Popcultured: Thinking Christianly About Style, Media and Entertainment

Popular culture is often seen as, at worst, immoral and vapid and, at best, unrelated to spirituality. Turner, a pop-music journalist (who wrote the book U2: Rattle and Hum), argues that such views are faulty because popular culture is not only a gift of God but also a space of intentional creativity through which Christians can relate to the world at large. Turner tackles topics including film, celebrities, and comedy, addressing Christian concerns while articulately fleshing out the complexities of these different arenas of popular culture. Questions and “suggestions for action” at the end of each chapter ask readers to be more reflective about their daily experiences. Turner offers not only the tools for critical engagement of popular culture, but also an earnest exploration of what it means to consciously and unconsciously participate and create as Christians in the world. (July)