Documentaries like Panorama, Everyman and Heart of the Matter deal with issues, which are of current concern to people living in Britain today. In lessons we watched clips about homeless teenagers and Bin Laden and the war in Afghanistan, These types of programme show video footage to put across points which they are trying make and to inform people about what is going on in the world at the moment. Programmes like these would be of interest to most people because they show people what is going on around them. Although sometimes opinions may be bias in programmes like this usually they give up-to-date useful information.
Analyse and explain the way in witch a religious or moral issue concern to Christians has been dealt with in a TV soap:
Soaps have very large audiences of around 14 million plus therefore they are a very good way of delivering a message to a wide range of people.
Soaps have dealt with a range of religious and moral issues for example; Brookside – Ron Dixon’s wife is a Catholic. He has an affair. His wife refused to have a divorce because it was against her beliefs. Eventually she gave in when she found and new relationship for herself.
I have chosen to write about a recent event in the soap Eastenders which involves Cat and Zoë Slater. Zoë has grown up thinking that Cat is her sister because that is what her family has always told her when Harry Slater (Cat and Zoë’s uncle) turns up and asks Zoë to leave the country and go and work for him abroad. Cat tells her she can’t go because she doesn’t trust Harry When Zoë questions this Cat tells Zoë that she is her mother and that Harry is her dad. She explains to Zoë how it all had happen and why she had not told her before. Zoë is very upset by this and runs away from home. While she is living on the streets she is found a woman who gives her a room to stay in and feeds her Zoë just think that she is being nice. But she soon realises that she is not doing all this for her just to be nice when she is forced her into prostitution. Zoë refuses to do it and asks to leave when she finds out, that she isn’t allowed to she runs way and goes back home.
I think that this particular soap deals with the issue of prostitution very well showing how young children can be forced into things that they don’t want to do if they are desperate. I think that the soap deals with it well and I think that it would make some children think twice before running away from home. I do not think the way they dealt with the issue of prostitution would offend many people. Therefore I think that soaps are a very good way to deal with religious issues because they reach a large audience. They generally deal with the issues in a good way that helps people to understand and relate to the characters. The only danger of soaps dealing with religious issues is that they might offend some people. But overall I think that soaps are good ways of dealing with religious issues and probably don’t upset many people.
Chariots Of Fire:
This film examines two different peoples beliefs in a realistic and sympathetic way.
The film was awarded an Oscar in 1981 for best picture.
The film was given a PG (Parental guidance) certificate, which means it will be seen by a wide range of people.
Vangelis composed the theme tune, which was revolutionary at the time because it used new computer driven sounds.
The story is about the rivalry between two British athletes as they prepare to take part in the 1924 Olympic games. Each man is spurred on by a personal/social handicap. Harold Abrahams is an ambitious Jew who runs because a racial prejudice he experienced at Cambridge University.
Eric Liddell, is the son of a Scottish missionary, he is an ex rugby players and he runs for the greater glory of God. The film shows their lives in the years immediately before the historic race in Paris.
Both men achieve their dream eventually. When Harold Abrahams wins the gold medal in the 100m and Eric Liddell wins gold in the 400m. Eric continues his mission work with confidence. But Harold finds emptiness and no lasting fulfilment, as he no longer has an aim in life. Abrahams becomes a barrister then goes into journalism, becomes a broadcaster and eventually becomes an elder statesman of British Athletics. He finally dies in 1978.
And Liddell goes to China as a missionary, and dies while he is serving there.
Religious prejudice; Abrahams is Jewish and knows that the lectures and fellow students at the university treat him differently because of his faith. He is spurred on by his need to prove himself, to these people.
When Abrahams completes the university dash around the courtyard (this is a timed run around the university courtyard that not many people had ever completed before) it is the first bit of evidence proving that Abrahams is a very fast runner and has a lot of skill and potential. The senior lectures watch the race and comment after he achieves the challenge “He must be one of God’s chosen people after all”.
Abrahams talks to his friend Montague and his girl friend about his feelings and his faith he implies that he has a disadvantage because he is Jewish.
The university dignitaries reprimand Abrahams form using a professional coach to achieve success, because know one else in England was using one at the time. Abrahams accuses them of being out of date and then leaves them on a bad note. When he leaves the room they respond by saying “A different God a different mountain top”. Meaning different religion different views.
When the senior tutors read the news of Abrahams victory inn the paper, they dismiss it by saying, “its what we expected”.
Eric Liddell is a very strict Christian and follows God’s laws very strictly. This is shown when at the beginning of the film, he tells a young boy off for playing football outside of the church on a Sunday. You can also see this when he refuses to run in the Olympics on a Sunday, even there is a lot of pressure put on him from the Prince of Wales and the British Olympic committee. This shows that Liddel believes that God comes before Nationalism. But Liddel still runs when he swaps his event form the 100m to the 400m with another competitor in the games.
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:
In father Ted, Father Stone visits Ted’s house, while he is there he just sits there and doesn’t talk this is showing that Father Stone is out of touch and unsociable. However Father Ted is a comedy series and although it portrays vicars, as out of touch with the modern way in does it in a humorous way, so most people probably don’t take it seriously.
In The Vicar of Dibley the main character, played my Dawn French is a fat jolly character rather like Friar Tuck in Robin Hood. She is not the conventional image of a religious person, let alone a woman priest. Initially she seems over the top and comical. However she is portrayed at the most sensible person in the TV show amongst all the characters. In the 1st episode they are expecting a man and the male characters appear ridiculous in their reaction to her.
My conclusion is that some of the time television may portray religious characters as out of touch like in Father Ted. But generally religious characters are shown to be strong and sensible characters as shown in The Vicar of Dibley. And if they do portray religious characters as out of touch it is usually done in a humorous way, which would not offend too many people.
