Recently I have
been pondering a dynamic shift I have noticed. As a Sci-Fy fan I enjoy shows, new, old, cancelled, successful, and failed. I was watching firefly with a friend, I went to make my lunch and a realization dawned on me. We as a society and a generation especially have shifted from Star Trek to Firefly from Dragnet to Dexter.
Some would ask what are they substantial differences in these? They all are harmless entertainment. I rebut this and say culture is an indicator of mindset. And the difference is key. James Kirk was a renegade member who used unorthodox tactics and was a brave man. Brave and valiant, courageous and cunning, yet on the side of good.
On the adverse Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds is an outlaw, who occasionally does good yet is the protagonist. Let the reader know I am not an avid Firefly watcher. But heroes on the wrong side of the law, with flaws, with glaring holes in their morality, this is a huge indicator of who we are.
As a part of this generation that has brought about this paradigm shift I immediately want to jump into a defense of this trend and say "It is more realistic" but is it? Do we esteem vigilante justice? Do we really have the morals of our movies and shows?
Batman, in the olden days Batman fought as a hero, there was the Bat signal on the roof of the police station. In Chris Nolan's latest Batman it closes with this, "Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A Dark Night."
We will hunt him because he can take it? Doesn't sound like a clean cut justice system to me. Doesn't sound like the Batman I grew up with. Something changed.
Dexter is the clearest example of what I mean a serial killer killing serial killers, not putting them behind bars through the law. He isn't the cop we grew up with in cop shows.
So what does this all indicate? What does it all mean? Who are we as a culture and what does this reveal? The paradigm shift indicates two things; First, we as a culture have departed from traditional justice roles, and traditional unrealistic hope. Second, we have also departed from traditional morality, and perhaps we have grown to love depravity.
This final point is a serious accusation, have we as a culture grown to love depravity and slipped it under the radar as real life? I think to a level we have. I don't want to sound like a fundamentalist who is grasping at unrealistic hope. I also do not want to sound like an antinomian who thinks we can watch whatever and call it realistic. I think we as Christians need to be careful as to what we watch, and realize that there is a shift in secular morality. But as the manifestation of God's Kingdom we need to counter this cultural shift with the realism of the Gospel. We have a new set of justice, God is perfectly just also as he fulfills his kingdom justice reigns forever! As Christians who come out of the world we need to be able to meet the mindsets and counter that it is Christ who is making all things new (Revelation 21:5).
