The second magazine programme I watched was called ‘The Sunday Morning show’ and was very similar to the last programme in both its appearance and contents. The main difference was that the interviews and talks were more varied, interesting and religion based. It included talks about cancer where a women was cured by what she believed was an act of God, marriage, alpha courses where people went on courses to find out about God whilst having a good time and interviews with a scientist of which I didn’t see! The pace of the show was much quicker and more interesting as the discussions where on interesting issues and they were discussed quickly and thoroughly so that the programme didn’t dwindle on one issue for too long. This is why I much preferred ‘The Sunday Morning show’.
Comparing two Religious Documentaries A (1)
A religious documentary is a programme where the viewer learns about a religion by watching someone talk about the religion. These programmes can be targeted to all kinds of viewers of different ages and religions. They might include interviews, stories, articles or anything that is interesting and informative.
The two religious documentaries that I will compare are both part of the ‘Belief File’ series but concentrating on two religions: Islam and Hinduism. They were both shown at 3 in the morning and lasted an hour each.
The first programme, which was about Islam, included both young and old people who were all dedicated to their religion. The music was very appropriate to the subject the programme focused on. It was very ethnic and Arabic. The participation made by the viewer was kept to a minimal. I think this was because on the programme the people wanted to just explain and promote their religion and wanted the viewer to listen and concentrate. I thought that although attempts were made, the programme was sometimes slow and even boring at points as the information that was being told was uninteresting to me. I think that this programme was aimed at people 17+ as most people below that age would find it hard to concentrate on what was said or ‘get into’ the programme due to its sluggish pace. The programme was about a teenage girl who explained all about most aspects of her religion. In one part she told about her religious obligations:
“Other people pray in the morning but forget about God during the day,” she stated “but if you pray five times a day you don’t forget God is with you”
I enjoyed learning new things about the Islam faith but I soon found it too repetitive and tedious. It was not exactly what I expected a religious documentary to be like and I don’t think it gave too good an impression of Islam to someone of a different belief.
The second documentary was similar to the first in the way that its function was to promote Hinduism in an interesting and appealing way. The producers of this programme have tried to make it appeal to children as it demonstrates computer graphics and is hosted by children. The only music in this programme is featured in the opening credits and is traditional Indian music. The pace is much quicker than in the first programme and the structure was like this: a girl or boy would say something about the Hindu faith then that fact would appear in text form on the screen and the main words were repeated. After that a short video would be played to demonstrate the fact said before. It was not what I expected from a religious documentary although I did slightly enjoy it.
In conclusion I can say that in what each programmed try to achieve they failed. They tried to teach non-Hindus and non-Muslims about their respective religions but because of the slow pace of each programme. The second programme tried to make Hinduism ‘cool’ and up to date with today’s society using computer graphics but failed miserably.
Comparing two different
Episodes of Songs of praise A (1)
Songs of Praise is a worship programme. Worship programmes are the longest running type of specifically religious programme. Most worship programmes are to do with the Christian faith and in a worship programme depending on which religion it is for contains hymns, sermons, readings from whichever holy book, interviews etc.
Both Songs of Praise programmes were shown on different Sundays at around five in the evening.
The people in the first episode were varied. There were churchgoers black and white, young and old, male and female. There was also famous athlete Jonathan Edwards, a devoted Christian who presented the show and professional footballer Lomana Lua Lua and his family. The audience was involved in this programme throughout as subtitles appeared at the bottom so viewers could sing along to the hymns. I was instantly shocked after watching only a few minutes of this programme as I believed in the stereotype that songs of praise was an old persons programme. I was proved wrong by the jazzy hymns and upbeat tunes that sounded more like catchy pop songs than serious religious hymns! Apart from the hymns there was also an enjoyable interview with the footballer Lomana Lua Lua. This part of the programme really appealed to me and other children, as I like many others am a very fond football follower. He was interviewed by Jonathan Edwards who asked him how his faith affects his life and his career. The structure of the programme was that a song would be followed by an interview and then again throughout the programme. I think that this programme appealed to Christians of all creeds and ages. It was not what I expected from this type of programme and gives a good impression of the Christian faith to someone of a different belief. Its only flaw was that it would probably not appeal to older, more traditional Christians because of its young approach to worship.
The second episode of songs of praise was identical in is presentation as it was the same programme but a complete contrast in atmosphere and mood. This programme was a programme of mourning for the victims of the September the 11th attacks and so the music was low and dull, the colours were black and grey, the jolly interviews of the previous episode was non-existent and the tone was very sombre. In the programme as well as the mourners there was a priest who read out parts of the bible and there was a prayer at the end for the victims and their families.
I was pleasantly surprised by the first episode we watched and enjoyed it from start to finish but was reminded what my vision of songs of praise was with the second. For these reasons I can say that I far more enjoyed the first episode as I thought it gave a much better impression of religion although the second gave across a good indication of how serious religion is as well.
