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Born-agains and mainstream believers 155

Children. But, as with the reality genre, not liking or not approving of
something does not necessarily mean that it is not watched.

Interviewer: Are there TV shows that anybody doesn’t like?
Lynn: What’s that marriage family show?
Jay: Married with Children?
Lynn: Yeah, you like that one.
Jay: I’ll turn it on, ’cause maybe I want to watch the news that day. We
only really get two or three channels on this TV, so I’m limited to what
I can watch.
Interviewer: Are there shows . . . let’s not call you the biggest fan of
Married with Children, but okay, you can watch it. Are there things
that one person likes that other people just don’t? I mean do you not
like Married with Children?
Lynn: I don’t like it.
Interviewer: How come?
Lynn: Some of the things . . . it doesn’t set a very good example in some
areas.
Interviewer: What areas?
Jay: Respect for each other. They’re always chopping each other down.
Lynn: They just . . . I don’t know. It just doesn’t set a very good example I
guess. I’m not saying that it’s wrong or anything. . . .

So what explains Jay’s viewing of this program? It is on near a news
program he wants to watch. But, more important than that as an explana-
tion is the simple fact of television’s attraction per se. To Jay, the fact that
they cannot receive more than two channels justifies their viewing choices.
Television viewing is simply assumed; the specific programs or content are
less important. Beyond that, what he or they end up watching as a result
seems to be almost a matter of expectation, or right. When Lynn observes
that Married with Children might not set the best example, and Jay agrees,
she does draw back from full condemnation of the program, stating “I’m
not saying that it’s wrong or anything.”
There are some programs that Jay and Lynn do intentionally watch.
“There are some shows that I try never to miss,” Jay says. When asked
which ones, he answers, “I’m a big Star Trek fan” and then adds that they
also watch X-Files regularly. It turns out that the whole family watches X-
Files, including Laura, the youngest. It is a bit of an uncomfortable
pleasure for them, though. Lynn reveals with some seeming discomfort
that Laura had “told her Dad in California that she watches it.”

Jay: You’re watching it because you’re interested in it and all of a sudden
something will come on and you’ll go, “Oh, maybe I shouldn’t have
let the kids see that.”