Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture

by William D. Romanowski

Grounded in Christian principles, this accessible and engaging book offers an informed and fascinating approach to popular culture. William D. Romanowski provides affectionate yet astute analysis of familiar, well-loved movies and television characters from Indiana Jones to Homer Simpson, and he speaks with historical depth and expertise on films from Casablanca to Crash and music from Bruce Springsteen to U2.

Romanowski's confessional approach affirms a role for popular culture in faithful living. Practical, analytical approaches to content, meaning, and artistic style offer the tools to participate responsibly and imaginatively in popular cultural activities. An engaging read, this new edition introduces students and thoughtful readers to popular culture--one of the most influential forces in contemporary society.

Genres: Cultural, Nonfiction, Religion, Christianity, Theology, Christian, Faith

270 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2001

Reviews

[Zachary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally written in 2001 and then revised in 2007, a decade has passed in commercialization and film and cultural development since this book's publication. Yet Romanowski's engagement with popular culture is insightful and challenging. The balanced approach to art (and especially film) in this book is encouraging but not easy, for it requires one to watch and view and actually think about what one is seeing. But the book on the whole is a call to critical engagement with the arts, and especially film. He is pretty harsh when it comes to the mindless boycotting and protests by Christians and evangelicals of hollywood and the movies produced therein, for they support and offer up just as mindless an engagement with the world as the melodramas which make the movie industry so much money.

The writing tone is conversational and engaging, and I found each chapter a pretty concise and easy read. He provides summary notes and interaction questions at the end of each chapter, which make it an excellent book for youth groups or small groups to utilize. Honestly, I think everyone could stand to read and think about what he talks about in the book. Many major films, classics now, are talked about, and a few are engaged at a little more in depth level (like Titanic and Pretty Woman), and the observations and implications of what they say about life and happiness and gender roles, etc., is as fascinating as it is chilling - with implications which I think modern women's rights, LGBT, and even other liberal groups would find appalling if they actually recognized it.

If you like actually thinking about film and what it says to us and what it says about us, you'll love this book. If you love the movies, I think you'll be fascinated by this book. And if you find yourself complaining about Hollywood or the 'horribleness' of movies these days, read this and be challenged on where you truly need to engage and critique popular entertainment.

If you want to read a more in depth consideration of the book, I've included my chapter-by-chapter summaries/thoughts. Enjoy:

First off, I love that each chapter has an excellent 'summary' section, with bullet points of the main ideas of each chapter. That said, I will only touch on a few that stuck out to me. This first chapter really looked at and considered the rise of mainstream Christian media--specifically CCM. I think Romanowski rightly zeroed in on Amy Grant's career and transition to a more 'secular' practice. He also rightly highlights evangelicals mindless embrace of secular culture's practice, especially in how they built their on 'miniature' entertainment industry. I was fascinated and intrigued by his use of the term 'confessional' to talk about this impetus in evangelicalism for its artwork to somehow be overtly evangelistic or just religious; it's just a very 'traditional' feeling term being applied to a very modern situation. On the whole, I think the chapter was a way to utilize the modern evangelical entertainment industry as a way to move towards talking about culture (which is supposedly the focus of the next chapter.

The second chapter builds the Christian's approach of culture from the foundation of God's creation of the world (and mankind). From the mandate God gave mankind from the beginning, to create and tend and keep and subdue the earth. He points towards Christians living this out as ones who are creating culture and engaging culture. An interesting argument he makes is to not make the delineation of Christian and secular 'spheres' of one's life, but rather that secular should merely point towards those areas in one's life where there is an "absence of faith conviction and perspective in performing [activities]" (52). Significantly, he also points towards how Daniel and his three friends dealt with the culture of Babylon where they were. They didn't disengage, yet they also did not become what the culture demanded they be. They learned how to live in the midst of a fallen culture and be what God had called them to be there.

In the third chapter Romanowski first delves into what a worldview is and the significance of one's cultural orientation. These he connects to cultural ideology and a culture's myths. This latter part is where the chapter really became intriguing, in my mind. He points out that narrative is highly significant in containing and transmitting myth and ideology. He starts with a fascinating analysis of Rocky, before moving on to note the commonalities and differences between Erin Brokovich and Billy Elliot.

