What Marshall McLuhan has to do with Jesus Christ II Corinthians 4:7-10 “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our ...
I remember when I did watch television before I played outside. When I was in junior high and younger I watched television. Everything I saw somehow kept my eyes glued to the screen. one night there was nothing on, so my brother and I went to channel surf and we discovered one excellent show with surfing, skate boarding, and really awesome rock n roll music. That show was called “G-Rock.” I saw many different bands that ...
News Corp. owns over 27 television stations and over 150 newspapers. Time Warner has over 100 subsidiaries including CNN, Time Magazine, and The CW. In a democratic society, the most powerful tool is the media. The media shapes our beliefs, changes our perspectives, and informs us on which choices to make at the ballot box. It can shape public opinion, create heroes, villains, and change elections. The media decides which voices are heard – or silenced, which issues ...
Creative Matters is a call to arms for all of us who endeavor to create beautiful, transcendent and transformational experiences in and around the Church. It’s a field guide of sorts…written by Creatives for Creatives… for those who work in the trenches of the “Create-On-Demand” challenges that every weekend brings. It’s a fresh perspective on the process, people, and purpose surrounding Creativity. It’s an invitation to live and work in a way that is both ...
Portlandia is a sketch comedy television series written by Fred Armisen of SNL and Carrie Brownstein of the former band Sleater-Kinney. The show is set and filmed in my beloved home of Portland, Oregon. The clip “This Bar Is Over” comically articulates the life span of trendy – once something cutting-edge becomes “cool” it is immediately “over”.
The self-disclosed thesis of Neil Postman’s book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, is that it is “an inquiry into and a lamentation about the most significant American cultural fact of the second half of the twentieth century: the decline of the Age of Typography and the ascendancy of the Age of Television” (8). Thus, the Age of Show Business has replaced the Age of Exposition. Postman takes an aggressive approach to flesh out Huxley’s prophecy that “people will ...
My roommate Val was watching That 70′s Show tonight, and it struck me: Can those actors be themselves when they’re not onscreen? I suppose this is bringing up the philosophy of acting and whether it is good for your soul, or even a worthy purpose in life. Is acting as a profession just about entertaining others? Or is the issue not with the act of acting, but the role that the actor plays? Or ...
I came across this clip a while back and thought it fit well in today’s conversation on the way’s the media distorts reality. Weather the Mercator or the Peter’s projection of the map is the correct one is up for you to decide. None the less it’s a interesting discussion. Also it’s interesting what maps are still being used today. Google Maps, probably one of the most widely used maps to date uses a version of the Mercator map. ...
One show that had been part of my life in being raised with good values was the series of “McGee and Me.” McGee and Me was a series of multiple episodes featuring the main character “Nicholas,” who is a young pencil artist with his personal famous drawing of “McGee.” McGee is Nicholas’ almost imaginary friend that essentially comes to life from one of Nicholas’ drawings.Through the friend that Nicholas has and the lessons he learns ...
II Corinthians 3:3- “And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” God intended for the Gospel to be communicated directly from person to person, that is, through relationship. The thread which is woven throughout the story of God’s redemption of His once perfect creation is relationship—is love. God ...
Earlier this month I came across an article in a magazine suggesting that MTV’s Teen Mom has helped lower the pregnancy rate of teenagers. Their claim is that teens who watch these shows have discovered that being a teen mom isn’t so glamorous. A few weeks later I came across another article discussing how some teenagers are purposely getting pregnant for auditions to Teen Mom, because they too want to be on television idolized as ...
Many romantic messages are mimicked from a love scene in the movies, while the funny things to be spoken are only from Steve Carrel in The Office. “That’s what she said,” is followed up in many conversations in order to take the humor of something that has been on the televisions show, the Office. Saying something as cliché as “that’s what she said” can be funny, but to repeat multiple of times means that we ...
People can’t find their identity in themselves and that is why they look everywhere else. Some of the most popular places to look for identity are the portrayals of the mook and the midriff on TV, financial or career success, family and religion. This is a sad imitation of where we were made to find our true identity: in Christ. When we look elsewhere, we only end up with distorted ...
What is your favorite movie? Has it changed your life? Has any movie changed your life? If so, what movie was it? To clarify, when I use the terms “movie” and “film” I am referring to dramatic or narrative films – most commonly known as “Hollywood movies” – not documentaries, promotional videos, or ‘non-fiction’ film (if there is such a thing). This is an important distinction to make, so please be aware of it. By ...