Ever wondered how religion factors into the media? Jenna Ekdahl-- a Penn State senior majoring in journalism and religious studies-- gives her opinion on the issue. Jenna organized a "Religion and the Media" seminar at the Pasquerilla Center this semester.
I agree that the media tends to only focus on extremes. One example that comes to my mind immediately is a character from the abc family show Greek. Dale, the roommate of the star of the show, is a portrayed as an extreme evangelical Christian. He's constantly telling Rusty and the other people around him of their sinfulness and trying to force Christianity on them. He's socially awkward and spends a lot of time in alone in their room listening to "Jesus music." When people see in the media are these extreme, often inaccurate portrayals of people of certain religions, they are likely to use them as a frame of reference when they meet someone who is of a religion they have had little exposure to. These media portrayls are unfair and may hinder the development of relationships between people of different faiths.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment!
ReplyDeleteDale is a great example. I like that you chose to talk about an "extreme" Christian character that producers have chosen to exaggerate on a TV show, because what usually comes to my mind when I think of extremes in the media is news coverage of religious happenings.
It's beneficial to point out that our entertainment sources are also susceptible to these extremes and can take religious stereotypes too far, especially when the majority of people from the same religion probably don't act as radically as the television characters. Hopefully most people will take the time to meet and appreciate people and their religions on a person-by-person basis, instead of letting one character stand as the representation of the whole.
Great points!