer”, the only reason why I enjoyed it for a while
was because it has something to do with ghosts, and just like “Supernatural”, I
wasn’t expecting strong references to religion in this show so I eventually
grew out of it.
Not what it seems to be, "American Horror Story" Trailer:
 |
| "Desperate Housewives" opening credits with Adam and Eve, apple and evil snake. |
During last lecture, we have discussed that as television
become more commercialized, the more complex and richer the characters are.
Perhaps because of this, the essence of religion in shows is harder to detect
and most television shows don’t normally present religion at the beginning. I
believe that without the constant reference to religion is what makes
television shows interesting to me, as it gets more religious, the storyline
usually gets duller and predictable, since its based on the typical faith and
belief the religion holds, and that is possibly the reason why most shows fail
to keep my interest in them. As for “Desperate Housewives”, it is an excellent
television show that incorporates religious belief so well that most audience
wouldn’t even recognize. It only subtly reveals the presence of Christianity
throughout the seasons and on its opening credits, it devotes an episode on faith and named it “Sunday”
and mostly relies on Bree’s character to keep up with its religious concept. “Desperate
Housewives” is a successful religion-advertiser in a way that it does not make
the essence of Christianity so evident that eventually causes the show to be
dull and predictable. I believe that it is the subtleness of referencing to
religion that keeps my interest in this show, and it is normally the concept of
religion that limits the creation of a great storyline in many other television
shows, and causes them to be the less successful advertisements of Christianity.
Detweiler, Craig and Barry Taylor. “Television” In A Matrix of Meanings, 185-219. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003.
Detweiler, Craig and Barry Taylor. “Television” In A Matrix of Meanings, 185-219. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003.
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