Page 180 - Religion in the Media Age Media, Religion & Culture

Born-agains and mainstream believers 169

resisted going online out of a generalized sense that it would only be a
waste of time for the kids, deciding in the end that its value as an informa-
tion source justified this decision. The children keep current on MTV
programs, and the family reports regular viewing of two programs, Home
Improvement when it was on, and, subsequent to that, the domestic situa-
tion program about a clergy family, Seventh Heaven. Asked which
programs they regularly watch as a family, Laura identifies Seventh
Heaven, and a discussion of its value ensues.

Interviewer: You described that as a really neat show earlier. What do you
like about that show?
Ryan: Uh, I don’t know.
Laura: It’s realistic. (Both girls say, “Yeah.”) It’s not too goody-goody. It’s
a nice family show, but it’s realistic for the times, with the things they
look at – drugs and sex, but they handle it nicely.
Dan: And I think the kids can relate to probably each one of the charac-
ters.
Laura: There’s somebody their age....
Dan: Kind of their age that they can identify with.

Interestingly, the implicit religiosity of the program does not appear to be a
major value for the Boswell family. They do not readily connect their faith
and beliefs with media in other areas, and its absence here is interesting
(though not unusual – many of our families who do view Seventh Heaven
identify it much more readily as a model family drama than they do as the
story of a clergy family). As with our born-again believers earlier, and
Evangelicals more generally, the notion that this program is merely inof-
fensive is an important value, along with the idea that it somehow models
positive family relations.
The picture the Boswells paint of their media viewing is unremarkable.
Their accounts of media connect with their professed viewing choices and
their ability to plan and program their media diets through their video
library (and to an extent through their Internet access) seems to be impor-
tant to them. However, as with many other households, that is not all
there is to the story. When the Interviewer asks if they have rules
governing media viewing, a discussion ensues that reveals a very similar
situation to that encountered in some of the other households.

Interviewer: Do you have any policies about media use in your house,
policies or rules?
Ryan: Umm....
Catherine: We can’t watch talk shows.
Ryan: What’s talk shows? Oh, yeah. Jerry Springer.
Laura: I mean, Oprah would be OK, but some of those. . . .