I hate to admit this, because it reveals the inner couch potato in me, but I am genuinely excited about fall TV. Not sure when this embedded in my mind as a harkening of the seasonal change, but like freshly sharpened pencils and turning leaves, I now associate autumn with fresh television programming. To make it even better, I can’t recall when the crop of new shows seemed to be so promising.
On the top of my list this year is Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip on NBC. I watched the season premiere with much anticipation, and I wasn’t disappointed. It has the great writing of The West Wing (thank you Mr. Sorkin), combined with behind-the-scenes showbiz intrigue (something I’ve always been a sucker for).
All that being said, I’ve found myself in an interesting place while watching this show. Just on the edge of being offended, but not quite there. You see, I am a Christian and this program has chosen an interesting way of approaching the issue of Hollywood in relation to Christianity.
Studio 60 has been unfolding a subplot that deals with cultural pushback from Christian groups over the fictional show’s content. Subplot may be a bad description of this aspect of the program; seeing that one of the foundational ideas behind Studio 60 is that the former producer of the show was fired for melting down on live TV when the network asked him the pull a skit called Crazy Christians. Apparently, the fictional network didn’t want to incur the wrath of the Christian-Right by airing such a skit.
This theme has continued each week in some form or another, and at first blush I found myself getting defensive. The Christians portrayed in the general public are boorish, small-minded people who see humor in nothing. They are hair-pinned-back-to-the-point-of-pain; pursed-lipped caricatures that publish magazines called Rapture and employ dirty tricks to get their way in Hollywood.
I don’t personally know people like this. This is where the defensiveness was born. I have no personal knowledge of people who use their Christianity as a weapon in this way. According to Studio 60 I should. I just don’t.
My friends are more likely to read Relevant Magazine, if they read a Christian magazine at all. My friends and I enjoy going to pubs and spending long hours laughing over a few pints of beer. My friends are normal people. They aren’t glassy-eyed zealots always on the prowl for the devil in hidden places. I’m not even a West Coast Christian. I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma often referred to as the Buckle of the Bible Belt, and home of Oral Roberts University (You remember 900 foot Jesus? Ouch.).
Just when I thought that I was ready to be offended and chalk this up to another case of a Hollywood show intent on bashing believers in Christ, I had a thought. I don’t know this type of Christian personally, but I know that they exist. I’ve seen them on those hideous religious channels on TV, and I knew some folks with a bad case of religious bigotry when I was a kid attending a rural Baptist church.
However, I’ll bet that Hollywood knows these people well. They must hear from that segment of the church a lot. Hollywood has more of an opportunity to interact with this type of Christian because Hollywood is on their cultural hit list. I’m not. I have my Jesus Card. Those people aren’t interested in me, but they are interested in confronting Hollywood.
I had to remember that this program is a story told from the point of view of Hollywood. I also had to remember that most of the interaction Hollywood has with these Christians is set within the confines of this cultural combat.
This is sad to me. I wish that people didn’t always have to see the equivalent of my annoying brother-in-law when they think of believers. But this is who they see, because this annoying segment of the American Church is also the loudest, and most well funded.
When I read my Bible I see that Jesus spent most of his time talking with the underbelly of that society. Tax collectors, prostitutes and beggars were his audience a lot of the time. You can’t tell me that he didn’t have a great sense of humor to command the attention of those people. If you want a peek into this humor, just read Matthew 7:9-11 with an eye to the comedy of what he’s saying.
I am not saying that Hollywood is blameless. There’s a ton of trash that comes out of that town from merely even a quality standpoint. But I will continue watching Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. It’s a great show. Instead of being offended at the portrayal of American Christians on the show, I will lament the fact that American Christians have portrayed themselves in this way to the world.
Last Wednesday on NBC’s new show, 30 Rock, I witnessed one of the most seamless product placements ever. There may be better examples out there, but this particular product placement took me back¦ once I noticed what it was.