Abstract
This paper examines the
opportunities and dangers that can emerge
when attempting to make the Gospel relevant
to the "new culture" as articulated
by French scholar Pierre Babin. It argues
that inherent dangers exist when attempting to
adapt the Gospel to the characteristics of members
of the new culture. These inherent dangers–and
the need to try to reach out despite them–are
clearly illustrated in the Sister Act movies. Of
particular note is the shift of focus from God
toward music and personality as agents of change. The
paper concludes by suggesting the term "interface" as
a potentially useful addition to Babin's lexicon
in discussing transmediation and the Gospel.
"I
assure you, most solemnly I tell you, you
have been searching for Me, not because you
see the miracles and signs but because you
were fed with the loaves and were filled and
satisfied. ...
For the Bread of God is He who comes down out
of heaven and gives life to the world"
(John 6:26, 33).[1]
[1] Although church attendance
in the U.S. rose slightly after September 11
2001, until that time most surveys indicated
that the organized mainstream Church was not
doing a good job of bringing people into direct
experience with God. "The
gap between believing and belonging is widening,
however, with church and synagogue membership down
and a slight but steady increase in the unchurched
population while the growing percentage who believe
in the divinity of Christ has risen six percentage
points between 1978 and 1988" (Gallup and Jones
1989, 2). Clearly, many people want to come
to Christ, they just don't want to come to church! One
of the reasons for this, argued by Babin (1991),
is that many churches have failed to adapt to “the
new culture” brought about by technology,
particularly in communication and media. This
paper will introduce the overlooked scholarship
of Pierre Babin, explore some of the characteristics
of the new culture that as he defines it, and look
at some of the challenges that emerge when attempting
to relate the Gospel message to that new culture.
The New Culture According to
Babin
[2] Extending on the work
of McLuhan and others, Babin argued that a new
culture exists. This
culture has six general characteristics salient
to our discussion. First, this culture is
right-brain dominant. As contemporary media
have made it easier to move from text and sequential/linear
messages to images and holistic messages, the right
brain has become the center of sense-making. Audiences
have become experiential and intuitive, as opposed
to rational in orientation. The proliferation
of “trash TV” talk shows illustrates
this preference. Audiences rarely want to
hear traditional "experts" discuss a
particular dysfunction from an objective, albeit
learned, position. Instead the goal is to
hear, see, and experience the dysfunctional
people "in person." Many people
have also decided that the visceral experiences
of the dysfunctional guest are more "true" than
the testimony of traditional experts. This
shift is consistent with the shift offered by Brummett
(1991). He noted that media logic shifts the
focus from a rational discussion of issues to a
focus on narrative structure. This shift in
orientation clearly has implications for evangelizing
and even faith itself. As Babin (1991) pointed
out, "Faith perceived by the left hemisphere
cannot be the same as faith perceived by the right" (55). Even
if one argues with whether there is a literal division
in the brain, the idea that contemporary culture
has migrated toward the characteristics once clustered
under the right brain division remains viable.
[3] A second key characteristic
of the new culture according to Babin is audiences’ affinity
for modulation. Modulation is a notion similar
to vibration. Since media comes at us in waves
(sound waves, light waves) and appeals to the entire
being, audiences respond with their entire being. Music–when
loud enough to dominate our senses–affects
our entire being and we modulate. This is
a culture that wants experiences and excitement
in the form of sensorial vibration and modulation.
[4] A third characteristic
also implied by the right-brain orientation,
is greater emphasis of the "ground." Ground
may be seen as the combination of metacommunication
and stimuli surrounding the "figure." It
can be thought of the atmosphere. Restaurants, for
example, generally need atmosphere in addition to
a good menu to thrive. “Wholesale" markets
that claim to have low prices must also look like
(attractive) warehouses so that the ground–the “right-brain” dimension
of the experience–is consistent with the stated
policy (the figure) of low prices. Since the
new culture is processing images and impressions
more than arguments, the ground is now equal to,
or even more important than, the figure.