The culminating argument in Romanowski's fourth chapter is that to properly engage, understand, and utilize contemporary (or popular) art, you can't just try to justify it as high art. It is unique in its creation and cultural situation, and it must be approached and understood there. Throughout the chapter he works through some of the differences between high art and popular art (in places essentially equated with entertainment, though not unequivocally). His acknowledgement of the class distinctions of high art was insightful, and one I haven't seen too many other places. He also highlights the reality that many people struggle with (or succumb to) the temptation to equate aesthetic experiences with religious ones. This struggle lies in how entertainment (or artistic) practice, the aesthetic experience engages the imagination in a very similar manner to the arts.

In his fifth chapter, Romanowski begins to engage what contemporary art is. He takes a little time to differentiate between popular art and entertainment, and to even argue that to call popular art merely entertainment is wrong. A significant point he explores is that of popular art functioning as a 'map of reality.' Then in the latter part of the chapter he transitions to arguing for the significance of the artist's worldview, for how it shapes their art and interacts with culture, providing a 'map' which interprets the world through their worldview.

Turning towards how people tend to analyze or critique art (specifically movies), Romanowski highlights three ways people go about it in his sixth chapter: moral, ideological, and theological. He spends a good half the chapter (spatially speaking) on the first. In my opinion the moral interpretation of the arts and movies in particular is pervasively popular among many critics, so utilizing this amount of space to explore and pick apart the difficulties (and sometimes blindness or even hypocrisy) of such an approach seems appropriate. He pretty concisely points out the difficulties of the theological approach. And while he does explore the ideological approach, it has many of the same difficulties as the moral one, as most people utilizing this approach deal with what they might call 'worldviews' or such. Ultimately, through these explorations Romanowski really draws out how film, as a specific artistic outflow of culture, has to be approached and considered in the multifaceted way it is conceived, produced and even received.

The seventh chapter really dives into how one critiques and/or reviews art. Though he primarily has film (and its critics) in his sights, he also touches on music (popular music) frequently. Ultimately he argues for a nuanced approach that recognizes that the artistic elements of any art-form contribute to the morality conveyed therein. In a sense, he is holding to a concept of art wherein good art wields the techniques and possibilities of an art-form in a masterful way which accurately and honestly engages the world and reflects the artists perception and worldview. Good art does this well, poor art does not. In a sense his remarks remind of Scruton's comments on beauty and kitsch.

As he moves into the final portion of the book Romanowski begins to engage the question of what good Christian art should look like in his eighth chapter. He raises four specific things which he thinks should be present or emerge from art, specifically Christian art: 1) the reality of God at work in the world, 2) people who believe in God in habit the world, 3) sin and its effects are real, and 4) God's offer of forgiveness and the redemption he offers. More importantly, I think he really works to drive home that Christian concepts and themes are already present in movies, to more or less degrees. I think his argument here is that a truly Christian (and Biblical) representation and artistic 'mapping' of the world around us would actually be attractive and accepted by the world if it did not reduce itself to an overt (and cheesey or kitschy) evangelicalism. I really loved his concluding point about how it is the Christian's struggle with life and his sin which makes his testimony about God attractive. People can identify with that. Also, his note that not all stories must have happy endings is insightful and significant (I am specifically thinking of Rogue One and its conclusion).

As he begins to move towards the conclusion of his book, Romanowski considers some of the underlying themes of Hollywood. He spends a decent amount of time on melodrama, but also highlights the pervasive theme of the individual determining his own course or path. Of course there is element of self-discovery (which is done individually), but also an undercurrent of materialism. This latter element seems to associate, to some degree, moral goodness or rightness with material (or financial) success. Romanowski continues to drive home that these different representations of life and the 'real' world are idealistic and ultimately simplistic. He points towards the Bible as having a much more nuanced portrayal of human life, choices, and dilemmas. Continually he points towards the truth that Christianity understands humanity in a much more nuanced and intimate way than how Hollywood portrays it.

