From Matthew (not Anderson :D ), Jesus offered:
And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Yes (and I know this is reading what was not necessarily meant by his statement) but perhaps the good fun, pleasure, or joy might be found in popular culture might be weighed as if through the eyes of a child. That is to say a distinction might be made between the childlike joy and appreciation of things and the other things which adults seek in popular entertainment.
That is to say, following the (other) Matthew, that if you enjoy Brett Favre as a child might that is one thing. If you enjoy watching the NFL as a blood and circuses gladitotorial match revelling in the violence and risk more then the athletic ballet … that might be another thing.
Yet, this still is missing something. Hitchcock in the 50s and 60s was a B-movie director. His films were “not art” in the critical view. Yet they moved to that over time, and today his work is accepted as art-house fare. Art as Beauty (with the cap-B) can be found in popular culture and all Art cannot be viewed “as a child” to be understood or appreciated. So perhaps the question of how to view popular culture needs to be raised to how to view Art itself and then look back at the popular culture and if Art can be found in their art.
October 20th, 2009 | 4:50 pm | #1
A child would view Favre well . . . but a real man would see him better. He would glory in his manly exploits as an image of excellence and be provoked to go and do likewise in his own chosen profession.
Or something like that.
October 20th, 2009 | 7:55 pm | #2
So it sounds like there are (at least?) three things going on here. The pleasure/enjoyment, inspiration (toward arete), and the whole Art thing.
I’m suggestion for the first we might best be as a child. As for the the second … I’d agree in part. It might also, for example, inspire him to go to the gym, ignore his family and abuse his health with steroids and painkillers.
I think the Art in popular art is something which Matt was getting at (and I was trying to allude to with the Hitchcock reference).
October 21st, 2009 | 9:43 pm | #3
[...] Mark Reynolds in a comment to my (first!) post at Evangel offered: A child would view Favre well . . . but a real man would see him better. He would glory in [...]
October 21st, 2009 | 9:46 pm | #4
[...] CultureThe Secular vs The Cross By Mark O. John Mark Reynolds in a comment to my (first!) post at Evangel offered: A child would view Favre well . . . but a real man would see him better. He would glory in [...]
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