[5] Fourth, there is a desire
to be "in." This
manifests itself in two ways. First, members
want to be immersed in experience. Second,
they want membership in affinity groups. Advances
in travel and media such as cars, internet, etc.,
have made it possible to relate almost exclusively
with people of common interests and values regardless
of geographic barriers. These affinity groups
are often centered on external characteristics and
interests: Trekkers, sports, musical tastes and
similar interests. As a consequence, members
of the new culture ask for a greater and more complete
sense of membership from the church they choose
to attend. Because most can drive on to the
next church, or substitute a televised or downloaded
church service, they need not go to the closest
church. And as can be seen from the earlier
characteristics, most will go to experience God,
not just learn well-reasoned doctrine.
[6] The last two characteristics
are a bit more intuitive to most Americans when
observing society. This
new culture seeks pleasure and lacks interiority. By
pleasure Babin does not mean simple hedonism. He
is articulating a subtle orientation toward experience,
imagination and modulation. For instance,
in order for me to "work out" at a gym,
I must approach the workout so that it brings me
pleasure, or reward. Perhaps I am a bit narcissistic
and seeing myself all pumped up in the wall mirrors
at the gym is enough. Perhaps I love feeling
disciplined, and so making myself work out first
thing in the morning brings me pleasure. If
not, then I must keep searching until I find the
approach that defines the workout as pleasurable. This
idea seems so basic to our modus operandi or
the "common sense" of our culture (Fiske1993,
6) that we are tempted to assume it has always been
this way. Even so, media and other technology
have catered to this tendency.
[7] Finally, because we
can define ourselves by our surface-level or
external affinities, we can seek out external
sources of modulation, and we can immerse ourselves
actively or passively in pleasures offered by
these external sources, the inward journey toward
individuality often suffers. Ong (1970)
noted this relationship well in saying that "oral
cultures … hardly produce individual thinkers
or inventors as do cultures where writing, and particularly
the alphabet, has become deeply interiorized and
given the individual relative independence of the
tribe" (40). It is difficult to be an individual
in an age of the collective. Interiority is
also made more difficult because, as Brummett (1991)
has noted, the "logic" of TV is characterized
by commodification–problems are solved by
products, not introspection (12-13).
[8] It is important to note
at this point that not all of these characteristics
are in the truest sense "new." Oral cultures share
many of these traits. In some ways the new
culture is a return to an oral culture even though
the alphabet still remains. The media build
or stack upon one another, they are not mutually
exclusive (Ong 1970). Thus it is not ridiculous
to say that Jesus' narrative teaching style is still
effective today partly because he adapted his message
to a largely oral culture. His use of direct contact,
stories, fundamental images, and his use of the
immediate surroundings enhanced the aurality and
effectiveness of his teaching (Horne 1994).
[9] Babin is not alone in
his exploration of contemporary culture and the
need for adaptation. For example,
Mitchell (1991) noted the importance of story in
helping to make Christianity a "life-view and
not simply a phenomena" and argues that narrative
forms can invite self-reflection (42). Lealman
(1991) stated that spiritual awareness may best
be achieved, "not through the gaining of more
information but by the stirring of the imagination" (266).
Analysis of the Films
[10] In order to illustrate
how Babin’s system
is useful in delineating some of the challenges
and opportunities associated with adapting the Gospel
message to this new culture I will analyze Sister
Act I and II. These films are worthy
of analysis not only because they illustrate many
of the principles offered by Babin, but because,
given the subject matter, their popularity within
the culture of declining church attendance mentioned
earlier is worth noting. The July 20, 1992
edition of Variety reported that Sister Act
had grossed over 93 million dollars at the end of
its seventh week, far surpassing expectations. Sister
Act II was not the box office success of its
predecessor, but it has also done well, especially
in home video. This film is not the first
to offer an exploration of traditional religion
and contemporary culture. Going My Way (1944)
offered a similar plotline of a poor parish under
traditional leadership being resurrected through
the integration of contemporary perspectives and
methods. This movie prompted a sequel (The
Bells of St. Mary’s, 1945) and garnered
critical acclaim with seven Oscars.
