Reflection 1. Popular Culture and the Arab Spring

by Laura Green

Listening to the lecture for week 5, I found the clip from Robin Wright speaking about the Arab Spring and the popular culture influences in the various Middle Eastern uprisings very interesting. I had not previously considered how things such as hip-hop could have influenced these uprisings. Wrights idea that the revolutions that occurred in places like Egypt and Tunisia were closely linked with cultural revolutions occurring in the youth of these cultures was enlightening and to some extent explained why the uprisings occurred when they did. 

It was also an enlightening video for the whole purpose of this course as it really showed how religion can be so intrinsic and influential in popular culture. Previously, I had accepted that religion is obviously evident and relevant to popular culture. However, Wright highlights that things like rap music are actually used to progress the Cultural Revolution in Middle-Eastern countries as they promote Islam as their religion and part of their culture but not as a tool that can be used by extremist groups and dictators.

However, at the end of the video Wright mentioned the great struggle this cultural revolution has ahead of it, in the face of powerful extremist groups. Now, in 2013, we can see she was right. In many of the countries where uprisings occurred, they are now forming constitutions that seem more representative of extremist Islam. This is the case in Egypt where Mohammed Morsi has become President and women’s rights seem to be crumbling away (McVeigh, 2013). Obviously the youth sub-cultures, in places like Egypt, have a long road ahead of them before their goals are realised, yet, I am sure that popular culture will play a pivotal role in this struggle.

References

Tracy McVeigh, ‘How Egypt’s Radical Rulers Crush the Lives and Hopes of Women,’ The Guardian 30 March 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/31/egypt-cairo-women-rights-revolution

The Culture Industry - Readings Week 5

Laura Green

Adorno and Horkheimer, famously argued for the commercialization of culture in capitalist societies and suggested that the emerged form of popular culture subdued society into passivity and manipulated the masses to capitalist goals. Although, their argument was quite strongly against this transformation of culture, it is a very interesting phenomenon, one that has significantly impacted upon religion in our society.

We can see this through assessing the religious displays made by popular celebrities, such as Justin Bieber. There have been various examples of him expressing his Christian faith publically, such as getting a tattoo of Jesus on his calf (IMBd, 27 February 2013). Bieber is probably one of the most popular artists of today, clearly his music is produced for commercial and financial success, but his popularity gives him great influence over his fans. Adorno and Horkheimer would suggest Bieber’s open promotion of his religion is another example of popular culture creating false psychological needs within the general public, in this case for religion, and basically telling us what to do. However, this is probably an overly pessimistic view of the trend of religion in popular culture. At the most basic level, I think it shows that our society, with all its flaws, is quite liberal and allows these types of religious expressions freely, which is nothing to be pessimistic about. However, I can see why some would argue that religion being involved with commercial enterprise in this way degrades the meaning of that religion. Yet, this can also be seen as the continuation of the spread of religious ideas that has taken place throughout time. Religious leaders were prominent members of society 500 years ago and influenced the way the general public viewed religion; pop culture icons are doing much the same thing today.  

                           http://theotherjournal.com/amishjihadi/files/2012/01/justin-bieber-jesus-tattoo1.jpg

References

Adorno T & M Horkheimer. 1973. 'Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception', in The Dialectics of Enlightenment, trans. J. Cumming. Verso, London.

IMBd, ‘Justin Beiber Adds Another Religious Tattoo’, 27 February 2013.http://www.imdb.com/news/ni47954960/). 

Cinematic Christ Figures

Laura Green

Week 4 Reading: Reflections on the Uncritical Appropriation of Cinematic Christ-Figures: Holy Other or Wholly Inadequate

Christopher Deacy discusses the recent trend in studies in religion and popular culture to study modern films and their supposed representations of Christ figures, with particular reference to Anton Karl Kozlovic’s research into this topic. I found Deacy’s argument that much more careful analytical skills should be applied to modern films when searching for a Christ figure, quite intriguing. He mentioned that many studies are conducted which seem to promote the existence of a Christ narrative in certain popular films when there is in fact no real evidence of one. This would be a danger in any theoretical study of film, and I do agree with his theory that there may be Christ figures apparent in some films, but these need to be critically analysed to ascertain their significance. I would think that there are Christ figures and religious themes and motifs evident in quite a few modern films and this, as Deacy suggests, shows that religion has not declined so significantly in the modern era as was predicted through the enlightenment. These themes may have been incorporated, I believe, without the director’s conscious knowledge, which suggests that in Western society we are still enculturated by certain religious ideals and so we fashion heroes after the Christ figure subconsciously as we have been taught to see him as the ultimate. 

References:

Deacy C. 2006. Reflections on the Uncritical Appropriation of Cinematic Christ-Figures: Holy Other or Wholly Inadequate? Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, 13, Summer.

Week 3 Readings, Religion and Popular Culture

by Laura Green

Morgan gives an in depth study of the relationship between religion and popular culture in his chapter “studying religion and popular culture,” and how this relationship has come to be studied in serious academia. He begins with an interesting overview of the formation of popular culture, particularly in regards to American experience.

In America there was once a great divide between what was considered high culture and what was considered popular. Morgan illustrates this through the world of art. Before the 1960s artists often looked down upon art that was popular with the general public, believing it to be visually unchallenging, they asserted that good art had to be difficult and demanding for the viewer. However, Morgan claims that overtime this view of popular culture as irrelevant has eroded and recently there has been a surge in scholastic interest in studying popular culture and its place in the modern world.

Morgan believes that the study of religion in conjuncture with popular culture blurs the lines between different disciplines in the academic world. This can be challenging for the scholar of popular religious culture, as they are constantly the outsiders to prevailing norms of academic research. Yet, Morgan believes this challenge is necessary in order to truly understand modern religious practice. The mediums of popular culture are the means by which many people construct their view of community and themselves and so ignoring these mediums also ignores an important aspect of modern religiosity.

Many scholars, like Morgan, now appreciate the importance of studying popular culture in regards to modern religious practice. However, when reading James Elkin’s blog on “bridging the gap between Modern art and religion,” it appears that some aspects of religion are considered irrelevant to modern art. Elkin suggests that artwork that incorporates and celebrates religious themes and motifs is rarely displayed in prominent art galleries; yet, works that are critical of religion are much more often displayed. Elkin believes that this is due to misunderstandings between different types of scholars, those who value religious culture and those who value the secularity of modern society. He believes this misunderstanding is highly detrimental to art education. Yet, it is also detrimental to the type of study conducted by Morgan into the relationship between religion and popular culture, as the religious aspect of popular culture is sometimes sidelined.

References:

Elkin J. 2007. Bridging the gap between modern art and religion. ArtStyle Blog, Nov 30, http://www.chicagoarts-lifestyle.com/cac-perspectives-can-modern-art-and-religion-get-along/#more-660

Morgan, D. 2007. Studying religion and pop culture. In G. Lynch, Ed., Between Sacred and Profane: Researching Religion and Popular Culture. London & New York: I.B. Taurus & Co.