Religion and the media

In particular I am thinking about the affect of 'mercy' killing and coming to terms with death, on Dorothy Coton. This is the story. Dorothy's best friend Ethel is dying of cancer and is in immense pain. She refuses to have any cancer therapy treatments so her only help is painkillers. Rather than wait for the pain to worsen and take over her body and life, she'd rather choose her time to die. Dorothy is heartbroken at the fact that she is losing her friend and Ethel's only wish is for her to kill her. Dorothy is at her loss, she is sworn to secrecy by Ethel, so she has no one to talk to, and she must make a decision.

Dorothy is a very devoted Christian and believes that it is wrong to do this and that it is a sin. However watching her friend deteriorate is too much and she is confused.

In the end, Dorothy agrees to end her friend's pain. They throw Ethel a mock-birthday party. She plans that after the party she will no longer be living.

For Ethel the worst is over; she was able to die at her happiest, but Dorothy must come to terms with her friend's death and her own 'sin'. To do this she confesses to the police but hey don't believe her. She tries to find solace in God but still believes that she must pay for her sin. She purposely gets caught shoplifting and dismantles some shelves in a store in order to be arrested. She believes that prison is the only way that her sin can be annulled.

The story deals with conflicting interests, a battle of friendship against faith and what is believed to be sin against doing what is right

The film that I wish to analyse is 'Romero'. The religious issue that this film deals with is the subject of suffering.

The film is set in El Salvador in the years 1977-80. The main theme in this theme is oppression, in particular economic oppression administered by the greed of the rich and powerful. The communist, military and the aristocracy are those that hold all the power and abuse it.

In the film the new appointed Archbishop, Oscar Romero, learns that he must make a stand for his faith and for the people that are suffering around him. On first meeting Romero he is a weak man who is afraid to stand up for what he believes in. However the cries and many voices of his people pushes him to do what is right. He is eventually seen as the peoples pillar of strength.

His fellow Salvadorans are suffering at great lengths, caused by those misusing their power, and so they place their hopes and fears in their faith and in Romero. There is even division among the people in the church. The rich and powerful sit while the poor and overworked must stand. The President's daughter who wanted her child baptised would not have him baptised "with a bunch of Indians." The real turning point in Romero's career as archbishop is when terrorists gunned down his good friend Father Grandé and other innocent people. This brought doubt in Romero's decision to be neutral. The people need his strength, because it is he who they turned to in a crisis situation. After this occurence Romero's views had changed. He uses his position to help strengthen the people's faith and their trust in God. The people's lives are so bad that the belief that God offers something to look forward to gets them through the day.

Romero's growth and development brings him more confidence, he is no longer afraid to speak him mind despite what others think. Terrorists kidnap the President's son in law, Rafael Zelada and his wife comes to Romero for help. He appeals to the President about the issue of political prisoners yet the President seems to hardly care and the government ignores this as much as possible. The military and government have no respect for the church. The President himself describes the church as being "....a whore who'll spread her legs to the highest bidder." In the end Zelada is killed and his body is found on a pile of dirt.

In an almost revengeful way, Father Osura is taken prisoner by the military. They torture him with electricity to his genitalia. Romero stands up to the military authority and gets Father Osura freed.

The people were more scared than ever and tried to revolt by holding two soldiers captive in the church. Romero is shocked at the desperate length that even a priest has gone to, who carries a gun around with him. Romero realises that the people are losing God just as their oppressors have.

The situation in El Salvador had turned into a deadly one, and it was the poor people who had drawn the short end of the straw. As the battle for power continued the poor people, the innocent continued to get caught in the fire line. On March 24 1980 Romero was assassinated in the church, but the struggle for peace, freedom and dignity of the people never ended with Romero's death.

The film Romero is a classic representation of oppression and suffering which is a deep issue to religious people.

"Television always presents religious people out of touch with the modern world."

I do not agree with the view that religious people on television are always presented as being out of touch with the modern world because in some soaps religious people are quite in touch with the modern world. For example, Harold Bishop in neighbours is well accustomed to the Internet and he and his wife have a business over it. Harold may have some old-fashioned values but he is very aware of modern thoughts and problems. It is the same for Dorothy Coton in Eastenders. She is very religious and old-fashioned however she is also very aware of problems that affect our society today, rather than what was on Yesterday's list. I think that that is what being in touch with the modern world is all about. It is not about wearing the latest fashions or being the trendiest you can be, it is about being conscious of social problems that are around today.

Most people will probably consider Harold and Dorothy as being out of touch because of the fact that they are quite boring and do seem to reflect a certain ancientness and old-fashionedness about them. However they have had their share of problems to deal with and it has made them open to modern things and a modern way of thinking. Just because you are a certain age it doesn't write you off as being out of touch.

Young religious characters on television do not seem to have quite the same problems but sometimes they can be made to seem boring and too sensible. That is probably why there are not very many young religious people on television and when there is they are made to seem quite strange and almost comic in some cases. Then there is always a social problem that is to be dealt with and that is what brings people in touch with the world, being aware of these problems and even empathising with them.