[11] There are other useful
approaches one could take in analyzing these
films. The ideas offered
by Fiske (1993, 1994), Turner (1992) and Carey (1992)
that emerge from the British Cultural Studies tradition
would illuminate the films' relationship with the
larger ideological system. Brummett (1991)
has offered insightful discussion of the rhetorical
dimensions of popular culture. He noted that "the
real point of public discourse is to manage the
meanings and commitments involved in public decisions" (28). Important
to this discussion is that films and other artifacts
of popular culture are significant manifestations
of such discourse. Babin, however, has the
advantage of framing his discussion with particular
reference to the Gospel and thus is an ideal fit
with the films and goals of this essay. I
will begin by looking at the dynamics within each
film and then look at the progression of the works
as a whole.
Sister Act I
[12] Sister Act I tells
the story of a lounge singer who witnesses a
murder (by her mobster boyfriend) and is put
in a struggling convent to hideout until the
trial. Whoopi Goldberg (the lounge singer,
Deloris) embodies many aspects of the new culture
and secular world in general. The nuns represent
not only traditional catechesis and Catholicism,
but much of what McLuhan called the Gutenberg Galaxy. The
Reverend Mother in charge of the convent decides
it is best for Whoopi to dress and act like a nun
so as not to disturb the others. Unwittingly,
Whoopi's character is being "immersed" in
a new affinity group. Her dress and new name
(Sister Mary Clarence) will ensure that the nuns
at least relate to her in a way consistent with
her new identity, not her old.
[13] Telling signs of the
conflict between the cultures emerge in the dialogue
between Deloris and the Reverend Mother (Maggie
Smith). At
one point the Reverend Mother responds to Deloris
by saying:
[T]his is not a sorority
or a speakeasy. This
is a convent, a religious order. There
are certain rules you must obey. St. Catherine's
is a place to commune and pray. I will
not tolerate any disruption whatsoever with that
communion. Do you understand? (Rudin
1992)
The Reverend Mothers' emphasis is clearly on rules
and doctrine, indicating an orientation of
the old culture on print and a rather static homeostasis
instead of the modulation, pleasure and excitement
of the new culture.
[14] Deloris is later asked
to pray for the meal. Her
prayer is a mixture of religious phrases, patriotic
pledges and other "stuff" from the collective
cultural consciousness. This seems to symbolize
the perception that only a special vocabulary can
be used to come before God. Deloris did not
think she could come to God in her own words or
out of her own experience. God and the Church,
as symbolized by the convent, are another world
whose boundaries are marked by dress, customs, and
unique vocabulary.
[15] A crucial scene between
the Reverend Mother and Deloris occurs when Deloris
asks to use the phone. She is still operating with a focus
of exteriority and a need to maintain her membership
in previous affinity groups. When her request
is denied, a flair-up ensues. Deloris states
that "Before I came here I was OK!" The
Reverend Mother cuts to the chase: "Oh
really? From what I've heard, your singing
career was almost non-existent, and your married
lover wants you dead. If you're fooling anyone
it is only yourself. God has brought you here. Take
the hint."
[16] This dramatic invitation
to focus on interiority comes through loud and
clear in dialogue and circumstance. Her
room is free from distractions, gadgets and other
diversions. It, along with the lifestyle she
encounters, fosters some self-reflection and interiority. In
one conversation she has with another nun they both
conclude one must "be yourself or you'll just
burst."
[17] For the still worldly
Deloris, this means sneaking out to a bar. However, two sisters
follow her, assuming she is going to do some street
ministry. They want to learn from her so they
can start to do this too. The nuns do not
reach out to the community around the convent because
the Reverend Mother is fearful of the outside world. She
later states that these walls must protect the sisters
because the robes no longer do. Critical to
the bar scene, however, is the realization for Deloris
that the sisters do have bodies. They do have
desires to dance, to relate, to modulate as well
as seek God and biblical truth. The rest of
the movie on one level is an exploration of how
to express this “body faith,” this right
brain faith, in a way that is not in conflict with
the Bible or core doctrine. There is a dynamic
exchange between Deloris and the nuns bringing about
(on an admittedly superficial level) a form of stereo
catechesis. Stereo catechesis is Babin's term
for religious instruction and evangelism that is
a balanced incorporation of left and right brain
stimuli and thought. It is a balance between
word and image, and the old and new culture as well
(p. 32 ff)
[18] Music becomes a key
channel for this discovery. Deloris
is put in charge of the choir. She is able
to awaken and "be herself" in the truest
sense. She gains a purpose and vision that
transform her into Sister Mary Clarence. The
other sisters also begin to experience awakenings
in areas of their right-brain and body-faith left
dormant by traditional convent life. It is
interesting to note that the choir wants to
change. The movie seems to argue that even
practicing members of the faith want a faith that
is alive, purposeful, and relevant. The choice
of music as one of the vehicles of transformation
is one we will return to later. However, it
is important to note at this point that the music
is aural (Ong, 1970) and that for Babin (1991) this
characteristic is critical in reaching the new culture.
