a bone to pick

Ever since school went out for summer, my television/movie consumption has gone up drastically. I remember strictly telling myself that I was going to be productive this summer, yet all I've been doing is vegging out and letting my deep-fried brain relax a bit. Starting from next week, I will start implementing my true summer goals.

One thing that I've actually found to be prevalent in all the stuff I've been watching lately is the extremely negative portrayal of Christians. All of these shows and movies seem to be sending a very clear message: it is very lame and uncool to be Christian. At first, I'd be laughing right along, but then I step back and realize just how unfair and distorted these depictions really are (albeit most of it is overdone on purpose for purely comedic purposes and the viewers are aware of that). Would these shows/movies make such blatant mockery of other religions? Probably not. And as a Communications major, I'd be an idiot not to think that what the media sells us, the audience believes.

1. "Shirley" from Community
The sweet, but overly simplistic black mother. She's actually not as bad as the other characters listed below, but she subconsciously can come off a little condescending to people of other beliefs and religions. She also seems a bit outdated and is definitely not as "cool & trendy" as her fellow atheist (Britta) and agnostic (Jeff) classmates.

2. "Ann" from Arrested Development
Ann a.k.a "Her???" The plain-jane pastor's kid and girlfriend of George Michael who is known for her straight-laced, overly pious ways. Of course, the more devout you are on the outside, the more screwed up you truly are in the inside (for instance, look at that episode with her parents and also who she ends up with at the end- not to give away any spoilers but it was quite the shocker).

3. "Angela" from the Office
The cold, uptight accountant who just seems angry at the world and uber-judgmental towards her co-workers. Of course, she's hypocritical too, since she engages in her own office love affairs (very illicit ones at that). A perfectionist that takes things a bit too seriously (like the Party Planning Committee), and basically, a modern-day pharisee.

4. "Marianne" from Easy A
I would've thoroughly enjoyed this movie if it wasn't for the mockery of Christians through Amanda Bynes' character. She plays Marianne, the self-righteous, snooty President of the "Cross Your Heart" Club that tries to "save" the main protagonist, Olive, from the fiery gates of hell.

All these characters come off as overzealous, bitter, prejudiced, and close-minded (and why are they all female?)- definitely traits that I (along with any other Christian) would not want to identify with. And even in the news, only crazy kooks like Harold Camping or (on a somewhat milder level?) Glenn Beck make the headlines... not the John Piper's, Tim Keller's, or Ravi Zacharias'. Intelligent Christians are not "known" to non-Christians, and this is why we are viewed the way we are. All throughout my life, and especially after coming to New York, I've come to know really smart, profound Christians, and it's quite a shame that we get such a bad rap because of how the mass media portrays us as bible-thumping, holier-than-thou caricatures.

Tim Keller in "The Reason for God" mentions how people often mistakenly associate those obnoxiously preachy and sometimes hateful "Jesus freaks" as extreme Christians. But what about their qualities (and I'm referring to all the aforementioned characters above, with maybe the exception of Shirley) make them Christian? Just because they believe in God and go to church? Christ defines Christianity, and J.C. was the most loving, kind, humble, and gentle person that ever lived. So how do these stereotypes define who we are?

I think that's why figures like Bono and Tim Tebow offer us so much hope. Not that we should put them on a pedestal because they're high-profile stars, but they are Christian role models (actually I'm not 100% sure if Bono is Christian... personally, Sufjan Stevens is my favorite Christian - but mainstream - musician of choice) in the media spotlight that people can look up to and see that being Christian can be noble, honorable, and yes, sometimes cool. It's just a shame that they are so few and far between.