Meaning-Making Through Media
By Frances Forde Plude
One of the vital lessons to emerge from the Colorado school tragedy is the need to be in communication with our nation’s youth – in families, in schools, in faith communities. Youth is a time when individuals seek their own independent and unique “voice” – a time when they do a lot of “meaning-making.” Most of this is done as youth relate to media.
We have spoken of theological reception as the process whereby the messages and witness of the institutional church get “received” (accepted) at the grassroots. The theological term for the grassroots is “the local church” – the local diocese, the local parish community. Church doctrine is developed over centuries as pope, bishops, and the people-at-large interact around certain teachings, and as all of this interacts with the changing culture. And the Spirit of God infuses this ongoing life of God’s people.
In communication studies we study communication reception – called “audience reception studies.” This is the process whereby audiences receive the meaning of film or TV stories.
At the Lilly research project at the University of Colorado, Dr. Lynn Schofield Clark found three elements in the way youth construct religious identity. She notes, first, there is a flattening of religious symbols. Religious meaning is not necessarily seen as authoritative simply because it is associated with religious institutions; rather, religion is seen as useful (almost like a commodity).
Secondly, the media environment, rather than the religious locale, has a major impact on religious thought; a certain amount of personal autonomy or the privatization of religion occurs.
Dr. Clark uses the term regeneration to refer to the third element. The interpretation (of the video story) is regenerated in the individual’s larger system of beliefs, resulting in a belief system with subtle changes. These findings were studied by the International Study Commission on Media, Religion and Culture. I served with Dr. Clark and others on this commission.
As we witness the frenzy around the latest Star Wars movie, listen to its creator George Lucas speak to Bill Moyers (Time, April 26, 1999): “I don’t see Star Wars as profoundly religious. I see Star Wars as taking all the issues that religion represents and trying to distill them down into a more modern and easily accessible construct – that there is a greater mystery out there… I put the Force into the movie to try to awaken a certain kind of spirituality in young people – more a belief in God than a belief in any (specific) religious system… (Film) takes all the aspects of other art forms… it works on all the senses… it’s a very alluring, kind of dreamlike experience…”
By Suzanne Nelson
Act 1, Scene 1: ANY High School, Littletown or Bigtown.
Kick. Smash. Pound. The Jocks threw the despised Goth against the locker. It was the last straw. From that instant the victim let virtual reality take over. The video games his mind had devoured took on a life of their own. He made specific plans to kill his enemies.
Scene 2: Columbine High School, Littleton, Colorado.
“Cassie Burnall, do you believe in God?” “Yes, I do. And you need to follow God’s ways.” “There is no God,” the gunman replied, pulling the trigger. Cassie was dead.
Scene 3: Yourparish or Myparish, USA
“You think I’m bad because I stashed liquor in my backpack for the retreat.” “No one here thinks you’re bad, Lisa. I care about you very much. You are very precious to us. Now tell me about this bottle of brandy.”
Is there such a fine line between virtual reality and real life that we can confuse the boundary? Brooks Brown, friend of the Columbine duo who murdered their peers, said, “What they did was about them living in the moment, like they were inside a video game. (While) they were rolling with the plan, the slaughter didn’t seem real to them.”
We often find ourselves moved to the roots of our being by video. Some critics say the Star Wars themes have become the basis for a new religion. George Lucas asserts these themes are already part of human history, part of the Christian religion and other faiths.
Creation, Incarnation, the struggle between good and evil, redemptive love, and the power of the Spirit – all are found in Star Wars, in all great literature, in the Bible, and in Littleton, Colorado. They are an inseparable part of the daily life of each of us, including America’s youth. The religious symbols that express these themes spring from grace. In Catholic theology they are then “ordered” by authority, but authority cannot effectively create the symbols nor impose them.
Mentors, ministers, parents, and teachers can learn to notice how meaning-making is happening in the lives of the young. We can learn to help them make connections between media symbols, both old and new, and the themes of Christianity. We must be media-aware to do this well.
Act 2, Scene 1 – Star Wars Episode #1: The Phantom Menace
Anakin Skywalker, the hope of the Jedi, is set free from slavery when he displays the power of the Force with him. We know that Anakin becomes the evil Darth Vader (who is later redeemed by his son).
I want to know how all this happens. Don’t you? Maybe it will help us understand what occurred at Columbine High School.