A religious documentary I viewed was about arranged marriages. It was about an Asian boy whom his mum had arranged a bride for him back home in Pakistan. All he had seen was a picture of his wife-to-be and had never met her in his life or even spoken to her. It shows the feeling and emotion the groom goes through in this time.
I believe young Asian people would prefer to watch a programme of this sort as they might have an arranged marriage and want to understand the prospects they go through. Other races may also watch it as they might want to gain a greater understanding of what an arrange marriage involves.
Some people may not find this programme interesting as they know it will not affect them and don’t really care. Others may find it boring or they would prefer to watch something different.
In my opinion, I found the programme of interest as it gave me an insight of arranged marriages. Although I am not going to have an arranged marriage, in the future I might come across someone who has and will understand how and why they had an arranged marriage.
A worship programme I have viewed is ‘Songs of Praise’. This programme is on Sundays on BBC one between 17:30pm and 18:05pm so it is on for 35 minutes. The main focus of the programme is to sing hymns, which is a Christian act of worship. These programmes are targeted at Religious Christians and they are set in mainly churches. Often, famous people are interviewed on ‘Songs of praise’ and sometimes local people are also interviewed. The programme is enjoyed by many as many traditional songs are sung. The programme I watched was presented by the famous singer Sir Cliff Richard and was about many of his personal favourite hymns. He explained his belief in Christianity and also sang some hymns too. Their was also an interview with the famous producer Pete Waterman and he expressed his love for choral music. Their was also an exclusive performance from his new protégé 14-year-old Lauren Waterworth.
The religious/moral issue I will be analysing will be ‘murder’ between Janine Butcher, Paul and Barry Evans in Eastenders. This storyline was an ongoing saga in which Janine intended to marry Barry for his money when she was in love with Paul and they were having an affair all throughout the build up. They both found out that Barry had a heart condition and could die anytime soon. So Janine decided to marry Barry for his money as he would die anyway and she could be with Paul. They did eventually get married but after the wedding ceremony as Barry called the doctor he found out that he didn’t have a heart condition and he would live many more years. This shocking news spoilt all the plans and Janine couldn’t be with Barry anymore. As they were taking a walk on the Scottish highlands, Janine confessed all to Barry. But he was so shacked he was in denial and forgave her straight away and wanted her back. Janine; however had other plans and pushed Barry over a cliff to his death.
Janine was facing this problem of being stuck with someone she didn’t love because she married Barry only for his money and was really in love with Paul. I would say it was more a moral issue than a religious one as none of the characters are religious at all and are not practising Christians. The only solution was to confess all and this was done but only after the marriage, however after confessing Barry was in so much denial and shock he decided to take her back and forgive her on the spot even for a little happiness. Different ideas and viewpoints were definitely communicated as when Paul realised what he was actually doing he decided to break up with Janine. There was also the viewpoint of Ricky Butcher, Janine’s sister who was absolutely disgusted with her actions and left Walford with his child as he could not trust Janine near his child. However, Janine was actually pleased by her actions and showed no signs of guilt, in a sick and twisted way. There has been quite a lot of discussion on this issue and they have mainly been negative and all towards Janine Butcher. My opinion on this issue is that it was well perceived and fitted in with Janine’s character as she has a history of being evil.
Janine was portrayed as a sick and twisted lady who had no care or guilt to whom she hurt. But Paul on the other although he did commit adultery deteriorated into guilt and was ashamed of what he did. This made the audience feel pity for him and he was forgiven. However, Janine was still living her life full of deception and was trying to get every ounce of sympathy. But the audience view of her was disgusting. I believe this was the correct way to deal with this type of story line as it very close to reality as there these types of people in the world. The perception of the characters was also right as Janine has a history of hurt and betrayal.
The film I will be analysing is ‘East is East’ a film about George Khan a tough father and proud Pakistani chip shop owner. He is bringing up his family of seven children in a cramped terraced house in Salford, North of England. The year is 1971 and the family are finding life tough. George wants the best for his kids but the idea of arranged marriages and other Pakistani customs does not appeal to his children. Meenah(his daughter) prefers swapping her sari for a football shirt, Tariq is the smooth-talking ladies man at the local nightclub and this is the story of what happens when two cultures collide within one family.
The issue I will be focusing on is ‘arranged marriages’ which is a main focus in this film. Arranged marriages used to be forced upon the couple, whereby they had no choice or any say in the matter. The couple would not have met each other until their wedding day. So if the couple were not attracted to each other, they would have no choice but to keep quiet about it. Obviously they could not have got divorced in the Asian culture, as the families reputation would have been affected, although divorce is still an unpopular subject within the Asian community and this is the topic dealt with in this film. The film begins with the arranged marriage of George Khan’s oldest son, who is silently angry and displeased with the arranged marriage but doesn’t voice his anger. His father forces him to have an arranged marriage to an unknown girl. But just as the wedding ceremony begins he walks out as the pressure gets too much. This leads to George kicking his son out and pretending he has no oldest son, and says he is dead. I have chosen the theme of ‘arranged marriages’ as it is an issue that is dealt with in our everyday lives. The effect it will have on people is to show the hardship children go through when there is a generation gap and also a mix of cultures.
