intrinsic double aspect of cultural products

God in the Details examines how religion is communicated in pop culture. The editors write “the challenge, then, lies not in overcoming the “otherness” of our subjects of study, but in choreographing the dance that allows us to come into intimate closeness with these subjects and then step back to do critical analysis” (2011, p. 7). This seems to be a “big idea” this week. Where do we, as individuals find the dance lines?

In The Simpsons, religion is used satirically. Many people are offended by the way the show handles religion. They ask if the media is changing us or reflecting our changes.


Clifford Geertz calls this the “‘intrinsic double aspect’ of cultural products that are both models of and models for reality” (as cited in Dalton, Mazur, & Siems, 2011, p. 240). Geertz argues that this is important to a culture because these patterns “give meaning … to social and psychological reality both by shaping themselves to it and by shaping it to themselves’ (Geertz 1973, 93)” (as cited by Dalton, Mazur, & Siems, 2011, p. 241).



The opinion I seem to be forming is that culture’s influence is inescapable and our best plan is to try to influence it for the better. Influencing it for the better may just involve using technology and media as Schultze suggests. “We will have to invest as much time and energy in the habits of our hearts as we do in our high-tech practices” (2002, p.209).

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Dalton, L., Mazur, E. M. & Siems, M. (2011). Homer the Heretic and Charlie Church: Parody, piety, and pluralism in The Simpsons.

In Mazur, E. M. & McCarthy, K. (Eds.) (2011). God in the details: American religion in popular culture (2nd ed.) (pp. 237-254).
New York, NY: Routledge.

Mazur, E. M. & McCarthy, K. (Eds.) (2011). God in the details: American religion in popular culture (2nd ed.) (pp. 237-254). New York, NY: Routledge.

Schultze, Q. J. (2002). Habits of the high-tech heart: Living virtuously in the Information Age. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

Spicer, T. (2011, April 11). Christian Media [Msg. 1]. Retrieved from http://sauonline.arbor.edu

Woods, R. (2011, April 11). The Matrix, L.O.S.T., Seinfeld, and, yes, Rocky! Some “big ideas” for everyone [Msg. 1]. Retrieved from http://sauonline.arbor.edu

 

How Much Self-Disclosure?

Weisel & King’s study found that participants (who were strangers) in conversations with moderate and severe self-disclosure were far more forgiving than observers of the same conversations. The study challenges prior research findings which use surveys rather than face-to-face conversations to study effects of self-disclosure.

 

Defining an intimate relationship

Below are five characteristics that I believe define an intimate relationship.

1. Presence – (preferably face-to-face, this could also include online interactions) Just as we talked about presence (immediacy) being an important factor in classmate relations, this is necessary in intimate relationships.

2. Growth over time – Realizing that relationships are an ongoing process and continuing to learn about and grow closer to each other as time passes.

Just as we are always evolving, growing and learning as we continue through life, I think that our friendships grow. Even if we were able to say that we knew everything there was to know about a person (which I doubt is possible, even with a spouse), the next day there is more about that person to learn.

 

Non-Verbal Enviornment

This week I have been frustrated with my messy house. I find it difficult to juggle my many responsibilities. My home most often gets ignored because it is not a “paid” position.

This week I have been reminded of other ways that having a clean, healthy, and safe home is a “paid” position. Strom writes of the influence that environment has on mood relating a study done. The study showed that subjects viewed pictures of people as generally more attractive if they were seated in a beautiful room. The study also found that an “ugly room created a sense of monotony, fatigue, headache, discontent, sleepiness, irritability, and hostility” (2009, p. 80).

 

Convergence

I believe that I could work on speaking culturally. People in my area say things like “you’s” for “you all” and add “s” to the end of many store names, like “Wal-Mart’s”. Recently, my family received a card at church and it had been changed to say something like “you’s” and before I realized what I was doing, I laughed out loud at it. The person who wrote it genuinely thought that it should be “fixed”, as did most everyone in the congregation.

It is hard for me to knowingly use language wrongly, but when speaking to people in my area, I could improve by not just understanding their quirks, but joining in to foster identification. I don’t feel that I fit in with my community very well because I am educated, professional and white-collar while they are blue-collar working poor. Is there a way to find a happy medium between speaking correctly and culturally in this situation?

“Covergence is a strategy of communication