Response to Jessica's "The Cult of Gaga"

Here is a link to Jessica's post "The Cult of Gaga": http://let-your-lightshine.blogspot.com/2012/01/v-behaviorurldefaultvmlo.html 

Jessica, I could not agree more with what it is that you had to say about there being a popular culture phenomenon that ends up acting as a huge icon to many, many people. Madonna, Britney and now Lady Gaga have all acted (or continue to act) as some sort of beacon that fans flock toward, downloading all of their songs, attending as many concerts as possible, and purchasing merchandise from these concerts to have a shirt with their idols name on it.

 

In no way at all am I exempt from these activities, as I myself have a fair share of Backstreet Boys and Kelly Clarkson shirts and CDs. So along with Lady Gaga, who at this moment in time seems to be taking the lead, I believe that all celebrities, or any element of popular culture, can serve some sort of religious function in society. All this does, is as you said, creates cults within society that people identify themselves with as a member of Lady Gaga’s little monsters, or how can we forget Justin Bieber “Beliebers”.

I do believe that it is something to think about in terms of how impressionable adolescents are. They see Lady Gaga and her music videos. Many want to dress like her and be like her, without really listening and being aware of what she is saying. For example, Backstreet Boys seem harmless enough, but when you listen to their songs as a 20 year old, you realize how sexually loaded the content is. This seems like nothing, however, when compared to the extremely in your face dress and lyrics of lady Gaga.

 
As was mentioned in class, yes Lady Gaga does identify herself as a Catholic and her beliefs in stopping bullying and right for everyone to be himself or herself are founded in good morals. But the fact of the matter remains that this is not the side that adolescents see when they watch her in concert or in a music video. They see very sexually charged performances, and as children are constantly surrounded by media and popular culture, it is sad to say that much of their information comes from these sources of popular culture.

I found this video to be very interesting!: 

Friends episode calling on God

Why God Why?!

This week in class we discussed the four approaches to popular culture and religion, and the way in which the two intersect. As a huge fan of “Friends” I could not help myself but to think of one episode in particular. The episode is where Rachel Green, one of the main characters, turns 30 years old.

At her birthday party they show flash backs from previous birthdays of other members of the gang, and one of them is Joey Tribbiani’s thirtieth birthday. In the relatively short clip from his birthday, Joey says “Why God why? We had a deal, let the others grow old not me!” Then a second clip is shown from Chandler’s birthday, again with him saying “And now Chandler, we’re all getting so old! Why are you doing this to us?!”  

This episode of Friends, while hilarious, made me think of one of the approaches that was discussed in class and in readings by Gordon Lynch. One of the things that he mentions is the way in which religion or believers are presented in popular culture. By studying this, it makes it easier to become aware of what type of biases or assumptions may be present about a particular group of believers. I could not help but notice that the relationship that Joey, a Catholic, has with God depicts a stereotype of Catholics.

Joey, although calling to God for a fairly trivial matter, is still calling on Him in a time of need. I think that many people have an assumption that this is in fact how many people of faith are today. That is not to say that it is wrong to call on God in times of need. I personally found this relationship to be depicted in a humorous way, as many people would probably be able to relate to a similar scenario. So, in accordance to Lynch, this is but one of the many ways in which Christianity is portrayed in popular culture.

 

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog everyone! Here I will be posting my own thoughts and findings on Christianity's encounter and presence in popular culture. Feel free to comment! :)