Page 182 - Religion in the Media Age Media, Religion & Culture

Born-agains and mainstream believers 171

Jill was raised in a Baptist church, but at age 16 her mother began
taking the family to a Lutheran church and the family has been Lutheran
ever since. Jill and the girls attend regularly, usually with Jill’s mother, who
lives nearby. Church is thus an important point of family identification for
them, and the family tradition is one of the major reasons for their loyalty
to it. The girls attend youth programs at the church regularly, and Laura is
in confirmation class there. Laura sings in the youth choir at church and
Jill sings in the adult choir. Church is also the major social involvement for
the family. Laura has participated in fund raisers at the church, and is
presently working on a summer trip that the youth group will make to
Washington, DC.
Media are pretty important in the Allen household. They own three
television sets, a large one in an entertainment center in the living room,
and one in each of the girls’ rooms. However, those are primarily for
playing video games. The living room set is the common set where they
view together. They subscribe to a satellite television service that brings in
120 channels of television. Jill objects to the preponderance of sports on
the service, but they like being able to watch a variety of channels, and do
subscribe to one cable movie channel. “I can’t afford more than that,” Jill
says. The Allens do not regularly tape programs to watch later and do not
maintain a library of videotapes. Music is also not a major medium for
them. Television is much more important.
For them, it seems, television is something they share. During the inter-
view, they all participate in the conversation about television choices and
viewing. Unlike many other parents, who seemingly speak from a position
of oversight over the children’s viewing habits, Jill participates more
directly in describing her and her daughters’ television tastes and behaviors
as a sort of common family practice. Their favorite channels seem to be
those carrying re-runs of older and classic programs. For instance, they
have had a family ritual of watching re-runs of the classic I Love Lucy on
one of those channels, and talk about it with some interest and excitement.

Interviewer: You two watch a lot of I Love Lucy [to the kids], do you
watch that with them [to Jill]?
Jill: Oh yeah.
Interviewer: When is it on?
Laura: It’s on Monday nights all night and so we watch it Monday night.
Interviewer: All night?
Laura: Until 11 o’clock.
Interviewer: When does it start?
Laura: Seven.
Interviewer: What do you like about the show? I think this is the 50-year
anniversary of the first airing of the show.
Jill: Lucy just cracks me up. She always makes us laugh.