[19] Sister Act also seems to argue that the style of
the music is a key. The lyrics, or “figure” if
you will, stay relatively untouched. However,
the ground goes through significant changes. Hymns
are stylized to sound contemporary. Secular
tunes have modest lyric changes, but undergo more
radical transformation of ground because they are
sung by nuns in a chapel. Revitalized meaning
and relevance, and even completely new meanings,
are generated by the ground, not the lyric
in isolation. Ong found power in the spoken word. To
this I think Babin would agree but adds that the
visual context and entire symbolic context cannot
be underestimated in its role in shaping meaning.
[20] The Reverend Mother
initially resists these changes. She chastises
Deloris and the following exchange occurs:
Reverend Mother: ".
. . this is not a theater or a casino."
Deloris : "Well, you see that's the
problem. People like going to theaters
and they like going to casinos. But
they don't like coming to church. Why? Because
it's a drag. But we could change all that! We
could pack this joint!"
Reverend Mother: "Through blasphemy? You
have corrupted the whole choir!"
The Reverend Mother’s objects raise significant
questions: What does it mean to come to God? On
whose terms do you come? Deloris demonstrates
the new culture's orientation toward pleasure: not
necessarily sin, but stimulation (Babin 1991, 204). The
film answers this question by the nuns expressing
their desire to reach people. The priest
of the church is also happy to see the pews begin
to fill up: "Did you see the people walk
right in? That music, that heavenly music–it
called to them." The people walked in
when the lyrics to a traditional hymn were spiced
up to sound like a more contemporary song. The
change in form and in modulation made the lyric
appealing. The music is deemed "heavenly" by
the priest because it carried out a divine purpose
and effect.
[21] A montage of the nuns
sprucing up the convent and its surrounding area
is also worth noting. The
song used to support the "cleanup montage" is
not a hymn, nor a contemporary Christian song but
rather a song entitled Touch of Love. The
gospel that seems to have transformed the nuns and
that will go forth from them into the neighborhood
is the ever-palatable generic "love" variety,
and not the more radical agape love central to the
gospel message. In this montage they paint
murals and skip rope and generally appeal to the
locals experientially–through the right brain
and body.
[22] It is true that the
apostle Paul told his readers that love is the
key (1 Cor. 13:2-13). However,
he was writing to an audience that already confessed
allegiance to Jesus Christ at a time when such allegiance
was not easy. It is somewhat telling that
an undefined "love" was given such
centrality in the film. In the Greek language
of the New Testament, it would easy to distinguish
between eros, philia or agape.[2] In
English, the distinction, and potentially the impact,
is lost. The lyrics seem much more oriented
toward romantic love and this further clouds the
issue. It is true that the film maker faces
a challenge of how to present love in the audio-visual
language (Babin 1991, 3), and as Brummett (1992)
observed, media has its own logic that focuses on
commodification, narration, the visual and the intimate
(12 ff). These characteristics certainly constrain
the ability to portray other forms of love, and
perhaps even obscure one’s awareness of them.
[23] As the plot progresses,
we see that Deloris has begun to identify with
the convent and its doctrine. She
is willing to risk her life to be with the sisters. She
states explicitly that she has had a rebirth and
that she can "forgive" her boyfriend who
has captured her and is about to kill her. This
is key: she has been transformed by her relationship
with the sisters and the text (lyrics, doctrine)
of the music. Music as a medium is not new to her. For
her the figure changed, not the ground. Her
life and character are better because of her exposure
to the teaching and examples set by the sisters. This
is the central change even though both cultures
have undergone some transformation.
