Romanowski, William D. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press. 2001. 171 pp. $12.99 USD. ISBN: 1587430096.

[1] William Romanowski uses examples from television, film, and music to clarify what a Christian media message might look like and what it could mean to engage the media as a Christian critic. These possibilities are articulated across ten chapters and two appendices that introduce readers to a Christian worldview, the scope of popular media, and the potential benefits of bringing the two together in thoughtful and constructive critiques of culture. Readers already familiar with the development of popular culture studies might find chapters four and five a bit redundant, as this is where Romanowski discusses the high-low culture split and argues that there is value to be found in popular cultural messages. Ultimately the book is a worthwhile endeavor.

[2] The title of chapter one, "Christians Who Drink Beer," encapsulates Romanowski's view that it is impossible to give essential definitions of Christian audiences. He notes that with few exceptions it is not possible for Christians to live outside the reach of popular culture and besides, he posits, the vast majority of audiences identifying themselves as Christian are spending considerably less time interacting with Christian media than they are with popular culture. Romanowski urges readers to define themselves as an audience by forming and engaging in interpretive communities with friends, colleagues, clergy, educators, and critics who share a common worldview. Arguing from Genesis 1:28 ("Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it"), Romanowski asserts that actively engaging in cultural creation and criticism is established by Scripture.

[3] Romanowski holds that popular culture texts - whether in songs, television, or film - come to have meaning through our working engagement with them. As a consequence he urges readers to reject hypodermic needle metaphors that imagine the media as a secularizing or indoctrinating force. Romanowski similarly rejects criticism that seeks to dichotomize the world into the profane and the secular. He cleverly parallels this rhetorical move with polarizing the principles of good and evil and high and low culture. Romanowski argues that such facile distinctions not only weaken the Christian position but also miss the function of criticism to redeem and recuperate the meanings of cultural texts. In doing this he is establishing that the media need not always be suitable for children and families in order to be relevant to a Christian critic. Nor should it be expected to contain the appropriate number of JPMs ("Jesuses per Minute"), the criterion by which Christian music is often scrutinized (139). He instead asserts:

We need popular art to ... open our eyes to injustice, express our emotions, show us the humor in situations, depict the grief, hardships, and struggles of everyday life, and help us understand the calm of forgiveness and the meaning of redemption (81).

It is not an acceptable position to dismiss popular culture outright because it is violent, sexual, or materialistic in content. The conscientious critic needs a worldview that allows for the way that culture is and encompasses a view of how the culture could or ought to be if one adheres to particular faith principles. One's worldview, Romanowski notes, should be creative and discerning as it is applied to understanding the popular.

[4] In the conclusion, Romanowski offers a three-level method for reading a popular text on the basis of subject, content, and evaluation. Working within this method, he offers an ample matrix of questions in Appendix One that readers can use to guide their readings. Questions are grouped under headings - including sexuality, violence, redemption, aesthetic, and perception - to allow readers to select subject areas appropriate to their text. The matrix is thorough, but one weakness of the book is that Romanowski does not spend more time elaborating this method and matrix, making it a more central focus in the book. Placing the model and matrix at the end positions the work of criticism as an afterthought, especially for readers who may not venture past the conclusion. This seems to conflict with Romanowski's assertion that actively working through culture should be the readers' goal. Appendix one also directs readers to the book's website (www.brazospress.comeyeswideopen/), which provides chapter outlines, resources, and activities for teachers and students, and helps the general reader who may be seeking ways to introduce this material to friends and family.

[5] Appendix Two offers an example of the type of Christian criticism that Romanowski advocates, using the film Titanic. Despite being a thoughtful critique that illustrates many of Romanowski's points, this appendix is problematic for two reasons. First, by the time of publication, Titanic was already four years old. Second, it isn't entirely clear why Romanowski chooses Titanic as his model, since, throughout the book, he teases readers with thumbnail critiques of The End of the Affair and American Beauty that seem to be much richer interpretive turf. They connect with the themes of sexuality, infidelity, drug use, violence, family, and faith, themes from which Romanowski urges critics not to shy away. It would have been more relevant to have the second appendix expand upon one of these two other films, since they receive brief but intriguing treatments in the body of the book.

[6] This book has several potential audiences. The first is an audience of Christians who question either the sanctity or the purpose of looking for the profane within the popular. The second is the educated reader with interests in popular media and a working understanding of Christianity. Ultimately this book could be of greatest interest to teachers of undergraduate courses in media and rhetorical criticisms, in particular because Romanowski urges them to take up his challenge and become active cultural consumers, interpreters, and critics.

Gordon Alley-Young, Department of Speech Communication, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois
(GordYng@aol.com)