But that isn’t the end of arranged marriages. Still, after the disaster of the last arranged marriage, the father undercover decides to get his other two sons arranged in marriage secretly without the son’s knowledge. The sons in anger rip up all the traditional marriage clothing and the father decides to beat a son, but beats the wrong son. This also leads to the wife (a white woman) standing up for herself but also getting beaten. The sons are forced to meet the daughters who very ugly. But at the meeting they show very poor manners and start to act up which leads to the daughters father walking out and rejecting the marriage. George then realises he is wrong and the family are happy again.
The film gives the impression that all Asian families force their children to have an arranged marriage, which is totally untrue. There is also the fact that a Muslim married a Christian woman. This in Islam is totally forbidden, as a Muslim is only allowed to marry another Muslim. So, this was also depicted totally untrue. If the script writers would have had a converted Christian, it would have been more suitable. Children nowadays, if they saw that they might think it would be alright to get married to a Christian when it is not. I think the film writer was trying to show the difficulty of having a mixed-culture and mixed-race marriage as it poses new difficulties and problems. I believe the issue could have been dealt with more sensitively, as the Muslim father was made out to be a villain and the mother a hero sort of figure. This could have also caused offence to many viewers because of the way the issue and characters have been dealt with.
‘Arranged marriages’ is an issue as it is something that takes place in our everyday lives and people need to have a greater understanding of what goes on as the country is getting more mixed than ever. The significance of having an arranged marriage is it helps maintain the social satisfaction system in the society, it gives parents control over family members and it enhances the chances to preserve and continue the family line.
In my opinion, the issue was dealt with very badly, as it was made to portray Muslim fathers as wife and son beaters and also they were made a joke out of. All arranged marriages are also nothing likes this, maybe some are but many are with the consent of the son/daughter. But it was quite a funny film. Some people might have taken offence to this film aswell because of the way Muslims were portrayed.
“Television always presents religious people as out of touch with the modern world”
This statement basically means that television programmes always portray religious people as not up to date with the modern world.
There are many examples of religious characters in television and film these days. I have watched a number of films and programmes which have religious characters in them. The films and programmes which I will focus on are ‘East is East’ and ‘The Heaven and Earth show’
‘East is East’ had one main religious character who was George Khan. He was presented as being out of touch with the modern world and also portrayed as a person stuck in his traditional values. He was presented this way as he was forcing his sons to get married to some unknown girls, as this would never happen if it was a less religious or younger father.
Another programme which presents religious people as out of touch with the modern world is ‘Songs of praise’. The show itself shows that it is out of touch with the modern world as it only focuses on one religion when in today’s world Britain is a multi-faith country. The actual hymns are also based solely on 18th/19th century hymns. They do not include modernised Christian music, such as R’n’B gospel, and hip hop gospel hence ignoring those people who are not interested in hymns that are not of their time.
Eastenders is also another programme which portrays religious people this way. The character Dot Cotton is portrayed as a typical out of touch person, because she allows her religion to influence and justify everything that she does. She re-married and married Jim Branning and because of her religious beliefs, decided to buy a bunk bed to sleep separately. This action is totally going against the process of consummating their marriage.
However, ‘The Heaven and Earth’ show perceived the religious characters as in touch with the modern world. This was because they were bright, happy and made quite a lot of jokes. They also played music and wore ‘normal’, casual clothes. The use of modern technology e.g. call-ins, emails and texts lets viewers express and join in discussion topics. They also focused on many of the current affairs going on and also examined different aspects of different religions. They also added interviews with a
Celebrity which definitely doesn’t show they are out of touch with the modern world.
‘Vicar of Dibley’ is also another programme which doesn’t show religious people being out of touch with the modern world. We know this immediately as the programme is based on a female priest, keeping up with the changes being made in the catholic religion. It is also a comedy and sees her as a fun and sociable person who also makes fun of traditional beliefs.
There are also many documentaries such as ‘Panorama’ which deal with many religious issues but unlike religious programmes, influencing you from one side of view, the programme lets you decide. This shows religious people being in touch with the modern world as it examines today’s society and identifies changes.
A stereotype is a fixed idea, on something or someone. For example a skinny person is the only beautiful type. Films and programmes often use stereotypical characters as this is what the audience want to see or it maybe is appropriate to the storyline. In some films or programmes the Director purposely uses a stereotype as a religious figure being out of touch with the modern world as this can sometimes be quite comic. However, in other films or programmes this is not the case, religious people are seen to be ‘in touch’ with the modern world. For example, in ‘Sister Act’ a nun is seen to be very hilarious and gets on very well with a bunch of teenage school children. She is portrayed as being funny and up to date with the modern world.
Overall, I believe that the Television does occasionally present religious people as ‘out of touch’ with the modern world as this can sometimes be very funny and appropriate. I don’t personally have a problem with this, unless the characters are perceived wrongly about their religion or the religion is made to look bad or unfair. However, it still offends many people and Directors should be more sensitive when dealing with religious people or issues.
