A Response : Coaches as Preachers

After reading Erika’s post on Coaches and Preachers I began to think about other parts of popular culture where coaches and preachers function in the same way. I am not a sports fan, however I am familiar with the tv series Friday Night Lights. The show provides good examples of how injury can affect young athletes (which is why we were suppose to watch it in class). The show revolves around a football team in Texas. The Coach of this team, Coach Taylor is depicted as a preacher, just as Erika discussed with her examples. The football team player’s looks up to Coach Taylor as a means of motivation on and off the field. For example, Coach Taylor works with one of his former players in order to help him train after his injuries so that he can get into college on a football scholarship. In this example we also see the power of commitment to helping other that a preacher would. Coach Taylor did not have to help, however he wanted to show him that hard work and determination would pay off. By training this athlete Coach Taylor proved that hard work could pay off, as the player did eventually get a scholarship and a chance at playing professional football in his future.

Coach Taylor works with his former player, Smash, after his injury. 

Coach Taylor coaching the East Dillion Panthers, a new team who have few resources and little football spirit. However through work with his team and their community this changes. 

As the series continues Coach Taylor begins coaching in a depressed area of Texas. When this happens Coach Taylor does things that help this depressed area become safer, like putting the lights on at night in a park that is notoriously dangerous. He also hosts a football team between his team and the rest of the community, which helped unite the young men.  This dedication to improving the community once again show the function of Coach Taylor as a preacher, as he goes above and beyond his coaching duties to motivate an entire community, just as a preacher would. 

           

A Response to ‘Jesus and Pals: Drink, Drank, Drunk?”

 I was very intrigued to see Estela’s post on St. Patrick’s Day, as I have also seen some of the craziness and absolute mayhem that takes part on St. Patrick’s Day and it has made me wonder why people act this way.

            For example this past St. Patrick’s Day I saw group of people drinking on the roof of their house. I am not sure what the reasoning behind this was, but it seemed like a dangerous combination of alcohol and bad ideas.

This post also made me think of other holidays that get blown out of proportion. For example holidays like Valentine’s Day are no longer about St. Valentine because they have become so commercialized. Not many people even know what the purpose of celebrating this holiday is. However people continue to celebrate Valentine’s Day because of societies rituals that we believe go along with the holiday. Just as we believe people are suppose to drink green beer on St. Patrick’s Day, people feel that they need to buy their loved ones over priced chocolate.

St. Valentine

Films like Valentines Day enforce the view that expressing love through gift giving is the purpose of  this holiday

I see why people take advantage of these holidays, as they are a way to have fun and a way to make money. However, I still wonder why Christian holidays have become so popular with people in western culture. By commercializing Christian holidays it is clear that the true meaning behind them is lost, an aspect of this commercialization, which seems a little sad.  

Sports and Christianity

The lecture on sports and christianity gave light to a daunting reality of the dangers that sports can include. The connection that sports and Christianity share is that they have the same function because share many of the same characteristics, such as large gatherings with a common goal. Many people believe in their team in a way similar to their belief in God. People put a lot of faith and belief in the players of the game, because they believe that the players can bring them a higher level of achievement by winning. As we discussed in Lecture, this kind of worship can be seen in American school football teams like Notre Dame and Pennsylvania State.

This kind of faith in sports can also be seen in the television series Friday Night Lights, which we briefly discussed in class. This show takes place in Dillon Texas where the entire takes pride in the high school football team, the panthers. Young children look up to the panthers, many people donate thousands of dollars to fund the football program, and almost the entire town attends the Friday night games. However, this show takes a darker tone when the star quarterback becomes paralyzed during the first game of the season. This type of injury not only affected his football career (that the show indicates would have been his future), but also affects his entire life. We also see the other effects of his injuries, such as financial hardships for his family, friction between his family and the rest of the town after they file a law suit against the coach, and personal issues with accepting the fact that one moment has shaped the rest of this young man`s life, as he can never walk again.

Jason Street from Friday Night Lights 

            Football is obviously a very dangerous sport and injuries are not unexpected, but the severity of the particular injury depicted in Friday Night Lights shows how damaging these injuries can be. After hearing the lecture and looking back on the tv series, I began to question why people take sports so seriously knowing all the risks involved. Even knowing the benefits that a team can give to young people (team work, responsibility ect.) the though that these injuries occur is almost enough to re consider the advantages that sports can have. 

I Just May Be A Bilibier …

Tuesday’s lecture opened my eyes to a whole new world …the world of Justin Bieber. Of course I had heard of Justin Bieber, and his enormous popularity but I had no idea the fandamonium surrounding him was this large. Furthermore I had no idea of his many charitable efforts. After going home and doing a quick Google search on him I learned two things:

 1) Teenagedr girls really, really, really love Justin Bieber and are absolutely not afraid to say it.

