Sex (And The City).
Do you think our culture might be fascinated by sex (or, in some cases, “Sex”)?
The much touted “Sex and the City” debuted this weekend to the tune of a cool $55.7 million. It was also the largest debut ever for a feature comedy film with a female lead (Sarah Jessica Parker) and it had the best debut ever for an R-rated comedy. Needless to say, more people went to go see this movie – women and men – then were forecasted to go.
I go back and forth on this, as a studier of cultural patterns as well as a pastor. The thought that lingers in my mind is this: “does culture influence and therefore reflect entertainment or does entertainment dictate our cultural patterns as a society?” Simply put, do those in the entertainment industry tell us as consumers what do to or do they simply translate what is going on in the culture already?
I have my suspicions. I watched an interview with Cynthia Nixon (“Miranda Hobbes” on “Sex and the City”) on the Today Show in which she plainly stated to her interviewer, “our show is not reality.” She went on to describe how she frequently “runs into” people on the streets of New York who stop her to tell her they’ve moved to New York because of the show. “I have these people from… like… Iowa [author's note: she really did mention Iowa] who stop me and say ‘I just love the show – I want my life to look like yours!’” She quipped.
Later in the interview, she went on to mention how she was nothing like her character on the show and that an “exciting night” for her involved Ben & Jerry’s on the couch, watching a movie and petting her cat. This, as it were, seems to be a far cry from the character she portrays on the show.
Where does reality begin and fantasy end? Where is the truth to be found in all of this? How do you speak to a culture that so badly desires for “SATC” (a popular acronym to describe the show, I’ve heard) to be reality when one of the main characters starkly states, “this show is not real.”
Furthermore, where and how does God play into all of this? Is “SATC” able to be enjoyed without transferring something spiritually into our in-most being? Without dictating some sort of message to our spirits? Did you see the movie? What do you think?
In my telecommunications classes about the media, we talk about this a lot (sans mention of God), and all my professors and classmates came to the conclusion that culture influences media and media influences culture almost equally. Just a side note.
I have not seen the movie, nor am I planing on seeing it, but I think that the answer to your question about God playing into all of ‘this,’ is in a way, answered by your quote from Martin Luther. I think I remember some past blog entries about the relevance of the Gospel, and I think that that plays a big part in everything, but as you know, there is a fine line between actually being appealing and relevant and being cheesy with ‘hip’ lingo and the like. I digress.
Thanks for stepping out of culture to look at it critically; I strongly believe that if more people did that, there would be a lot less ‘trash’ saturating media today and entertainment might become meaningful.
God Bless.