The Bible and Media Literacy

I don’t remember the whole concept and if I find it, I’ll bring it back to y ‘all.

But the idea is that a lot of people’s understanding of how to engage with and enjoy media stops at bible study.

That if you like something, that means you aim to be or to follow in the footsteps of the main character. That Their morals are instructional, etc.

This manifests in two key groups for me: Folks who think enjoying Lolita means you’re a pedophile (of note, I have not read the book itself, but the arguments I’ve seen in the discourse are this juvenile) and the group that thinks liking “morally grey” characters means wanting a Trump presidency. I’m sure it extends beyond these two things (literally, if you give me a week and some churros, I could probably write an essay connecting it to the blue curtain criers) but these are two that stick out to me with their insistence on such a 1 to 1 connection between book and reader’s reality.

And it sticks out a lot to me as someone who enjoys satire. Media where there’s two active narratives: The narrative the characters are interpreting and the one built around them via consequences to their actions, That is the narrative for the viewer to follow.

But people that can’t look past what the main character is saying will get stuck on that and ignore the fact that every time they say that terrible thing, they get kicked in the face by a horse.