Here is my response to Kathleen’s post (which can be found here: http://lifeisbetterinblackandwhite.blogspot.com/2011/04/teen-pregnancy-media-influence-or-bad.html)
What a great post, Kathleen, and I think you bring up some really good points. When you see a rise in something like teen pregnancy, it is really concerning. When you consider shows like Teen Mom, you have to start wondering where the root cause lies – is it lack of information, or is it the glory of fame?
Someone mentioned in class that she had heard teens were purposefully getting pregnant so they could be on a show like Teen Mom – I don’t think I’ve heard anything in class so far that has disturbed me more. Reality television, like we’ve discussed in class before, often celebrates some of the worst aspects of humanity – fame-whoring, beat-at-all-costs for money, sexualized behaviour for 15 minutes of notoriety type behaviour. Watching it, you are often repulsed and intrigued all at the same time – it’s like a car accident – you don’t want to look, but you can’t look away. This is why I am so saddened that some young teens, watching a show like Teen Mom, are finding the lifestyle attractive instead of concerning.
I have watched Teen Mom – I’ve watched all of it. It is my guilty pleasure, but I am kind of shocked that some would find it a life to emulate. I am always kind of struck by these young women – they face insurmountable odds and had to change their whole life around in the face of this pregnancy. Their personal lives are often a mess between fighting with the partner of their child to arguments with parents, they have little money, and few opportunities to do better. Many of them seemed to have big plans for themselves pre-pregnancy, but are now faced with the prospect of putting off an education and plans of future development in order to raise a child. The message I take away from this is they have to struggle to survive against a very challenging situation. I find it troubling that other teens don’t see this in the same light.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Mother Abigail’s God...
My favourite apocalyptic movie of all time is a 4 part mini-series based on Stephen King’s novel, The Stand. What I find very interesting about it is the overarching storyline is a classic story of good against evil and there are religious undertones, but the “saved” members of society are not necessarily religious.
The movie focuses on life in the United States after a super flu (known as “Captain Trips”) kills all but a small fraction of the population. The survivors of the flu are drawn, through dreams, to either Mother Abigail (the prophet and true believer in God) or to Randall Flagg (the demon). Flagg, and the collection of “evil” people, set up shop in Las Vegas (an interesting, but expected, location considering the nickname of “sin city”). Mother Abigail brings her people to Boulder, Colorado and creates the Boulder Free Zone. A small number of the “good” people will eventually be sent to go to Las Vegas to “stand” against the evil, and this act will eliminate the “evil” from the US, and leave a society of only the good.
My favourite part of the story, however, is that the band of good people are not selected as good because they believe in God – in fact, I think initially most of them don’t. At one point, one of the characters who is asked to go to Las Vegas to “stand” even states that they will have to trust “Mother Abigail’s God” because it had brought them this far and they had survived. The people selected are all a little imperfect – there is a man who is cognitively delayed, a deaf mute, an unwed mother – but all the people are good people who want to do good things, faith aside.
In the class on apocalypse themes in pop culture, we talked about the secular becoming sacred, and the sacred becoming secular. I think this mini-series from the very outset strives to be both – there is a clear distinction of good and evil, and God’s presence is felt throughout the film, but it is not exclusive. God’s presence, through Mother Abigail, becomes the beacon for the good people to follow, and he does not ask for their unconditional acceptance of Him – instead, He accepts them into this new society, and the world restarts again as a cooperative community.
