On the other hand, there is media kerfuffle on the Right about Chris Hayes of MSNBC saying he has a problem with using the word, heroes for the dead on Memorial Day because that word ennobles war and worst of all, ennobles the current war effort. What could be worse? I . . . . Continue Reading »
God so loved the world that he gave his only son. God so loved me that he has given me three sons. And last month, they discovered superheroes. Not a moment too soon, it turns out, as apparently overnight what I used to think of as our respectable middle-class home has become an alarming hive of after-school crime (or as my boys call it, “trouble”). So they fearlessly answer the call every afternoon, bounding around the house and the yard with hand-towel capes safety-pinned around their necks… . Continue Reading»
Thomas Hibbs has updated his book Shows About Nothing: Nihilism in Popular Culture in light of films and TV shows of the last decade like Christopher Nolans movies and AMC’s Mad Men. He says Nihilism has been the reigning philosophy in Hollywood since the 1960s. By Nihilism, . . . . Continue Reading »
Last week Ross Douthat posted a comparison of The Sopranos and The Wire . He sees the two shows in terms of psychology v. sociology, the former being the more insightful because it presents flesh and blood human beings while the latter reduces its characters to their surrounding culture in . . . . Continue Reading »
Universalism, the belief that everyone is going to heaven, is becoming widespread. Check out the popularity of Rob Bells book Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person WhoEver Lived as an example. A perennial question Universalists love to ask traditional . . . . Continue Reading »
Almost every entry in the index to this book is a prime-time show. Among the very many: “Amos ‘n Andy,” “Barnaby Jones,” “The Cosby Show,” “Dallas,” “Empire,” “Falcon Crest,” “Gunsmoke,” “Hill Street Blues,” “I Love Lucy,” “Kate and Allie,” “Marcus Welby, . . . . Continue Reading »