And 2) Justin Bieber donates a lot of time, money and energy to chairty

Whether these efforts are sincere or not are of course hard to tell. As the issue was brought up in class we truly never know what motivates artists. However, I do think that all this charity work and the all around good image that Justin Bieber promotes should not be put down. Of course the music video we watched in class was ridiculously cheesy, but what do we expect,? He is  (or was when the video was created) a 16 year old talking about foreclosures and other world wide issues that he most likely knows little about, and furthermore has little authority to talk about. However, his authority  and expertise on the world economy is not really important. What is important is the message that he sends out to his viewers with music videos such as “Pray”. In this case, as with most of Bieber’s music, it is always a positive message. This positive message, although a little unauthentic is important to young listeners. When it really comes down to it wouldn’t it be better for tweens to be listening to music that makes them think about the world around them, and question how they can help, as opposed to other artists who do not have this same kind of attitude?

One thing that I learned this week is that young girls will literally do anything for Justin Bieber, and if that is the case, isn’t it best that they are doing something positive?  

19 Kids and Counting

 I have watched a few episodes, of 19 Kids and Counting but after last weeks reading and our lecture, I felt more intrigued by the family. I was also interested in the depiction of the family in the reading in comparison to the actual family. As we saw in class there were some disputes about the gender roles and lack of definition of religion that the article outlined in comparison to what we discussed in class.  While it was evident in that women did take on many stereotypical roles (like doing the laundry and cooking) it was also evident that some of the article seemed embellished. To me, at least, I saw the scary underlying issues (such as their child being born premature) that the article discussed, but much of their religious and negative gender roles seemed to be downplayed.  It was also obvious that the family was religious, but did not specify their religion. This was until I saw a question and answer episode, where viewers would write in questions and the Dugger’s would answer them. Some of these questions give further insight to some of the themes of the reading, which we did not see in the episode in class. For example one guy sends in a video asking what would I have to do to date a Dugger daughter? Two of the daughters simply answer that he would have to ask their father. This highlights the point that although they may respect their children, they do not allow them to make their own decisions (even big life decisions, such as who they want to date and marry) especially their female children. Another very interesting question, which points to the Dugger’s religion, was: How do you stay so humble in the lord with all the publicity that a television show gives? This to me was an interesting question because the Dugger’s are a very religious family that follows values that are extremely traditional, however they allow their lives to be filmed and shown to millions of viewers, this seemed like an odd juxtaposition of values. The Dugger daughters answer swiftly and say that they see it as a ministry and as a way to spread their message, while the parents answer that it is to encourage people to enjoy their families.

 Throughout the episode there were many interesting questions asked about the Dugger’s morals, way of life and their religion, these were just two that I decided to focus on. Here is a link to the episode. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4mDkKH0_OA&feature=youtu.be  

Star Wars: A New Hope Luke Skywalker as the monomyth hero and the savior

After Tuesdays lecture I decided to further research the predominance of the monomyth heroes, the savior and the redeemer hero’s in films. I was quite taken back by how often these characteristics were seen in films, often unnoticed when I had previous watched the films or television shows . By looking at films through a new lens I seemed to gain a greater understanding of the film and its characters, because I now understand how the film would unfold.

Although these characteristics are popular I decided to take a closer looks at Luke Sykewalker’s character in Star Wars: A New Hope. While re-watching the film it became obvious that Luke Skyewalker was the perfect example of the Saviour and the monomyth journey. First of all, Luke Skye walker possesses the qualities of the savior as he is called to liberate and save everyone in the galaxy from the oppression of the evil emperor.

Luke’s Journey depicts that of the momomyth as well. Luke is called to duty by Obi Wan Kenobi to help save Princess Leia and also save the galaxy. During his journey he learns the ways of the Jedi thanks to his mentors Obi wan Kenobi and Yoda. After Luke finds out these important details about himself the film continues on as Luke faces challenges and temptations as he refuse Darth Vadar’s offer of power if he were too join the dark side. He ultimately refuses because he knows it is his duty and calling to save the galaxy, not add to its demise. Luke then faces a revelation when he discovers that Darth Vader (who is his ultimate enemy) is also his father. He then completes a transformation into a true warrior (after Master Yoda’s training) in order to save the Galaxy. After this Luke must accept that he must defeat his Father, Darth Vader if he is to save the galaxy. After successfully completing the task and saving the beloved galaxy, Luke returns home and celebrates with his new friends Princess Leia and Han Solo and he sees the spirit of Obi wan Kenobi, Yoda and his father who all look on proudly.