Page 135 - Religion in the Media Age Media, Religion & Culture

124 Reception of religion and media

Interviewer: So. . . .
Bonnie: It was bad comment about God. And you know (almost whis-
pering), it’s a really funny cartoon. I mean, a funny, funny cartoon. I
can’t watch (it) because they insulted God.
Interviewer: Ok. Any TV show or movie that you see that you think is
insulting God, that would be something you would. . . .
Bonnie: Insulting God, or me personally as a woman ahh. . . .
Interviewer: You probably get both those things on South Park.
Dale: Oh yeah. Geez . . . (laughing)
Bonnie: And it’s too bad because it’s a really funny cartoon. But I can’t
compromise my faith.
Interviewer: Do you think there are any kinds of movies or shows that
shouldn’t be allowed to air at all?
Bonnie: No because that’s censorship. You can’t have censorship.
Interviewer: So. No matter what the content. . . .
Bonnie: Well, I have that choice. God gave me the choice of either going
down this path in life or that path in life and I chose this one. And
since we do live in America – which was founded on Christian
beliefs – there’s the freedom of speech and religion and thought.
And God did give us a free will. So, no I don’t believe in censorship
at all. I just choose not to watch what I don’t believe is ethically
correct.

One gets the impression that Bonnie is both more attracted to, and more
familiar with, South Park than she would like to reveal. Whether or not
she watches it, it is clear that she sees a line somewhere between the
program and her beliefs. That a program like South Park can attract
someone like Bonnie (a conservative Christian) is a testament to the
cultural power and salience of that program. Like the experience her chil-
dren are having – of the presence and ubiquity of the media as cultural
resources – Bonnie finds herself living on a map where she must negotiate
her beliefs in relation to media.
Lest we think that it is only media about which people are somewhat
fuzzy in recalling and describing their own behaviors, Bonnie and Dale
seem also to be a bit vague about their daily religious practice. In the
context of their religiosity, they describe themselves as watching one or
more televangelists regularly. “Aside from Bible reading, that is it,” says
Dale, referring to their day-to-day piety. Later, the Interviewer returns to
this topic.
Interviewer: And you said spirituality is important too?
Bonnie: Yeah, very important.
Interviewer: So, going to church, what else would you say sort of
embodies that . . . Bible (reading)?