William D. Romanowski is the kind of media critic the world is looking for. His book, Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture, is a treatise on analysis and engagement of the various forms of American pop art. His book offers a down-to-earth and astute parsing of the music, movies, and media that shaped Generation X. Romanowski is not just a critic and a scholar, but a practitioner who offers relevant approaches to engaging western culture.
Dr. Romanowski joined Calvin College as a visiting faculty fellow in 1988 and currently serves as professor of communication arts and sciences. Calvin College’s mission to “equip student to think deeply, to act justly, and to live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal in the world” reflect on Romanowski’s approach to the entertainment industry (i.e. “Hollywood”).
Romanowski holds a bachelors and masters degree in English. His Ph.D on American culture highlights “Rock’n’Religion: A Socio-cultural Analysis of the Contemporary Christian Music Industry.” At the outset of Eyes Wide Open, Romanowski clarifies that his teaching and research interests are in film studies - hence, the vast amount of movie illustrations.
Overview of Content
The central point Romanowski wishes to communicate is that popular art serves as the faith-based consumer’s launching point for redemptive interaction with culture. In other words, popular art should be carefully examined for the purpose of spiritual connection versus separatism. The thesis of the book is on “the intersection of popular art and faith perspective” (p. 20). The concept of missio dei - that God is active in his creation - is especially applicable in Hollywood. To believe otherwise plays into an anti-missional/anti-incarnational missiology, which is completely unlike the Savior.
Eyes Wide Open role models what healthy engagement of the popular entertainment arts should look like; that is, gracious engagement versus criticism and condemnation. Living missionally-incarnationally in the culture means engaging the mission field (i.e. the arts) rather than avoiding it. Engaging the entertainment industry requires an empowering of the Spirit that fosters an attitude of genuine care and concern for the expressions in popular art. The movies, music, and various forms of art are all tremendous opportunities to tease out what lies deep within the human soul; namely, the search for God.
The point is not to promote a specific faith or denominational perspective on popular art, but rather to re-emphasize that “our society benefits form having people of various faith persuasions participating honestly and intelligently in the cultural conversation” (p. 10). Deep and meaningful cultural engagement is an all hands effort in the redemption and restoration narrative, which leads to human flourishing - an illusion in Hollywood.
This book resonates most with Generation-Xers. With most references to pop art of the late 80s and 90s - not to mention “VCRs!” While Millennials may have to look up Back to the Future (1985), Pretty Woman (1990) and Titanic (1997), my friends and I get flashbacks of our childhood. Just recently, as an adult/family man/parent, have I realized the powerful impact movies and music made on my life. To quote my friend Frank Lombardo, “Children may not be understanding everything, but their tracking everything!”
As I read Eyes Wide Open, the constant movie illustrations from my childhood shocked me. I did not have cable TV growing up, nor did we watch rated R movies - but all my friends and neighbors did… As a child, I watched Basic Instinct, Candyman, Silence of the Lambs, listened to angry “gangster rap” Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, saturated my mind with anarchistic punk rock, Guttermouth, Minor Threat, 7Seconds, and watched MTV (when they played music video) - this was all while going to youth group and attending Church functions regularly. I was just “enoying the beat” or just “having a good time” with my buddies. I was being inundated with images and propaganda that stimulated fear and lust. This work is valuable primarily because it may help Evangelicals become active engagers of popular art rather than consumed consumers.
The world needs us to be true critics. Take Robert Ebert, for example - America’s film critic - who described Pretty Woman as “an innocent movie” and “the sweetest and most openhearted love fable” (p. 194), yet called The Passion “the most violent film I have ever seen” (p. 208). Ebert’s focus is off. Our culture needs a perspective that sees beyond the cinematography/plot. We need wise/informed critics who recognize and point out the deceptions of exchanging money for sex as a deviation of God’s good design for sex and the violence in The Passion as something beautiful in light of the plan of God in redeeming mankind. I can appreciate that violence because “It pleased the Father to crush the son” (Isa. 53:10).
Critique - Romanowski’s Evaluation of John Eldgrege
Frankness and candor with relation to analyzing the popular entertainment arts gave me the impression that Romanowski speaks as a well informed dispassionate critic - that is until I read his critique of John Eldgrege’s book Wild at Heart. Romanowski claims that Eldgrege “perpetuated Hollywood steroetypes, casting men as warriors wielding swords not plowshares, and not ambassadors for Christ carrying on a mission of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:17-20)” (p. 195).