Describe, Explain and Analyse the way
in which a religious issue has been
dealt with in a TV soap opera – A(2)
A soap opera is a type of TV programme that follows stories about different fictional people in a fictional town. Some examples of soap opera’s are Eastenders, Coronation Street, Neighbours and Brookside.
In soap operas, sometimes religious issues can occur. For example, in Eastenders among other soaps, racism, theft, sexuality, lying, death, abortion and euthanasia are all focused upon at one point or another.
In Eastenders at the moment, the issue of adultery has been brought up. Adultery is when two people have sex although one of them is wed to someone else. The characters involved are: Billy, who is Mo’s boyfriend and current sexual partner, Mo, who is still married to Trevor but is Billy’s girlfriend and lastly Trevor, who refuses to divorce Mo although they have separated. I think the producer has chosen this topic because it is a very debateable topic that will keep the audience interested. Also, it is a topic that a lot of people can relate to and so will be interested as to how the situation unfolds. The situation is relieved when Trevor is killed in a house fire and Mo and Billy get wed!
I think that the storyline is seen as blasphemous to most Christians and Muslims as they both believe that adultery is forbidden. For others the plot will appear relatively normal as nowadays adultery is a regular occurrences and it happens more now than it did before. Most people who watch Eastenders will not be so hard on Billy and Mo as they will know that Trevor is more at fault than anyone!
Religion was not brought into the story at all and the characters were not to bothered about breaking the commandment, ‘do not commit adultery’. As well as Christianity and Islam, Judaism and Hinduism also frown upon adultery. The most religious character in the soap, Dot Cotton, would not approve of the handling of the situation, as she is a traditional Christian who frowns upon almost everything!
The second storyline I will investigate is from the soap Brookside and involved the issue of abortion. Abortion is when a pregnant woman has her unborn baby killed before she has it. A girl who was bullied into having an abortion by her dad fells very upset and guilty. She is now looked upon by her friends and family as a murderer. The local vicar comforts her and gives her friendly and helpful advice. He tells her that he is not here to judge her and just encourages her to keep on going. The storyline is greatly affected by religion as the vicar plays a big part in the plot.
Religious people would disapprove of this predicament as most religions object to of the killing of one of Gods creations.
Religion and the Media – A(3)
Describe, Explain and Analyse how a
Religious theme is dealt with in a film
In the film, ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral,’ several religious issues are brought up and regarded as ‘unimportant’ and not as serious as other religious people would find it.
The film is about a group of young adults who attend four weddings and a funeral. The two religious issues in the film that I am going to describe, explain and analyse are immorality and marriage.
The first clip I watched was set in a café where two characters, Carrie and Charlie, were discussing their sexual history. The pair had previously had sex on two occasions. Charlie is in love with Carrie but she is about to marry someone else. This is immorality as they both had sex together before they were legally wed in front of God. Neither of them seemed particularly religious, as they did not appear to be too bothered about committing immorality. In the bible it says that ‘there should not be a hint of immorality in you’. Also, in the Quar’an it says that you should not give into temptation. During the conversation Carrie starts to go through how many sexual partners she has had. This makes Charlie nervous and embarrassed as he knows that she has never before been married and so every memory Carrie recollects on is a different case of immorality she has committed. In all Carrie admits to having sex with 33 individual men without marrying any of them. She does not seem concerned about this though. Both a Christian and a Muslim would think that this is wrong but someone who is not so devoted would not think this is such a bad thing and might not even know it was a sin! Carrie herself could be labelled a hypocrite, as she would like to be wed in a ‘traditional church.’
The second clip is set in a church where Charlie is going to get married to a woman called duckface mainly because most of his friends are getting married! Before the ceremony takes place Carrie turns up and informs Charlie that she had a divorce. This raises doubts in Charlie’s head about whether he should go on with his wedding. In the end he decides not to marry duckface and instead reveals his love for Carrie and they live happily ever after! (except duckface). In this clip Charlie shows that he is not prepared to lie in the house of God or make vows he is very likely to break and this shows the audience he has strong morals. The fact that he didn’t go ahead with the marriage is a good thing as the marriage would probably end in divorce sooner or later. Maybe the fact that the vicar explained how ‘we are gathered here today in the sight of God’ made Charlie feel guilty which might also have contributed to the fact that he called off the wedding. Religious people would respect Charlie for his actions for it would be better if he didn’t marry than to ‘forever hold his peace’.
Contents page
Page Contents
2 Introduction
3 Comparing two magazine Religious Programmes
5 Comparing two Religious Documentaries
7 Comparing two Different Episodes of ‘Songs Of Praise’
9 Describe, Explain and Analyse the way in which a Religious Issue has been dealt with in a TV Soap Opera
11 Describe, Explain and Analyse how a Religious theme is dealt with In a film
13 Television always presents Religious people as ‘out of touch’
