I think that the soap dealt with this topic very well and the way it was portrayed had many viewers around the country crying when watching it. I think soaps are very good ways of showing and expressing the ways that difficult situations, which most people don’t experience can be dealt with.
1C. Analyse and explain the way in which a religious theme of concern has been dealt with in a film or television drama.
The very recent film which I have seen which I thought dealt with religion and other things that surround this very well was the film named "East is East". The scriptwriters have presented a religious film, which shows the different aspects of that religion and the moral issues that go with it. The matter involves the contentious idea of arranged marriages, homosexuality and the concept of free choice. "East is East" is about the growing up of Asian youths in two cultures, where the father has a very influential Asian role. A typical Asian he is portrayed, strict and religious, who is very keen in wedding his three elder sons. Where as there mother is a very typical Christian English mother. The problem is that the children have been bought up in to different cultures with different morals and life styles. This is why they are rebelling against the arranged marriages that have been set out for them in the there Asian lives. They both have different ways on how to live your life and how things are done. In "East is East" arranged marriages are displayed in a negative manner, the three younger men who are obliged to marry someone who they have never met before and this is why they dread the day of the wedding. They wish they could choose who they marry be able to have that free choice. The father kind of contradicts his religion and the whole arranged marriage thing when he is married to a white women of a different race. Arranged marriage is a very frequent way of marrying in certain Asian communities, as the parents are stereotypically more strict and believe that it is their responsibility to marry off their own children. The eldest son, who the father tries to wed, runs away as he is homosexual and is too scared to own up to his dad, as he would be ashamed of him. Thus, he runs away on the day of his wedding, which just embarrasses his father even more. Then the next son rebels against his father, and this father beats him and his mother, because of this he moves out. The main themes of the film are religion, family, relationships and life in general and I think these are portrayed very well and show that these are the things that matter in life.
2. “ Television always presents religious people as out of touch with the modern world.”
Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion showing that you have considered both points of view. Your answer should refer to specific programmes.
The quote above basically means that modern-day television presents people who have a faith or religious belief as old and out of touch with the society that they live in and the modern world. To some extent this quote can be classified as true, as many modern-day religious programmes are aimed at the older age group, who, in general, went to church very often and accepted all of the traditional beliefs. E.g. programmes such as "Morning Worship" and "Songs of Praise" don't draw the interest of the younger audience, as such programmes are seen to be boring and dull. The majority of people who appear on the two shows named above are usually aged over 50 and preach about all that is erroneous with the world we live in today. These people seem to criticise a lot, which leads to the audience judging them as "out of touch" with the modern world.
The well-known soap opera "EastEnders" also portrays some religious characters in an old fashioned manner, in terms of religion. Dot Cotton, an elderly character out of EastEnders, is portrayed as a very religious woman and preaches a lot from the bible, the fact that she is elderly and religious implies to the viewers that all religious people are "out of touch" with society.
On the contrary, there are a few programmes on terrestrial T.V. that do present religious people as "in touch" with the society we live in today. A well-known show that does this is "The Vicar of Dibley", which is a comedy, and is disliked of by many members of the Catholic Church for this very reason. The vicar, who is a female in her 30's, jokes about all the time, especially about her religion, and is a humorous and lenient character. She also drinks a lot, swears, has a boyfriend and lives life to the full. The Catholics believe that the vicar mocks the religion to extreme measures, and also mocks the role of a vicar. The Catholics also disapprove of the fact of the vicar being a female, as Catholics prohibit female vicars seeing that Jesus only chose male disciples, and vicars are modern day disciples. This programme has an audience of all ages, as the people enjoy such shows, and it is a family programmes.
Another example of a programme that displays religious people "in touch" with society is "The Simpsons", a cartoon. "The Simpsons" has a few religious characters, a vicar and Ned Flanders. The vicar is less religious, and sins a lot, compared to Ned Flanders, who is strictly religious; this is seen as a very funny issue. The fact that "The Simpsons" is a cartoon means that its most obvious audience are children, who will call the characters as "funny" and "in touch" with society.
Furthermore, a magazine show such as "The Heaven and Earth show" discusses some important issues regarding religion, and also displays religious views on a certain topic. This show does not display religious people as out of touch with the modern world, because the presenters use modern day techniques on the show, like phone in sessions, where they give out advice to callers. In "The Heaven and Earth Show" celebrities are also interviewed, and seeing that they are classed as role models of the modern world, the show does not display religious people as out of touch with the modern world.
Conclusively, I believe that the idea of illustrating religious people as "out of touch" with society is dying out amongst broadcasters, and that they have now started to depict religious people as "in touch" with society, in the modern shows, to attract more audiences. The fact that no other religions are shown on television is understandable, seeing that people of a certain society may find such programmes a little dull for their interests, and broadcasters have a main aim of scoring top marks on the rating of their programmes. My personal point of view is that if the producers of religious shows can somehow include a variety of religions into the modern world and show them fitting in well, this would be an enormous accomplishment.
