Afghan Idol: Can a Talent Competition Save a Nation?
An interview with the director of Afghan Star, a documentary that follows a tense but cathartic talent competition.
Give Me That Small Screen Religion
For viewers whose search for meaning is not confined to institutional religion, the television landscape abounds with religious and moral themes. And whether it’s euthanasia, polygamy, angels, demons, or clerics doing cameos, treatment of religion on the small screen is often surprisingly sophisticated.
True Blood: When Marketing Goes For the Jugular
An HBO show about vampires in the rural South depends on “viral marketing” for its buzz. But some people resent the conflation of fact and fiction that this kind of advertising entails. And what of the new religious movement known as the Vampire Community?
“Jon & Kate” Plus Prop. 8 Hate
A reality show about a failing family. The upholding of Prop. 8. There’s hypocrisy afoot in our culture.
Divine Inspiration: Kings Works Wonders
Drawn from the Bible, Kings takes a risk that pays off. Plus, we get Ian McShane.
Pretty People, Shiny Clothes: Biblical Illiteracy in NBC’s Kings
Television fails once again to do justice to the complexity of biblical narrative.
As Funny as the Times Will Allow: Obama on Late Night TV
The President tried to be funny on Jay Leno, and the joke fell flat. But it might be that this says more about us, his audience, than anything else.
RDBook: Selling the Good News
Who put the mega in megachurch? Two new books, one on star evangelicals and one that focuses on African-American televangelists, tell the story—and explain the remarkable influence of celebrity preachers in the religious marketplace.
When the head of a TV station devoted to improving the image of Muslims in the U.S. murdered his wife last week, it served as a reminder that no community is immune to domestic violence and tragedy.
Praying Away the Gay: “This is What Love Feels Like?”
Prayers For Bobby, a new Lifetime TV movie, portrays the tragic struggle of a gay teen in a conservative Christian family and the family’s attempt to “heal” him. Predictably, the film was heavily criticized by the religious right.
Praying Away the Gay: “This is What Love Feels Like?”
Prayers For Bobby, a new Lifetime TV movie, portrays the tragic struggle of a gay teen in a conservative Christian family and the family’s attempt to “heal” him. Predictably, the film was heavily criticized by the religious right.
Super Bowl Sunday, American Holy Day
Indignant responses to the Janet Jackson nipple slip and the somber post-9/11 halftime show reveal glimpses of the sanctity of this yearly ritual, but it’s also in the creation of icons, the reinforcement of rules, and Americans telling themselves stories about themselves.
“Godly Or Bad?”: The Return of Ted Haggard
There’s something about American evangelical life that tends toward the production of these sex sagas and tonight’s HBO documentary on Haggard airs just as new dimensions of the sex scandal emerge.
Heterosexual With Issues: Haggard’s Self-Hate
Former pastor Ted Haggard is desperate for redemption, but he can’t do the one thing that might make it possible—admit and accept that he’s gay.
When an American TV show borrows from Eastern philosophy, it leaves the ethical dimension behind while offering a healthy dose of materialism. Even so, it might have something to teach us.
Heroes: Sex and the Single Superhero
The main difference between the enactment of the heroic archetype in myth and in popular culture is our contemporary squeamishness about the homoerotic vibe that usually hums just beneath the surface of the drama. We try to banish that gayness, or at least keep it at bay, but the pesky thing about archetypes is that they’re not very easily controlled.
Allah Made Me Funny: Borscht Belt Goes Halal
Jackie Mason shticks and all, a new comedy concert documentary, Allah Made Me Funny, reminds us that it's not all doom and gloom.
Spiritual, But Not Religulous
In a new documentary, Bill Maher tries his darndest to convince viewers to abandon religion. Is he just preaching to the choir or will it start a valuable conversation?
McCain's new ad mocking Obama's charismatic campaign of hope and the belief that we can do better is being criticized as 'blasphemous' and offensive to liberal Christians...
Obama Foe Wants His MTV
MoveOn wannabe, Colin Hanna, has found a new platform for his Obama attack ads: MTV. Aiming to ”plant some seeds of doubt” in the ”younger demographic” a positive org goes negative to push McCain—along with a border fence, an anti-Jihadist site and a Pastor initiative...
Battlestar Galactica and the Future of American Religion
What does a sci-fi hit have to tell us about ancient Greek theater and today’s electronically-inflected cultural landscape?
Sacred&Profane: The “Cult” of Oprah Inflames Religious Right
The Religious Right’s wildly popular video attack on Oprah’s “dangerous” teachings may not be as far off base as it first appears.
