TV
At church yesterday, the pastor spoke briefly of the name Barnabas which, he pointed out, means "Son of Encouragement." Last night, on ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the gang fixed up the home of this family that runs Camp Barnabas for children with disabilities. The family had, for the past decade, given their all for the hundreds of children who pass through the camp each year. A remarkable story really, and remarkable people. They went without making repairs to their home in order to accomodate even more children at the camp. One imagines that they could have been well off materially had they put themselves first, but they didn't. Inspiring.
After spending two hours with this family and the crew that was trying (and suceeding, I'd say) to give them a great home to live in, Desparate Housewives came on and I simply did not have the stomach for it. The contrast was too stark, the gulf between the petty (NOT pretty, petty) housewives and the selfless and profound family running Camp Barnabas was simply too great for me to cross over.
Don't get me wrong. Desperate Housewives is a well written show with a good cast hard at work. It's just...
After spending two hours with this family and the crew that was trying (and suceeding, I'd say) to give them a great home to live in, Desparate Housewives came on and I simply did not have the stomach for it. The contrast was too stark, the gulf between the petty (NOT pretty, petty) housewives and the selfless and profound family running Camp Barnabas was simply too great for me to cross over.
Don't get me wrong. Desperate Housewives is a well written show with a good cast hard at work. It's just...
posted by Steven at 11:40 PM
2 Comments:
Steven, I couldn't agree more. I liked your comment that "Desperate Housewives" is well-written and well-acted yet seems so empty when compared with real life doings of people seeking to live a Christian life.
Indeed, the "housewives" are desperate for meaning in their lives--the various storylines prove that. How many real people out there are in the same situation? Desperately seeking.....something.
Now that would be a twist on the show -- have someone take a religious proposition (any religious proposition really) seriously.
How about that? I mean generally it has been thought that one should not speak of religion and politics in polite conversation. But there is a TV drama (West Wing) that takes politcal matters seriously. Why isn't there something similar for religious matters? (Actually, there might be and I just don't know about it.)
I'll place blame: Christians have, for many years, been warned about the Babylon that is (supposedly) the entertainment industry. Our creative energies have gone elsewhere, and we've left the extraordinary power of Hollywood in the hands of others. Not that those others have done anything wrong (some have, some haven't), but by and large, Christians have not done anything right in the field. We've stayed out of it altogether except to complain.
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