In his tenth chapter, Romanowski focuses in on gender and sexuality in popular art, specifically (again) spending most of his time/space on movies. Ultimately, just as in the last chapter, he reveals Hollywood's portrayal to be inadequate, most of the time. He notes the stereotypes, of the strong, virile, unattached man of adventure, and the ideal woman as a wife and mother, a "mainstay of heart and home" (205). Of course, the latter is also expected to be both virginal and erotic, a contradiction which popular art often orients towards the satisfaction of the man. He takes time to rather thoroughly explore Pretty Woman and how it portrays these different themes of sexuality and gender. Fascinatingly, it is not in just how it portrays them, but how it portrays each character moving into them that is most compelling. The movie is structured so that the audience knows there has been a redemption (or even 'saving') of the characters when they have finally accepted and stepped into those roles. He concludes with a very pointed discussion on the portrayal of sex in the movies. Again and again, both in regards to gender roles and then in his conclusion, as it considers sexuality, he raises up the Bible as an authority that portrays sexuality and gender roles in a much more complex and 'true' way. He seems to be arguing for portrayals/explorations of sexuality that do not 'denigrate' humanity.

Where Chapter 10 focused on gender and sexuality, Chapter 11 turns to consider the depiction and elevation of violence in film. One of the harshest criticism Romanowski levels against evangelicals in particular, but Christians in general is their almost complete lack of engagement on the violence in movies, especially if there are Christian themes to celebrate. He charges that many Christians seem more concerned about nudity and sexuality than about violence. Though he doesn't spend too much time drawing parallels with the Bible, he does point out that Scripture portrays and explores violence in as grand a scale as any hollywood portrayal, but it doesn't flinch from showing the consequences of the violence or how that truly impacts those who engage in it (and the lives it destroys). Scripture has a fully fleshed out portrayal of sin and the depravity of man. He argues for Christians to be critical about the "sentimentalized cultural values that run against the grain of faith" (221).

In the short conclusion at the end of the book, Romanowski finally notes the commercial success and/or failure of several different movies (something I found lacking throughout the rest of his book). The reason he does this, though, is to highlight the 'targeting' that production companies are engaging in, specifically in regards to religious consumers. They are aware of the possible 'market' they can tap and exploit, yet they do not quite grasp what it takes to draw them in. But their observations that Christians, on the whole, watch/consume the same things as everyone else should give believers pause. More than anything else, Romanowski seems to be challenging the reader to not go blindly to the movies, but to engage film (and other artistic genres) actively, to hold them accountable to a Biblical world view - not in a moralistic and legalistic manner, but rather to point out those poor and inaccurate portrayals or engagements with the way the world is. Is the violence mindless and pointless, without consequence, and painting the world and its mythos in shades of "might makes right" or some other subversive philosophy which so insidiously invades action-adventure films? Then call it to account and highlight its falseness. Is sexuality and marriage and relationships portrayed and explored in a way which boxes women and men into gender stereotypes and such? Then call it to account.

Rather than calling for boycotts and picket lines, Romanowski wants an active, critical engagement which challenges the artists to do better in their art, but also encourages and enables others to critically engage the arts as well. Thus his title, "Eyes Wide Open," for he is challenging the viewer and believer to see and know what they are perceiving and engage it Biblically.

[Mediaman · Rating 1 out of 5]

This unconvincing book over-analyzes "popular culture" (mostly movies) as being all part of God's creation and made in God's image. The author not only makes few good, logical points, but writes in a style that often connects unrelated examples to a conclusion that's not obvious or well stated. Thankfully there are chapter summaries at the end of each--just read through those and skip the rest of the book.

The idea that God created everything and therefore all of popular culture reflects His creation is faulty. God certainly created all the raw materials, but He didn't specifically create what people have done with those raw materials. Many things in pop culture (if not most) show a disregard of God's creation and emphasize trash for the sake of making money. This book tries to save all of those things claiming that any film, TV show, book, or musical recording can prove God's handiwork. Nice thought but it's an intellectual exercise, not reality. This line of thinking ends up praising trash for minute moments of light instead of calling it the trash it is. It also completely avoids the rare small popular culture projects that do spread God's true light to instead focus on the big-name secular entertainment shows.

