Page 234 - Religion in the Media Age Media, Religion & Culture

Representing outcomes 223

provide an opportunity for an alternative identification for young people
who, like her, identify themselves with Evangelical or “born-again” faith.

Interviewer: Ah, OK. Do you see any connection between your being a fan
of DC Talk and religion or anything like that, spiritually?
Uta: Well, DC Talk is a Christian Group. And, I really don’t listen to
anything other than Christian (music) because everything else is so
stupid. Like N’Sync, the Backstreet Boys. I’m really not into them.
Interviewer: What’s stupid about them?
Uta: It’s just their songs are pointless. And the Christian songs have an
actual meaning. They have a message for you. That God’s with you
wherever you are.

Uta illustrates how the use of media for self-description works. On one
level, she makes a clear distinction between “Christian” and “Not
Christian” media, and places DC Talk and the “secular” groups in their
proper places on that map. This also, at the same time, places her, by defi-
nition. She is a person who makes such distinctions, and who finds within
the former music a real “message,” the Christian message. Again, it is
important to see that the importance of this genre of music can lie, for Uta,
both in its intrinsic qualities and in her ability to describe herself as
someone who prefers it.
Priscilla Castello, who we identified as a “metaphysical believer and
seeker” in the last chapter, lives with her husband Butch and two children
in the suburbs of a major city. The Castellos have lived in Japan for
extended periods, and are interested in Buddhism and other Asian religions,
which they encounter in a classic “seeker” mode, selecting and combining a
number of traditions in their home and in their family spiritual practice. It
is not surprising, then, that Priscilla is able to identify a wide range of quite
disparate sources and kinds of religiously or spiritually significant media.

Interviewer: Do you think there is anything in the media that is actually
helpful for your spirituality?
Priscilla: There is the Nexus magazine. So, I guess there are publications
that do help with that.
Interviewer: So, mostly for you it seems like the media of choice for spiri-
tuality is print and when we talk about screen media, like television,
you are less inclined to find spiritual growth and inspiration there.
Priscilla: Right. Unless it is public TV. I know PBS does interesting things.
There is something on Tibet coming up in a couple of days. And Butch
is the one who checks it out. I don’t know what is on ever. But some-
times he will be watching and something will look interesting and I
will watch, about people or. So, I do see how it is possible. I’m sure if
we had cable there must be cable stations.