[24] In the movie-ending concert for the Pope (remember,
it's Hollywood), the Pontiff''s approval of this
new music strongly suggests that the movie is arguing
for what Babin is calling for as part of stereo
catechesis: a modernization of form in the
transmediation of the gospel. An interesting
side note: one of the reviewers of the movie was
impressed with the way "production designer
Jackson Degovia also does a fine job of turning
the dreary church into a glitzy main room as the
chorus starts to fill the benches" (Lowry 1992). Clearly,
ground supersedes figure when the transformation
of the set makes the review!
Sister Act II
[25] The unanticipated success of Sister Act called
for a sequel. From the outset it is a slicker
production. However, the sequel has clearly
shifted from its earlier focus. The issues
of culture clash and the possible synergistic relationship
between the two cultures (old and new) is lost. This
movie is about feeling. From the outset the
deeper issues are secondary–their primary
goal seems to be making the audience feel like they
did during the "good parts" of Sister
Act I. Deloris has returned to Las Vegas and
made it big. She has integrated her "conversion" experience
into her act. One is tempted to hope that
the movie will continue to explore this integration. However,
it is clear that she has made it by the world’s
standards and integrated God into her lifestyle
and schedule.
[26] Sister Act II is built
around the centrality of Deloris and music as
the primary change agents. The New
York Times review (James 1993) of the film comes
under the title “A Call for Help From the
Convent” (my emphasis). Several of the
nuns visit her in Las Vegas and ask her to come
back to San Francisco with them. They need her help. God
is not seen as the key to the solution or even called
upon. The absence of God as either figure
or ground not only points out the potential lack
of balance imbedded in Babin’s concept to
of stereo catechesis, but is significant rhetorically. What
is not stated is often as key to understanding
the impact or meaning of a message as what is stated
(Foucault 1972). The reunion of Deloris with
the Reverend Mother provides one of the strongest
examples:
Reverend Mother: We
need your help
here [Deloris] . . . at St. Francis we seem to
have gotten in over our heads.
How she will help:
Reverend Mother: Teach
music. . . you weren't cut out to be a nun
either, but look what you
accomplished at St. Catherine's: you
brought a new spirit into the church and
into the community you were infectious.
. . [the school and community] is becoming a
hopeless situation. We have nowhere
else to turn. We are desperate women,
Deloris (Orr 1993. Emphasis mine).
[27] The nuns also run to
Deloris (once again in the guise of Sister Mary
Clarence) when they find out the school is slated
to be closed. Key
to this analysis is that Deloris undergoes no redeeming
transformation as she does in Sister Act I. She
changes others in Sister Act II but remains
largely unchanged herself. In a way she is
now God and the movie is about her powers. This
may explain the relative failure, both critically
and economically, of the movie. The students
in her music class do eventually sing hymns. But
they also sing her song/philosophy: "If
you want to be somebody, if you want to go somewhere,
you better wake up and pay attention." It
is a celebration of generic awakening–and
a focus on self-efficacy rather than the transforming
power or provision of God. Most of the songs
sung by the nuns this time, and in the soundtrack
in general, are not remakes of hymns or secular
tunes that point to God as is the case in Sister
Act I. They are simply about social awareness
and similarly noble, but not divine themes.
[28] Despite the theological
shortcomings, the movie is full of illustrations
of the new culture. When
Deloris says she will be turning the class of students
into a choir, one of the boys raises a concern: "If
my homies see me in a choir . . ." he gets
cut off. However, his concern for being "in" with
his affinity group is obvious. As we see the
choir develop and mature, they sing scales–pure
modulation and pleasure. There is no text
or doctrine in the classic sense. They are
brought together by the experience of creating musical
stimulation. They create their own affinity
group brought together by modulation. This
indicates the truth of Babin as well as the amoral
nature of modulation. It is not of itself
secular or divine; it simply is.
[29] The climax of the movie
occurs at a choir competition the school has
entered. The nuns
who spontaneously entered the school in the competition
say, "We took our cue from you [Deloris]," indicating she was
the inspiration for them to think big and take action,
not God. As the students prepare to take the
stage, Deloris instructs the kids to take off the
robes and go out in anything they want to wear. This
could have been a great moment symbolizing that
you can come to God as you are –a statement
about authenticity and interiority. However,
her reason for this advice is simply so they can
go out on stage feeling physically "comfortable." This
shows a clear orientation towards pleasure rather
than interiority. Their identity lies in what
they wear, not in who they might be in Christ.