The author shoves down our throat over and over the idea that pop culture should be considered "art." Wrong. It's entertainment for the purpose of making money. The author also tries to see God in movies like Pretty Woman, Brokeback Mountain, and other R-rated fare. It's wrong-headed and shows a mediocre, sin-accepting approach to who God is and what He creates. God created chickens but if a chef makes a bad chicken Kiev that gives people food poisoning it says absolutely nothing about creation; a Reformed approach may be to thank God for the chicken no matter how bad the dish tastes or how many people got sick, but it actually makes a bit of a mockery of what the Bible means by God creating the earth and putting man over it. This theology praises the misuse of creation. Most of the movies and TV shows mentioned in the book have only slivers of anything that reflects God and to praise those means people are being fed a lot of bad chicken.

So the book fails on all accounts--as theology, as cultural analysis, and as trying to find God in popular culture. The author does quote critics of this type of flawed thinking and often those critics are more right than he gives them credit for. Maybe the author should listen to others in the Christian community instead of spouting his narrow and blind denominational approach.

[Zachary · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone actively involved in the world of popular culture, thinking through a Christian perspective of relating to art and artistic works is incredibly important, and Dr. Romanowski has here established a pretty good introduction to the types of questions and perspectives that Christians ought to bring to bear on the popular arts. Most importantly, Romanowski advocates for an active critical engagement over what some see as the traditional Christian perspectives of avoidance or condemnation. Working towards interpreting and understanding popular art and media in a Christian context can not only invigorate and encourage Believers, but may also provide opportunities for understanding that can lead to opportunities for engaging with non-believers and approaching evangelizing opportunities, etc. The authority of scripture that Romanowski leans on is refreshing, and also calls out cultural myths that too often inform our reading of popular culture. In this sense, the book is invaluable for showing how one might approach the art of cultural critique from a Christian perspective.

That being said, the book is sometimes a bit unfocused. While ostensibly a book about popular culture at large, it is somewhat easy to see at times that Romanowski probably would have preferred to write a book exclusively about film. Examples in music and television abound and are quite good, but his real engagement is with Hollywood, and these examples serve as the most prominent and numerous of his illustrations of Christian interpretations of popular culture. The book does not suffer for this focus, but sometimes the time spent on other media can feel a bit out of place next to those sections examining the cinema.

[Brit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with a call to thinking!

[Debby Kean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very American, it assumes that what is true of American culture is true of everywhere, especially the peculiar American attitude to war and violence. That makes it disappointing

[Csilla Lukács-Lörincz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly what I need. Thanks!!

[Debra Whisler]

Culture (movies!\music) and Faith: where is the overlap?


Faith and Culture do intermingled but how do they in a post Christian world? That is what this book is about.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the introduction, Romanowski dives right into his subject with some statistics from a Barna Group study, which found that "born again adults spend an average of seven times more hours each week watching television than they do participating in...Bible reading, prayer, and worship...they spend roughly twice as much money on entertainment as they donate to their church. And they spend more time surfing the net than they do conversing with God in prayer." He continues by discussing the different attitudes Christians have concerning media, and encourages us to have "an engaged, critical, and productive involvement with popular arts, grounded in a faith vision that encompasses life and culture," and to be "shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves" when dealing with media. He goes on to describe how popular arts often reflect on the current issues in our society. In response to people who would brush off the importance of evaluating media, Romanowski says, "...developing good critical skills is and practices does not have to ruin the fun...we need to look, as Christians, at the stories that contemporary culture is telling us...[we need to have] a fair and rigorous Christian criticism, one that investigates weaknesses, takes pleasure in achievements, celebrates virtues, and laments failed opportunities. Christians should help preserve the best features, improve the weakest parts, and eliminate the worst traits of popular art." And this is all just in the introduction! The appendixes provide lists of questions to help Christians evaluate popular artists, and includes a sample evaluation of a movie.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked how this book gave ways of analyzing and interpreting different pieces of popular culture, namely movies from a Christian perspective. But when it got to specific issues, the author began beating certain things to death like excessive criticisms of depictions of gender roles and violence but offering little to no explanations of proper views. A good read, but a little dense in places it doesn't need to be.

[David Cowpar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, outlines how Christians can interact with popular culture (and why they should) and uses examples of movies to talk through the different points and where those things are seen in actual popular movies.

[Josh T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neato! Looking to level your faith with your culture? Try this one on for size.

[David Mosley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in the following years:
2009
2011

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

one word: awesome!

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought a lot of the points made in this book were good but there was also far too many drawn out examples and sometimes the points were a little too self explanatory.