A Matrix of Meanings: Finding God in Pop Culture FROM THE PUBLISHER
Ross and Rachel had a baby, Britney and Justin broke up, and Time asked if Bono could save the world. From the glittering tinsel of Hollywood to the advertising slogan you can't get out of your head, we are surrounded by popular culture. In contrast to some traditional Christian responses, which have been to shun aspects of popular culture, Craig Detweiler and Barry Taylor offer an insightful treatise on its value in A Matrix of Meanings: Finding God in Pop Culture.
Rather than offering a theology for pop culture, as some recent commentators have, the authors create a constructive theology out of pop culture. Instead of passing judgment on popular culture the authors analyze its elements and ask "What are they doing?" "What do they represent?" and "What do they say about the world in which we live?" Rather than deciding whether Bono, Britney, and the cast of Friends deserve our admiration, Detweiler and Taylor ask what the phenomena of celebrity idolization means. They do not examine whether Nike's "Just do it" campaign is morally questionable; instead, they ask what its success says about our society.
A Matrix of Meanings can be read in at least three ways: as a study of the marketplace driven by consumerism and fueled by advertising, whose highest aspirations are attained in celebrity; as a study of isolated artistic forms—music, movies, television, fashion, sports, art—and what they may tell us about our world, ourselves, and our God; and as a broad survey of our culture that reveals trends that cross art forms. These cultural shifts, studied in the marketplace and manifested across pop cultural forms, create a lived theology that reveals the very nature of Christ and his kingdom.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Until a few years ago, many faithful Christians saw popular culture the way the Dutch presumably see the oceanas a vast force to be kept at bay by any means necessary. That began to change with Tom Beaudoin's Virtual Faith, a heady mix of cultural analysis and theology. Fuller Theological Seminary alumni Detweiler and Taylor are the latest authors to call fellow Christians to take their thumbs out of the dike. Detweiler, producer of the City of the Angels Film Festival, and Taylor, a sound engineer with a roster of top clients, follow (ir)reverently in Beaudoin's wake, exploring the signs of a God-haunted generation in everything from Chris Ofili's dung-smattered Madonna to Jesus' appearance in South Park. Their book is ambitious in scope and smartly structured. Detweiler and Taylor begin with chapters on advertising and the role of celebrities, topics that other Christian commentators have generally ignored, and they are consistently alert to the commercial forces that drive pop culture's production and consumption. They are also witty, readable and passionate about both pop culture and their evangelical faith. But their cultural analysis borrows heavily from previous writers, and their claim to be discovering a "theology" of pop culture may surprise readers who expect a book from the Baker Academic imprint to engage its sources, whether Tom Beaudoin or Ned Flanders, with more critical rigor. (Nov.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
This study of today's pop culture and the marketplace is widely aimed. It is written for the young ("today's aspiring artists and culture consumers, who dig God but can't stomach religion"), for Christians who don't see much that relates to God in the culture of our day, and for anyone who wants to better relate to popular culture. The authors are immersed in their topic: Detweiler writes screenplays and teaches at the Los Angeles Film Studies Center, and Taylor (popular culture, Fuller Theological Seminary) paints and is a professional musician and songwriter. Chapters address advertising, celebrities, music, movies, TV, fashion, sports, and art. They show how artistic production in our postmodern world is characterized by "blending, fragments, and sampling." The writing is emotionally direct: "doubts are aired, gloves come off, and politeness takes a rest." The authors find recurring themes such as alienation and loneliness and see wisdom and God contained and shining through even the most debased popular culture. This book will offer patient readers a new understanding of and appreciation for pop culture and its often hidden connection to God. Recommended for large public and academic libraries.-George Westerlund, formerly with Providence P.L. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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