Supernatural Shows Replacing Religion?
Brought to you by OBS staff member Heidi
Young people have become increasingly irreligious in countries such as Denmark, yet they still ponder the big questions: Is there a heaven? What happens to us when we die? Will we turn into vampires? Well, perhaps not that last question, but according to Line Nybro Petersen of the University of Copenhagen’s film and media studies department, supernatural-themed television shows and movies, like Twilight, are helping teenagers explore questions about life and death—and some of them find the answers they’re looking for…
Petersen noted the appearance of ritualized behaviors in deeply involved fans attending these movies or watching these shows:
Petersen told the Daily Mail,
“I have observed the Twilight fans at premieres and noted how they through a number of rituals show or perform their affiliation with the series. They cry, shriek, and sing – and this performance is central to their sense of belonging to something larger than themselves.”
And LiveScience wrote, “The communal experiences of hardcore fans of the series can even echo religious communities.” (Forbes.com) Picture credit: Onsugar.com
Do you think Twilight and True Blood and the like have caused teens to shy away from religion? I honestly think the shows and movies have no bearing on what kids are going to do. If they have strayed from religion, they would have done so with or without the shows, but that it’s just another nice convenient thing to blame the so-called problems of today’s youth on. I think these “experts” and the parents that believe what they’re saying should focus on ways to make religion appealing to their kids and spend less time trying to find something to blame their problems on.
In fact, I think book series such as Twilight, Sookie Stackhouse (the book series True Blood is based on), Harry Potter, the Hunger Games, Percy Jackson and more have done a great service to today’s youth; they’ve got them READING!! As a parent of a pre-teen I know how difficult it is to find books that kids want to read and these books made kids not only want to read, but actually want to rush out and get book after book because they were so engrossed in the storylines and they couldn’t get ENOUGH of them!! And what is wrong with that?? Not a damn thing if you ask me!! Who cares if they go in droves when the movies come out and get excited and talk non-stop about them? There are much worse things kids could be doing. They’re not addicted to drugs, just some blood-sucking, magic wielding, shapeshifting characters they’ve fallen in love with!
