Page 82 - Aesthetic Formations Media, religion, and the Sense

Purity and the Devil 67

Another possibility to experience purification on television is provided
through montage. In relation to newspaper formats I have demonstrated
how images and narratives of urban violence are followed by the voice and
image of authoritative bispos, who assert that such violence can only be
demonic and thus only fought by the Holy Spirit (Oosterbaan 2005). By
17
means of montage, different images or signs are juxtaposed in order to
confirm the power of the Lord to purify the world from malevolent forces.
In the television program Ponto de Luz broadcast on TV Record, the
Igreja Universal also uses such a technique by juxtaposing images and tes-
timonies under the auspices of bispos and pastors. In the program people
testify that they have been possessed by demons and therefore lived in
misery and pain until they started attending the Igreja Universal.
Frequently the hosts—mostly bispos—ask details about the actual prac-
tices that people had to perform when they belonged to such a possession
cult and the guests explain in vivid detail what they have done. On some
occasions, they also show representations of the kind of practices and
offerings that people have made. In one broadcast, for example, a pastor
ventured out to a cemetery in the city of Rio de Janeiro with an ex-mãe de
Santo (ex-Candomblé priestess) to show the beheaded body of a goat, used
for a “powerful ritual,” as the woman explained. In similar vein, the pro-
gram Cidade Alerta (Alert City)—an infotainment program that brings
live and recorded news of crime and violence and accidents—images of
police interventions and armed encounters in favelas are often followed by
a word from a bispo of the Igreja Universal, who responds to these violent
images with an oração (prayer) in which he asks God to bless the people
and protect them from harm. These are two examples of the technique of
montage, which, through its mode of address, offers its spectators a posi-
tion from which to perceive their daily environment as a site of struggle
between forces of good and evil. Especially in the last case, the cityscape
is quite literally portrayed as a space of malice, waiting for the purifying
powers of the Lord. 18

Conclusion: Incorporations and
Transgressions

The last examples of montage reveal an important aspect of current devel-
opments. In the attempt to attract an audience and spread the gospel effi-
ciently, many evangelical churches incorporate images, styles, and
narratives that can be considered “worldly.” The Igreja Universal publishes
its own glossy magazines and its own newspapers. It contracts rock-gospel