[30] They win the competition
with a hip-hop version of the hymn "Joyful, Joyful." The
team that came in second sang a traditional version
of "Joyful, Joyful." This is an
interesting statement made by Sister Act II,
similar to the statement in Sister Act I:
a change in form will make your message more
appealing to those that will judge it.
[31] Finally, it is important to note that the
experience for Sister Act II is a group experience,
not a solitary one. As noted earlier, the
lack of interiority is a natural extension of the
collective nature of contemporary culture. It
is in the moments Dolores is alone in Sister Act
that she seems to be transformed. In Sister
Act II it is in the moments together that the kids
become aware of their potential.
Notable Progression Between the
Two Films
[32] While analyzing each
of the films individually provides some insight
into Babin's work and the transmediation of the
gospel in general, the progression of the two
works as a whole gives rise to some potential
dangers. In Sister Act I, the agents
of change were Deloris and the nuns (and in the
nuns, God)–each personifying their particular
cultures. We saw a version of–and a
call for–stereo catechesis in the tension
between Deloris and the nuns.
[33] There is a subtle but significant shift in Sister
Act II. Deloris and music become the
primary agents of change. God, doctrine,
and Christ all become minor players. The
monks are merely comic relief in an already light
film and offer no depth or power. The audience
cannot identify with them in any positive way. Viewers
are told in many ways to dismiss them and, by
implication, what they stand for. The kids
are, in essence, told to get excited about excitement;
get excited about potential, about what you
can do. They pursue stimulation, experience
and modulation, not God. In a way, this
is another example of the culture shifting from
figure to ground. The lyric or figure points
directly to God. However, the medium encourages
one to focus on the ground: the volume
and modulation of the music. The focus
is diverted even though "participation" is
increased. The modulation becomes the message
and it is an empty message without the balance
suggested by stereo catechesis.
[34] This is not simply
a case of letting a spoonful of sugar help the
medicine go down. Bodies
respond to the medicine without knowing what it
is or how it works. The biblical account of
God is different. The bible urges followers
to call on God by name (Rom. 10:9-13). The
temptation to pursue experience instead of God is
not limited to Hollywood. Hunt and McMahon
(1985) in their work entitled The Seduction of
Christianity identified a significant number
of cases where movements have drifted away from
mainstream understandings of Christian doctrine
by pursuing experience and exploring the potential
of self.
The seduction is surprisingly
easy. It
does not take place as an obvious frontal assault
from rival religious beliefs. That would
be vigorously resisted. Instead it comes
to some Christians in the guise of faith- producing
techniques for gaining spiritual power and experiencing
miracles and to others as self-improvement psychologies
for fully realizing human potential that are
seen as scientific aids to successful Christian
living. Or it may take other forms (Hunt
and McMahon 1985, 11).
[35] The challenge when
exploring religion and popular culture in a Christian
context is one of keeping faith relevant without
losing the centrality of the object of that faith:
Jesus Christ. Sister
Act and especially Sister Act II illustrate
challenges that may be inherent in any efforts to
mediate the gospel in the new culture. Hollywood's
goal is not that of Babin’s or other Christians. So
it is useless to criticize them for failing to achieve
something they were not striving for. This
analysis does attempt to raise the question of how
to strike a fruitful balance so that films can be
successful by Hollywood's standards and Babin's.
Conclusion
[36] Music was a key to the success of both Sister
Act movies. I don't think this is accidental,
nor simply a Hollywood convention. Music
is special. Law (1985) thoroughly explored
what he called the power of praise and worship. He
notes that music is mentioned over 800 times
in the Bible and that Martin Luther saw music
as second only to theology in service to God.
[38] But what form should
that music take? Miller
(1993) argued that the musical style should be chosen
based on the audience and purpose intended. The
popular success of both Sister Act movies
seems to support his claim. Audiences (both
within the film and in real life) responded positively
to the familiarity in the forms chosen. This
familiar form may help non-believers and new believers
see Christianity as a way of life without feeling
they will undergo what Stott (cited by Miller 1993)
called a "painful cultural circumcision" of
stepping back two generations and learning a new
vocabulary. The point of this essay is not
that form must stay constant, but that focus must
stay true. Miller remarked that when interviewing
Mylon LeFever, an early Christian rock artist, Mylon
said the test of their music is whether or not a
kid in the audience can make an intelligent decision
about Christ at the end of the concert. The
band has scripture verses to back up each song. This
balance captures the responsible quest for stereo
catechesis that Babin is arguing for.
