Subathiny Kanapathippillai
‘Television always presents religious people as out of touch with the modern world’. Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion, showing you have considered another point of view.
Most people presented on television are not shown as being out of touch with the modern world. In particular the younger generation do not seem to be so much in tune with religion. On the other hand there are some more elderly people who have stronger religious beliefs. Sometimes those people tend to live a different way of life from the majority of other people.
Both Coronation Street and East Enders are shown at peak time for viewing, around 7.30pm. This is the time when people will have eaten their evening meal and are beginning to relax for the evening. Coronation Street depicts Emily Bishop as a deeply religious elderly lady who makes hospital visits to the sick, helps to run a charity shop and attend Church regularly. It is obvious that Emily would not do a bad deed or hurt anyone in anyway. Similarly she would not expect anyone else to commit a sin. However she does not push her religion on to other people in the same way as Dot Branning does, who appears in East Enders. Dot is portrayed as a rather strange lady who is often seen quoting verses from the Bible. By dealing with people in this way, it is obvious that she wants all people to do well. However because her approach and style is very different from most people, she is seen as odd.