Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture

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ISBN-10:: 1587432013
ISBN-13:: 9781587432019
Pub. Date:: 02/01/2007
Publisher:: Baker Publishing Group

ISBN-10:: 1587432013
ISBN-13:: 9781587432019
Pub. Date:: 02/01/2007
Publisher:: Baker Publishing Group

Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture

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Overview

Grounded in Christian principles, this accessible and engaging book offers an informed and fascinating approach to popular culture. William D. Romanowski provides affectionate yet astute analysis of familiar, well-loved movies and television characters from Indiana Jones to Homer Simpson, and he speaks with historical depth and expertise on films from Casablanca to Crash and music from Bruce Springsteen to U2.

Romanowski's confessional approach affirms a role for popular culture in faithful living. Practical, analytical approaches to content, meaning, and artistic style offer the tools to participate responsibly and imaginatively in popular cultural activities. An engaging read, this new edition introduces students and thoughtful readers to popular culture—one of the most influential forces in contemporary society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781587432019
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/01/2007
Edition description:	Revised and Expanded Edition
Pages:	270
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

William D. Romanowski (PhD, Bowling Green State University) is professor of communication arts and sciences at Calvin College and is a widely respected speaker on subjects dealing with American culture and the entertainment industry. He is the author of Reforming Hollywood and Pop Culture Wars: Religion and the Role of Entertainment in American Life, and coauthor of Risky Business: Rock in Film.

Preface to the Revised and Expanded Edition     9
Introduction     13
Part 1
State of the Art: Worldly Amusements No More     27
The Smoke Goes Upwards: Faith and Culture     43
Terms of the Trade: Studying Popular Art and Culture     57
Part 2
Close Encounters of the High, Low, and Divine Kind: Reimagining the Popular Arts     75
Mapping Reality: Popular Art and Culture     89
Measuring Christian Distinction: Moral, Ideological, and Theological Approaches     105
Popular Art as Art: Marking the Aesthetic     125
Part 3
Cultural Landscape: Toward a Christian Framework     141
The American Melodramatic Way: Individualism, Religion, and Materialism     163
The Message in the Bottle: Love, Sex, and Gender Stereotypes     185
A History of Violence: Charting the Terrain     207
Conclusion     223
A Matrix for Analysis     231
Relevant Readings     237
Notes     243
Index     263

Editorial Reviews

Calvin College professor Romanowski writes for the millions of "Christians who drink beer" those who, in tension with evangelical mores, partake of the fruits of popular culture, from Titanic to Bruce Springsteen to ER. His scope is ambitious, including a theologically informed chapter on the nature of culture itself, to treatment of sex, violence and materialism, to a thoughtful exposition of the story structure of the typical Hollywood film. Though he wants to reach a broad audience, readers new to the subject may be put off by Romanowski's sometimes ponderous and often didactic prose, and they will not be helped to explore the subject further by his reliance on numerous unnamed "scholars" and "theorists" who are quoted without accompanying footnotes or bibliography. As the phrase "Christians who drink beer" illustrates, the book is also marred by its tendency to use the word "Christian" to refer to a particular subset of North American Christianity. The focus on big-grossing films and acts sometimes limits Romanowski's obviously fertile mind: a concluding appendix on the movie Titanic has something of the flavor of a college term paper. Still, this book will be an encouragement to evangelicals looking for an alternative to moralistic criticism of popular culture. (May) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture

Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture

Paperback - Buy New

Temporarily Out of Stock Online

Temporarily Out of Stock Online

Overview

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About the Author

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