By Paul Lundberg
Perhaps you’ve seen a trailer for the movie Cowboys and Aliens. And perhaps you’ve wondered, “Has it come to this?” Have we exhausted every possible storyline to the point that we now must combine genres to come up with something new? Apparently it has, and it boasts the star power of Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford-a.k.a. James Bond and Indiana Jones. When I first saw the trailer for this movie, conflict between cowboys and aliens struck me as perhaps the most ridiculous concept I’ve heard of in years. And then I realized that many people would actually go see this movie and that I should probably take it more seriously.
Over the past year, I have organized gatherings for reflection on the Orthodox faith, based on contemporary movies. My inspiration was Fr. Frank Marangos’s ministry to young adults in New York City, FOS (Forum on Orthodox Spirituality). The process I have been following is relatively simple: find a movie (or another work of popular culture) that highlights significant human or spiritual themes; find texts from Scripture and the Orthodox tradition that also deal with those themes; and then find an appropriate way to use the former to introduce the latter and facilitate theological discussion.
The latest versions of Alice in Wonderland and Tron both provided good opportunities for theological reflection. The former story is rich with scenes that open discussions about topics such as the Garden of Eden and the fall, sacramental life and even the last judgment. Tron, a story in which a human computer programmer takes the form of a program within a computer system, was an opportunity to reflect on the incarnation; within it are sections that address topics such as the existence of God and divine providence. Like these two recent movies, Cowboys and Aliens seems to have some potential for theological reflection.
Consider its plot: the salvation of a town-named Absolution, by the way-depends on an outsider whom the townspeople initially reject. Sound familiar? There’s more. This stranger is a little different; he has either come from another world, mysterious and powerful, or he has had contact with it. The sign of this other world is a high-tech device around one of his wrists, an image symbolically connected to the fear in which the residents of Absolution live, both before and when the aliens attack them.
Of course, I do not actually plan to see this flick. I can think of better ways to spend two hours than to fill my mind with images from what appears to be a violent, frightening and totally unrealistic story. Due to these qualities of Cowboys & Aliens, I would probably not use it for theological reflection as I used Alice in Wonderland and the original Tron, both of which were mild.
Others, however, may not share my reservations and might want to take advantage of the millions spent to promote this movie and to implant its images in the popular consciousness. Engagement with popular culture brings to mind St. Ephraim the Syrian, who, when faced with heresies propagated in the popular music of his day, used those same melodies to write hymns-an apologetic response to those heresies. I hope that the practice of using pop culture for theological reflection is a worthy imitation of this saint.
Before turning to the specific theological themes to which one could connect our bizarre movie, let us first consider the purpose of the activity and those we would wish to invite to it. In the past, my purpose was to create an environment in which young adults could encounter and engage the life-giving, transformative theology of the Orthodox Church. I had hoped that these gatherings would function not only as an opportunity for learning and reflection but also as an outreach to young adults who had become disconnected from the Church and for whom traditional means of learning the faith (such as formal Bible studies) were unappealing.
This did not happen. These gatherings attracted young adults who were already committed Orthodox Christians engaged in parish life. This of course does not mean that the gatherings failed to do something good; those who came gave me positive feedback about their experience. I mention the hope of outreach only so that others do not expect this sort of activity to be a magic wand for outreach; to young adults.
In fact, anyone wishing to serve young adults within the Church would do well to read Christian Smith’s Souls in Transition (and his earlier volume on teens, Soul Searching). The team with which I currently work in the Office of Vocation & Ministry at Hellenic College makes a significant effort to read the latest and best scholarship on youth culture. Smith is in the process of concluding approximately a decade of research on a group of youth whom he has tracked from high school through college and beyond. His principal conclusion, which he uses in the title of the book, is that the lives of young adults (who can be considered “emerging adults”) are characterized by repeated life disruptions, transitions and distractions that pose challenges for sustaining religious commitments, investments and practices.
To this dominant theme Smith adds many other notable insights, only two of which I’ll mention. One is that “standing on one’s own”-being independent- is the central, driving force in life for almost all emerging adults. Serious religious faith and practice are “not considered crucial or intrinsic to that goal, so they are not part of the action. After school and work comes play, not Church or faith. Another insight is that young adults often feel overwhelmed. They feel they have a lot to learn and to figure out.
Paul Lundberg taught high school after earning degrees at Wake Forest and UNC-Chapel Hill. Upon graduating from Holy Cross with an MDiv in 2008, he served as a pastoral assistant at the parish of Holy Transfiguration in Marietta, GA. In 2010, he joined the Office of Vocation & Ministry at Hellenic College as Assistant Director.
Praxis, Spring 2011, Vol. 10, Issue 3: Pop Culture
