To think that some of our parents lived through the advent of television, watched the explosion of cable, the introduction of HD and are now streaming several seasons of Veep on their computer, it’s safe to say that television has changed massively over the decades. It can also be said that it has changed us as well.
Part of that major change has been the explosion of serials, making television a go-to source for serious storytelling.
Erica Andrus, senior religion lecturer at the University of Vermont, and Jason Mittell, film professor at Middlebury College and author of Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling, joined Vermont Edition to talk about the role television plays in culture and religion.
How does television intersect with religion?
Andrus teaches a course on religion and popular culture, as well as a course on religion, film and television. “When I approach that with my students, the first thing we look at is the most direct intersection, [which is] how does television portray religion? And what does that tell us about how we as Americans feel about religion, or perceive religion, in society?” she says. “…We look at how television takes on some of the functions that we normally think of as belonging in the religious sphere. The creation of alternate realities, or whole worlds that are similar to ours, but also different.”
"We look at how television takes on some of the functions that we normally think of as belonging in the religious sphere. The creation of alternate realities, or whole worlds that are similar to ours, but also different." - Erica Andrus, senior religion lecturer at the University of Vermont
Andrus says that her classes explore the idea of ritual with religion and television, where people come together as fans of a particular show. “This doesn’t happen, clearly, with every show, but we have the classic example of Star Trek where there’s a very active fan community and they’ve taken it way beyond just the television shows,” she explains. “They put on the outfits, they learn the languages, they come together in communities and groups and do good things.” Andrus says that it also informs the worldviews of the fans. “They use at least analogies from Star Trek, if not the actual philosophies that are presented to them in the Star Trek world,” she says.
Is television more dominant now than it was when there were only three major networks?
"I think that in the ’70s, for instance, a lot of television was very influential, but there wasn’t the sense that if you wanted to see great storytelling you would go to television." - Jason Mittell, film professor at Middlebury College
Mittell says television isn’t necessarily more dominant, but differently dominant. “Back in the classic network era, sort of pre-1990s, you had the vast majority of the population watching television, but you had them watching the same things. So, it wasn’t uncommon to get 30-40 million people watching the same episode in a given night,” he says. Mittell points out that now, the viewers are much more dispersed, but that television is more central to our culture. “At least more central to the culture of storytelling,” he says. “I think that in the ’70s, for instance, a lot of television was very influential, but there wasn’t the sense that if you wanted to see great storytelling you would go to television. Television was seen as either something that was escapist, or maybe that bonded us together as a nation. But if you wanted artful, creative work then you generally tended to go to film, and I think that has certainly shifted quite a bit.”
Today, the movie theatre is where everyone goes to see the same thing, much like television was in the past, Mittell says. “With [present day] television, a lot of different people are watching different things, but they are much more immersive and central to people’s lives, in the way of religiosity,” says Mittell.
On binge-watching
Mittell says he tries to avoid the phrase binge-watching, instead calling it compressed viewing. “I think it’s interesting that a lot of people [talk about] binge-watching as if this is the new norm; this is how everyone does it,” he says. “The little bits of data that has been out, because Netflix actually doesn’t share any of its viewer data, but based on what I’ve read, it’s actually not a norm. It’s more of a … vocal fringe practice.” Mittell says he thinks most people mix their viewing habits, sometimes watching a certain show in quick succession, but also spreading out episodes over time.
"The VCR changed that a little bit, but the vast majority of people never figured out how to program their VCR to actually record it." - Jason Mittell
He says that it speaks to the idea that television used to be completely scheduled for us and that we didn’t have any control over how we watched. “The VCR changed that a little bit, but the vast majority of people never figured out how to program their VCR to actually record it. Then DVR’s allowed more active time shifting, and now the rise of streaming services like Netflix … has allowed people to take more control of the time, in the same way people can take control of how they read a book,” he says. “… One of the really important things to think about when talking about television viewing is that it is part of everyday life and people’s lives are very different.” Mittell points out that many people can’t afford streaming services like Netflix or Hulu, and that many with young children can’t afford the time to watch huge amounts of television. “The idea that you can carve out five our six hours to marathon a show is certainly not part of my own lifestyle, even though watching television is something I do for work and for pleasure,” he says.
On show runners being an important part of television for fans
Mittell thinks that in recent years there has been a re-assertion of a central author figure: the show runner. “And I think we can see that authorial function as serving the almost religious role, so while I agree that fans produce their own work and transform the text, there are a lot of fans who see their devotion to the text as tied to this creator figure.” Mittell says that there is a religious connotation to people saying that they want to watch whatever their favorite show runners have created, siting Aaron Sorkin [The West Wing] and Matt Weiner [Mad Men] as examples.
Is religion portrayed as positive or negative on TV?
"In American popular culture in general, we tend to have the view that Islam is not a good religion. Mostly, parts for Muslims in television shows tend to be the terrorist part." - Erica Andrus
Andrus says that it really depends on the religion. “In American popular culture in general, we tend to have the view that Islam is not a good religion. Mostly, parts for Muslims in television shows tend to be the terrorist part,” she says. “Whereas you see the opposite in Buddhism, or Eastern religions in general, sometimes it’s not even identified as Buddhism, sometimes it’s just kind of generic, stereotyped Eastern religion that is portrayed as peaceful and wise. So there do tend to be these stereotypes that are problematic when it comes to the portrayal of religion.” She adds that atheists are also given a “bad rap” on television and that those who are too religious are often portrayed as untrustworthy and negative.
On knowing a television character better than anyone in real life
While doing research in an online community, Andrus says she got insight on our relationships with television characters through a particular character in the show Battlestar Galactica. “When we watch television, it’s not just that we see these same characters every week or every night … but we also see them in a much more intimate way than we see actual people,” she explains. She says in the very first episode, the viewer learns that the main character has cancer and that no one else in the show is privy to that information. “Nobody knows her as well as we, who are sitting in our living room experiencing this with her through the screen. So television really does pull on your emotions in a way that is quite intimate and to me, that kind of explains why we develop these intense, what psychologists call ‘para-social relationships,’ with television characters,” says Andrus.
"When we watch television, it's not just that we see these same characters every week or every night ... but we also see them in a much more intimate way than we see actual people." - Erica Andrus
On the lack of explanation of characters in recent television
Mittell says that in recent television, there is the idea that the world in a certain show, and the characters in it, won’t be spelled out and that you’ll have to experience it over episode after episode. “That sense of engagement in a world that is not clear to you at first glance is something that I think is unique to television, especially in its serial form,” he says. “The idea that you watch an episode and then you have to wait a week to go back to that world, to re-experience those relationships, I think is really important of the power of television and that ritual effect where we keep going back because we want to have that bond.”
Mittell adds that part of what makes this possible is the omnipresence of the Internet as a second screen. “A lot of television writers and producers have embraced this … They’ve outsourced the exposition and they’ve outsourced a lot of the confusion to fans to create their wikis, to create their fan [websites] so you don’t have to spend time in an episode itself to remind us what’s going on,” he says. “And I think that that is becoming really baked into how television producers see their audience, as always being able to look something up so they don’t have to tell it to you.”
How does television shape society?
"Media, and television specifically, don't tell people what to think, they tell people what to think about." - Jason Mittell
“I don’t like to think about television as doing things to people, I like to think about what people do with television,” says Mittell. “There’s no doubt that television shapes our opinions … That being said, just because you see it, you don’t assume – and I don’t think the majority of viewers do assume – that it’s simply truth. Media, and television specifically, don’t tell people what to think, they tell people what to think about.”