[38] This analysis reveals
that Babin's position is an insightful one. The
characteristics of the new culture seemed to
play out in both Sister
Act movies, and the success of those movies
suggests that people engage in some identification
(Burke 1969) with what goes on in the films. However,
the greater success of Sister Act over Sister
Act II indicates that Babin's point about experiencing
Christ and sharing out of that experience–instead
just sharing head knowledge–is critical. Fischer
(1992) stated that we can "borrow the sound
or the look, but please don't borrow the message. When
the Gospel is presented with borrowed words . .
. and feeling . . . then a great disservice is done
to the purpose of God in the World" (62).
[39] In summary, it is clear that Christians are
not any less susceptible to the progression noted
in the two Sister Act movies: Christians
may find a symbolic experience that works, and because
there is a desire to duplicate the results, there
could be a natural tendency to duplicate the method. This
often results in attempts at magic as discussed
by Hunt (1985). For him, magic is the attempt
to recreate a supernatural experience with the tangible
elements under our control–with a focus on
duplicating the experience rather than on pursuing
God.
[40] Perhaps an additional
term might be useful in this discussion. The
term interface is
primarily associated with computers: "a communication
device or protocol that enables one device to communicate
with another. [It] matches the output of one
device to the input of the other device" (Mueller
1992, 1223). Devito (1986) in applying the
term more generally to communication offered the
following: "The point where two systems
meet; as a verb it refers to the process by which
two systems confront each other and form a common
boundary" (162).
[41] These definitions link
usefully with Babin's call for stereo catechesis
and the transmediation of the Gospel. The term “interface” captures
some of the complexity he wrestles with. How
do communicators of the Gospel establish protocols
without corrupting the essential data? The
church and the world are two distinct cultural systems. Some
boundaries are needed. If the church becomes
indistinguishable from the world then it is redundant
and struggles in its mission to “call” people
to be set apart. However, Christians must
also learn how to interface with the world in order
to fulfill God's purpose for the earth. New
devices, vehicles, and tools are needed to fit the
needs of those receiving the message. It is
up to the sender to do the adapting (see I Cor.
9: 22).
[42] Regardless of the issues
surrounding encoding and decoding, the word must
still be prominent. To borrow Brummett's idea
we should ask what is the inherent logic of the
medium and how might that effect the message
production and reception? The
pressure to be aurally pleasing and doctrinally
sound is immense. Fischer (1992) observed
that Christian musicians often feel the pressure
of trying to be as musically proficient as their
secular counterparts while being more spiritually
insightful than the local pastor. The balance,
though difficult, is a must. Image still must
be interpreted. Ong (1970) argued that image
is subject to more corruption in translation
than word. Given the sects, heresy and simple
denominational variety that have come from interpreting
the word, this is a sobering thought indeed!
[43] With success comes
imitation. It will
be important for Christians and other deeply religious
people to have an intelligent and media-literate
response to future productions. For instance,
what does one do in response to products such as Angels
in the Outfield, Touched by an Angel, Buffy
the Vampire Slayer, or The Preacher’s
Wife, to name but a few that could point people
in the direction of more complete, more mature theology
without appearing out of touch and "an old
stick in the mud?" Gordinier (1994) writing
for Entertainment Weekly noted:
In a year when the TV airwaves are aflutter with
winged spirits, the best-seller lists are clogged
with divine manuscripts and visions of the afterlife,
and gangsta rappers are elbowed aside on the
pop charts for the hushed prayers of Benedictine
monks, you don't have to look hard to find that
pop culture is going gaga for spirituality (36).
He goes on to identify dozens
of artifacts from major motion pictures, to rap
and rock lyrics that explore spirituality. The
issues highlighted by Babin, Brummett and others
may be central in helping to understand how versions
of spirituality offered by pop culture are being
shaped by the media and the larger cultural framework.
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