July 23, 2007
TV a place of worship for US viewers
Coming up this Fall, a wave of spiritually-themed TV shows about to wash over prime time- the next semi-big attempt by Hollywood to speak to the post-Sept. 11 hole in America's soul. The Baltimore Sun reports.
"... Diane Winston, Knight chair in media and religion at the University of Southern California, says the popularity of series like Heroes reflects more than just post-Sept. 11 jitters.
"The events of 9/11 have had a great cultural impact, but it's not just 9/11," Winston said. "There are a number of other things during that last six years that have also made us see how precarious life can be: Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami in southeast Asia and the mounting casualty and death toll of a catastrophic war in Iraq."
"People aren't necessarily getting comfort from going to a church service, but they are getting comfort from hearing that there's life after death, there's someone taking care of them, there are good people in the world and that their lives have meaning. And all of this contributes to the popularity of TV programs that tell us those sorts of reassuring stories."
The majority of Americans say they believe in angels, and they believe in very personal angels, the kind who help them find parking spaces, win games and pass tests," Parks says.
"In some ways, people are going to their places of worship when they turn on their TV sets to watch a show like this."
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