It is not my objective here to defend John Eldredge, but rather express my own conjecture; namely, I don’t think Romanowski really knows John Eldredge or his heart on carrying out a mission of reconciliation. Two popular Christian writers of this caliber should meet and find a common ground for the sake of the gospel. The world is watching. Let the meeting take place.
Eldgrege’s books, Beautiful Outlaw and Fathered by God, his documentary Killing Lions, and the Conversations with John Eldredge Podcast as well as the And Sons Podcast are saturated with the mission of reconciliation. Their tone of voice speaks consistently of grace, truth, and empathy towards a broken world. The end of Wild at Heart has entire sections of practical prayers for daily living in the reality of spiritual warfare with the purpose of brining men (and women) back in fellowship with the Father. The prayers of confession and renouncement of sin lead people to restored fellowship with God and man. For Eldgrege (and Sons), the Hollywood stereotype is to be confessed and renounced as an “agreement with the enemy.” Romanowski’s tone of voice towards Eldredge and Wild at Heart is disconcerting.
Additionally, Romanowski cites an article entitled Are Men Really Wild at Heart, which asserts, “Eldgrege has endorsed the exploitative and oppressive conception that objectives female sexuality and communicates that a woman has value only in her relationship to a man - insinuating that men and women cannot be completely whole unless engaged in some sort of romantic relationship” (p. 195).
This criticism is difficult for me to understand given the amount of material and popular art that I have observed from John Eldredge. A dominant theme in Wild at Heart and interwoven in all things by Eldgrege is identity in Christ and the rejection of all things idolatrous - including gender stereotypes. Furthermore, I don’t believe John Eldredge promotes the James Bond/Indiana Jones American concept of masculinity simply because his own sons/podcast co-cohosts/main characters in Killing Lions, Blaine and Sam do not fit that stereotype, at all. Yet, John accepts them just as they are. He affirms their masculinity, not based on how they speak and act, or on their love for fiction novels, but on their identity in Christ. He role models Fatherly/storge love.
Conclusion
The most thought provoking line in the book is this: “If we believe that salvation is by God’s grace, we should expect to find all kinds of failings among us (p. 159). Romanoswki then offers King David as an example of why grace is required in God’s plan. He reminds us that David is “a man after God’s own heart” who does what God wants him to do (cf. Acts 13:22). His journey of military victory, to the royal throne, to voyeurism and adultery, to pre-meditated murder, to his son raping his daughter only to be killed by his other son leaves him as leader of a divided nation surrounded by enemies. At the end of his life this “man after God’s heart” is unsure of his status before the Lord! (2 Sam. 23:5) (p. 159). That, is just one reason why God’s modus operandi is salvation by Grace; simply put, our messy lives require it. Here’s the connection with popular art: Everything Hollywood has produced, reflects this truth.
Integration and Application
What better way to understand the world I live in than to engage and seek to understand the popular art it produces? Cultural engagement is not an option for me, so I choose the incarnational-missional mindset. Similarly, worship is not an option for the world. Everything in pop culture pulls people into worship. The intersection of the church’s inescapable cultural engagement and the world’s undeniable longing for worship clashes in popular art. The stage is set for redemptive interaction.
As a pseudo film-maker and musician, this book reiterates the importance of purpose driven content in popular art. Does my particular production point people to a missio dei or the imago dei? or is it simply meaningless entertainment? I choose to be an active participant in stimulating the Creation-Fall-Redemption-Restoration account in everything I produce.
Social media provides the perfect platform to project a false image about the reality of my need for the Savior. And if I allow myself to get pulled into that trap, my neighbors, co-workers and the rest of the world will not only not relate, but they will shut me out. I imagine a world where Christians rejected the lie of “pretty Christianity” and lived to “keep it real.” Rev. Edward Ellis has great insight for those who want to tell the story through popular art,
The funky reality is that you witness best to Jesus Christ when you are witnessing horizontal about your journey with Him, and the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows of the truth of your experience with God. And when you can be as human as you are then folk can relate to you” (p. 160).
Romanowski’s plea is spot on: Christians ought to embrace popular art in connecting culture to the true story of redemption and restoration. God is active in culture and most definitely in popular arts. To live missionally and incarnationally in the fullest sense means engaging all that popular art produces. I’m all in as an observer and contributor - and my story will include all that makes salvation by Grace necessary.
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